Motivating & increasing Students’ Creative and Critical Thinking Skills by Engaging Them Through Group and Project Work.

One of the highlights – during my 10-year-long career as an educator & curriculum designer, active in 4 countries – is letting students do it by finding their own independent ways.

To ask and let them choose their responses and input for a discussion, provided orally or written on the whiteboard by themselves. To let students teach a topic of their desire – while I was sitting in their chair.

By not providing ready-made answers from the educator’s side – but by letting the students work it out, do it in their own ways, and explore it by themselves.

To sit with my students constructively in a half-circle, on the same eye level; NOT in rows!

To prepare them so well ahead that no one had to fear insomnia or stomach ache upfront a test or exam – but appeared with self-confidence and left with a smile after the test.

To work in groups by letting them freely choose their group members, color, group leader, and subject of topic. To gain knowledge through a creative approach & interest in subjects such as Science, History, and Geography, including tailored hands-on activities.

My Grade 5 students showed great leadership, creativity, visible fun, and stunning organizational skills! I am still so very proud of them! They achieved up to 14 projects in an academic year!

Triumphant, with broad smiles of self-esteem for their wonderful works – which were shown in an exhibition – organized & presented by my students on huge posters and 3D models at the school’s assembly hall.

PSS: I wrote and posted the identical post some years ago, right here on LinkedIn. This post received 29,000+ views.

It’s interesting to see & realize how interest and human focus have changed in these few years! The interest, dependency & exploration moved increasingly towards online activities; away from classical presentation, pictures in motion, and text, but making it more personal than digital media has done.