In February, I coached and conducted what is known as instructional rounds with the principals in our

district. We split into groups of four and visited classrooms to observe student engagement in the high
school setting. My group, which I led, was instructed to only look for means of student engagement. One
of the last classes I scheduled for our group was a senior Criminal Justice classroom. Not only was I and
the other 3 principals impressed with the amount of student engagement going on in the classroom, we
were also in awe of the creative critical thinking taking place as well.
The students were so involved in their work, we decided to split up and sit with a group (I
sat with a group of three young ladies) to get the details of their assignment. Each student in the
classroom was given a Dell laptop computer. The students used this technology to research, problem
solve, and create statements to use as evidence they would find on their own. The ladies took turns
explaining how this term began with the teacher teaching the strategies/standards/objectives to solving a
case in the criminal justice field. He then gave each group the same statements and interviews for a
murder case the students were instructed to solve for their attorney, the teacher. The girls took the
statements and interviews and divided them up amongst themselves. They had to use the terminology
they learned during the class to be able to read each statement, analyze it, infer and research a variety of
perspectives (divergent thinking) based on the common points made in the interviews and make
references based on evidence they find in their research (critical thinking). I observed these girls asking
each other open-ended questions and using common sense and strategic thinking to help them analyze
possible solutions based on a set of criteria from three different perspectives (convergent thinking),
develop new ideas for expanded research, hypothesize and seek solutions (innovative thinking).
(Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2010, pg. 50)
After getting details from the girls, I observed the other groups of students also considering many different
possibilities and backing up their evidence for a rebuttal at the end of the lesson to determine and make
claims on the evidence found to see which statements were redundant. At the end of the term, all groups
would collect and put their evidence together and critically think as a team to see if it would lead them to
the body (pig) buried by the teacher at the school to find the defendant guilty of murder.
While the students were working, I also observed the teacher guiding the students to answer questions by
asking open-ended questions to redirect thinking as needed based on evidence they are finding. I believe
this creative thinking produces novel outcomes, and problem-solving produces a new response to a new
situation which is a novel outcome. (Halpern,2013, p 243) I was amazed at how much these students
were using creative thinking within the lesson. It was very student centered, teacher facilitated and the
students were using a variety of different strategies for thinking to solve a case.
After our observation in the classroom, the principals and I met for a short debriefing to discuss the
student engagement in the classroom. Our first question posed in our group was, Why arent all classes
taught with this style of creative thinking? I believe students learn more when they can take ownership of
their learning and challenge themselves. The highest level of student engagement is owning under

committing and complying (Walsh and Sattes, 2011, p. 114). I believe it gives students a purpose for
learning while teaching the life-long skills and a deep sense of satisfaction when completed.

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. D., & Ertmer, P. A. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A
standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Pg.50

Halpern, D. F. (revised in 2013). Critical thinking across the curriculum: A brief edition of thought and
knowledge. Pg. 243

Walsh, J. A., & Sattes, B. D. (2011). Thinking through quality questioning: Deepening student
engagement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Pg. 114