Mentoring Minds is a publishing company and resource creation organization which was created by former teachers and which strives to promote "Critical Thinking for Life" and "to develop affordable, effective learning tools that help children think critically, giving them the skills to succeed not just in the classroom, but in life."
They have an enormously large collection of resources, from flip-books to help teachers implement various critical thinking strategies, to entire curricula. I had the opportunity to review several of their products, as well as explore their online offerings. So, while this review won't be able to encompass their entire catalog of products, it will provide an overview and idea of the types of resources and services they offer.
They have an enormously large collection of resources, from flip-books to help teachers implement various critical thinking strategies, to entire curricula. I had the opportunity to review several of their products, as well as explore their online offerings. So, while this review won't be able to encompass their entire catalog of products, it will provide an overview and idea of the types of resources and services they offer.
Before we begin, if you'd like to get a big picture idea of what Mentoring Minds offers, you can check out their website or their YouTube channel. They have a large collection of tutorials for those classrooms and districts who have chosen to utilize their resources and they can give you a good idea of all the possibilities.
However, in short, they offer curricula in Math and Reading, that is aligned to the common core standards, and that emphasizes motivation and critical thinking. Additionally, they have a sizable collection of teacher resources designed to help educators discover new, research-based strategies, and streamline the instructional design process.
However, in short, they offer curricula in Math and Reading, that is aligned to the common core standards, and that emphasizes motivation and critical thinking. Additionally, they have a sizable collection of teacher resources designed to help educators discover new, research-based strategies, and streamline the instructional design process.
I had a chance to look through two of their flip-books, the "Higher-Order Thinking Strategies Guide" and the 6th - 8th grade English Language Arts Common Core guide. To start with, the Higher-Order Thinking guide offers a great collection of research-based instructional strategies, lesson ideas, ways to implement critical thinking across a wide variety of subjects, and much more. It's a great, and simple, resource to easily spark ideas on fostering critical thinking in the classroom.
As for the 6th - 8th grade ELA flip-book, it covers the CCSS for 6-8. In addition, and more importantly, it offers a variety of accommodation strategies, assessment strategies, RTI strategies, universal design strategies, and more. Basically, it's a simplified index of best-practice methods for a course, and an easy way to reference the CCSS.
Having not had a chance to review their curricula products, only their flip-books, I can't comment to the quality of those materials. However, I do think the flip-books are well-made products that do a great job of summarizing the latest, best-practice, research-based methods for instruction that focuses on implementing critical thinking in the classroom.
Thinking to the practical implications of these products, I feel that they would best be used in a professional development setting, rather than just handing these books out to teachers and saying, "here's some strategies to try!"
In my opinion, the vast majority of teachers know, or at least are familiar with, the material in these books. However, they can definitely serve as a good reminder, and a great way to spark some ideas to spice up the classroom and integrate new ideas and strategies. That's why I think they could be great in a small group professional development setting, with teachers within a department meeting, going through these flip-books, and discussing new ways to try or retry these strategies in the classroom.
If these materials weren't implemented in that fashion, or at least in some way more than just handing them out in teachers' boxes, I worry that it would become just another item to sit in a drawer, to be looked at "when I have time." But again, that's just speaking from my personal experience.
Overall, Mentoring Minds has an excellent collection of resources that support critical thinking and that focus on best-practice methods. If these resources are available to your district, or if you have the opportunity to explore them further, I definitely recommend checking them out.
As for my rating, I have a hard time offering a perfect score since I have only reviewed a small portion of their products. What I have reviewed has been excellent, and is certainly a great resource for educators; however, without exploring their collection of resources and curricula in depth, I have settled on...
Having not had a chance to review their curricula products, only their flip-books, I can't comment to the quality of those materials. However, I do think the flip-books are well-made products that do a great job of summarizing the latest, best-practice, research-based methods for instruction that focuses on implementing critical thinking in the classroom.
Thinking to the practical implications of these products, I feel that they would best be used in a professional development setting, rather than just handing these books out to teachers and saying, "here's some strategies to try!"
In my opinion, the vast majority of teachers know, or at least are familiar with, the material in these books. However, they can definitely serve as a good reminder, and a great way to spark some ideas to spice up the classroom and integrate new ideas and strategies. That's why I think they could be great in a small group professional development setting, with teachers within a department meeting, going through these flip-books, and discussing new ways to try or retry these strategies in the classroom.
If these materials weren't implemented in that fashion, or at least in some way more than just handing them out in teachers' boxes, I worry that it would become just another item to sit in a drawer, to be looked at "when I have time." But again, that's just speaking from my personal experience.
Overall, Mentoring Minds has an excellent collection of resources that support critical thinking and that focus on best-practice methods. If these resources are available to your district, or if you have the opportunity to explore them further, I definitely recommend checking them out.
As for my rating, I have a hard time offering a perfect score since I have only reviewed a small portion of their products. What I have reviewed has been excellent, and is certainly a great resource for educators; however, without exploring their collection of resources and curricula in depth, I have settled on...
The opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I was not compensated for writing this review.
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