The EdTech Roundup
Connect:
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Editorials & Press
  • Ed Tech Sites
  • Lesson Plans
    • Elementary
    • Secondary
  • Former Weekly Podcast
  • About Me
  • Contact

Mentoring Minds: Critical Thinking for Life

12/7/2014

3 Comments

 
Picture
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.  

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.

Picture


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.  

Picture
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...

Picture


The opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I was not compensated for writing this review.
3 Comments
kimsonlina link
4/1/2015 08:19:47 pm

I had an opportunity to look through two of their flip-books, the "Higher-Order Thinking Strategies Guide" and the sixth - eighth grade English Language Arts Common Core guide. <a herf="http://www.alrasub.com/four-most-common-problems-students-face-during-their-college/">Guide linke book</a>

Reply
kimsonlina link
4/1/2015 08:31:52 pm

They create some pretty amazing products to help teachers better engage their students. I was sent two samples to look over and review.<a href="http://www.alrasub.com/four-most-common-problems-students-face-during-their-college/">College essay writing</a>

Reply
liana link
8/5/2022 06:13:47 pm

thanks for info

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Reviews

    Here you can find the Round Up's collection of in-depth reviews on the latest programs, apps, websites, and more.

    Make sure to click the review's title or the Read More link for the complete review!


    Picture

    Featured

    Picture
    Check out our featured review | ClassroomAPP: A Complete, K-12 Digital Platform for Online and In-Person Classrooms

    Teach.com

    Picture

      Subscribe

    Subscribe

    Connect


    Awards

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed


    Archives

    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013

           
​Except where noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
Picture

Copyright 2020 | Mike Karlin, Ph.D.