Think Like A Disciplinarian

• Think Like An Author: Hemingway vs Dickens

  Students will study the styles of Dickens and Hemingway and then try to write like them.

  Show 4 Steps

  1. First, students analyze the writing of Hemingway and Dickens. What makes their styles different?

  2. Next, they’ll re-write Dickens in Hemingway’s style.

  3. Now, they re-write Hemingway using Dickens’ style.

  4. I share my final example.

• Think Like A Historian

  Students will note how two events are connected through their causes and effects.

  Show 2 Steps

  1. Students will choose an event (from history, in a story, or in their own lives) and brainstorm effects which are unresolved problems.

  2. Now, they’ll note how those effects from the first event can be causes of later events.

• Think Like A Philosopher

  Students will practice thinking from the point of view of famous philosophers as they analyze characters and figures from history.

  Show 4 Steps

  1. Students begin with Socrates’ belief: ignorance was the root of problems and education was the key to solving ignorance.

  2. Next, they practice with Aristotles’ philosophy that problems come from unbalanced relationships

  3. Then they’ll think like Descartes who believed that we should always begin by doubting things.

  4. Finally, students examine a problem using the lens of Confucius: children should respect and honor their parents and parents must care for and protect their children.

• Think Like An Economist

  Students will learn to spot limited, valuable resources in any situation.

  Show 2 Steps

  1. Students learn that “wealth” can go beyond mere money. They look for wealth, and inequality, in a simple story.

  2. After sharing my thoughts on wealth in simple stories, students begin to look at wealth in a topic they’re studying in school.