Think Like A Disciplinarian is a method for teaching students to approach concepts from an expert’s point of view. You’ll expose you class to new modes of thinking, teach subject–specific language, and develop questions that delve deeper into problems. As a bonus, students will learn about potential careers.
Differentiation TechniqueGet Ridiculous
Read The OverviewGet Ridiculous!
One technique for finding complexity in a topic is to look for the edge cases, the outliers, the really big or small versions.
Specific Examples of “Get Ridiculous”
Math and Novelty: What if we didn’t have 10 numerals?
Looking for some ways to challenge your advanced mathematicians? If you’d like to keep them on the same topic as the rest of your class, consider increasing the complexity of your current unit. If they’re in need of more advanced curriculum to keep their creativity flowing, try to bring in novel ways of looking at math.
Think Like An Anthropologist to Make Inferences
Like all HM comprehension skills, “Making Inferences” appears yearly beginning in kindergarten, so I know my 6th graders have practiced, and may well have mastered, the skill. To differentiate, I turned to the model of “Thinking Like a Disciplinarian.”
To Show Or Not To Show Work In Math
We must be careful not to admonish our intuitive learners for being intuitive. As teachers of the gifted, we must set up learning environments that are best for our students. And if they’re doing it all in their heads (and getting it right!), then the environment needs to change.
An Apple Stock Math Project
Entice your gifted mathematicians with real world data and an authentic problem such as: “Let’s say that instead of buying the original iPod, you spent the same amount of money on Apple stock. How much would that stock be worth now?”
Think Like A Psychologist
Looking to help your students go deeper into any content area? One technique is to teach them to “Think Like A Disciplinarian.” This idea, part of the Depth and Complexity Framework, teaches students to analyze ideas from the point of view of a specific profession or discipline.