Developing Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills through Challenging Projects

Boys are challenged throughout our program to stretch beyond their comfort zones as they collaboratively solve problems. Working together with their classmates on a specific challenge requires analysis and repeated attempts before a successful solution is found. This is one way that essential critical thinking skills and a spirit of persistence are developed and honed in boys.

As an example, second graders are kicking off the year with an active engineering challenge in our new Innovation Lab that strengthens collaboration skills and promotes persistent and creative problem solving. The project requires our boys to work through the Engineering Design Cycle to build a cardboard structure of their choice: a tower as tall as their (very tall!) teachers, a vehicle mobile enough to transport an object across the room (on wheels along the ground, or airborne, along a zip line), a ball run timer consistent enough that the ball takes exactly 5 seconds to roll from top to bottom, or a cardboard chair sturdy enough to support a classmate.

Prior to choosing what they would build, the boys spent a week working with specialized cardboard carpentry tool kits practicing techniques like using triangular braces to reinforce 90 degree corners, attaching hinges to create flaps that can open and close, and cutting slots to connect planes of cardboard at perpendicular angles.

Their teachers find that the boys, enthused by a challenge that is so much fun and which enables them to use tools and build something with a purpose, are eager to share thoughts. They observe what is working, what might need to be adjusted, and why.

Projects like this put into play our boys' natural curiosity, creativity, and love of purposeful work. The boys also learn to respect materials, the process, and each other's ideas; practice taking risks; and come to view their inevitable "failures" as important learning opportunities that ultimately lead to innovative solutions.

This is the first of many engaging units that lie ahead this year for our boys.

Resilience in the Teaching of Languages

Above: The Nerf microphone ball enables boys learning remotely to hear their classmates well. The pandemic has challenged educators to reinvent and reimagine units of study to keep learning engaging, regardless of how it is delivered. The following article, written for Saint David’s Magazine by our Modern Languages Chair Dr. Victoria Gilbert and Lower School Spanish teacher Flor Berman, addresses how this was done in the Spanish immersion language program at Saint David's. Ms. Berman and Dr. Gilbert, recipient of the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers' Ruth E. Wasley Distinguished Teacher Award, presented on the topic at NYSAIS’s Flexible Classroom Conference last summer. How Spanish Classes Have Bounced Back Resiliency implies an ability to bounce back, but as teachers working with the youngest learners in the school, we would reframe resiliency as the opportunity to reimagine. Whether boys are learning through a face-to-face experience or through the med

The Role of Faith in Social-Emotional Learning and Psychological Well-Being

The following article by our School Psychologist, Dr. Michael Schwartzman, appears in the current issue of Saint David's Magazine : During one of my first observations in a Saint David’s classroom 15 years ago, I witnessed two first grade boys in a verbal altercation. Although it was contained just between the two boys, their observant teacher had them talk it through and then shake hands on being in a better place for having done so. I was very impressed, and still am, with this approach that the school takes many times throughout the day. It helps establish a firm idea of how to behave, especially in social situations where emotions can be stirred and run high. Through this experience repeated consistently day in and day out, better, more productive ways of engaging become increasingly integrated by the boys as they develop socially and emotionally in interaction with each other. As the School Psychologist, I spend a lot of time thinking about the touch points for student and t

Storytelling Demonstrates Understanding

Their time had arrived. As the lights dimmed in our Otto-Bernstein Theatre, the astrophysicists, a mix of jitters and excitement, awaited their opportunity to share insights and stories about the workings of the universe. Which planets might support life? Is there water on Mars? What are Dwarf Planets? "Let's take a look at our closest neighbor, Venus," invited one presenter, before revealing that the planet - while ideal in proximity - has surface temperatures of 900 degrees F: "Imagine - standing on the surface would be like being burned alive!" Later that same day, in our Graham lunchroom, early 20th century immigrants of all ages from Italy, China, Ireland, Russia, among other countries, waited, with hope and determination, their turn to be interviewed for admittance to America. It wasn't going to be easy. They would be asked pointed, potentially life-altering questions by various processors. "What's that cough? It doesn't sound good,&qu

David O'Halloran, Headmaster - Saint David's School, New York City

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