home

First, some colleagues expressed their point of views about using HOTs (Higher order thinking skills). Some were against because HOTs is difficult and pupils are not adopted to this kind of teaching. But, the majority were with using HOTs. In general, we agreed that using HOTs is vital for our pupils because such teaching prepares them for the future and for the real life by developing their thinking skills in different levels. We talked about the **information age** where knowledge is important but the ability to control and use this knowledge can be more important. Teaching HOTs enables our pupils to get and reach different kind of information. In other words, teaching HOTs and implementing this program can only bring success to the pupils in their future. It's not enough to know how to compare and contrast, but pupils need to explain, express opinions, convince others, and choose the best and so on. The taxonomy of Bloom was presented and discussed. This taxonomy is old (1956) but it is considered to be the best one when we need to talk about different levels of thinking. The taxonomy consists of six stages of thinking. The first two belongs to LOTs (Lower order thinking skills) and the rest to HOTs, and each stage is based on the one before. 1) Knowledge- repeating and memorizing this knowledge. 2) Comprehension- explaining the knowledge in our own words. 3) Application-the ability to apply the knowledge into a practical context and into a different and new situations. 4) Analysis- solving a problem in the light of conscious knowledge of the parts and forms of thinking//.// Putting knowledge into practice, but using their own content. 5) Synthesis- solving a problem that requires original, creative thinking. Learners put knowledge into practice to solve an unknown problem. 6) Evaluation- making a judgment of good or bad, right or wrong, according to standards designated by the student. A question was raised by some of the colleagues-can we use HOTs with weak pupils and with low graders? The answer is yes. (And I want to support this answer by using an article that I presented last year with Dr. Shosh, I attached it also) Waters (2006) says it is possible to involve simple language with complex thinking. In other words, learners with limited language knowledge can be given activities which require high level of thinking. Therefore, the concept of HOTs is not only suitable for high school students, but also for junior and elementary schools. He adds that Problem solving is an example of activity that encourages and stimulates high level of thinking which started to be used from late 1980s. Different approaches to teach HOTs
 * HOTs in EFL-a curse or a blessing?**
 * 1) Direct instruction- the teacher explains the levels of thinking directly and explicitly.
 * 2) Teaching for thinking- using activities that make and stimulate pupils to think and be creative. The teacher encourages the pupils to use HOTs without previous plan.
 * 3) The infusion approach- teaching the contents and the HOTs' skills simultaneously. In other words, integrating the first and the second approach.