Remembering 9/11

Thousands of Americans lost their lives ten years ago when radical terrorists flew airplanes into both towers of the World Trade Center, another into the Pentagon, and the fourth flight crash-landing in a Pennsylvania field after being diverted by some brave passengers on board.  The world changed that day. You may remember where you were.  Perhaps you recall your initial thoughts of a terrible accident only to realize when the second plane hit that this was no accident.  A very vivid recollection of mine is the eerie silence of the skies later that day and for a few days after that.  To look up and not see a single plane in the sky that is normally covered with aircrafts was evidence that our world had changed.  I marvel at the coolness of the air traffic controllers that day.  You may never had given much thought to their heroic deeds that day until now. Think about what they had to do – there were thousands of flights in the air that had to be diverted and landed in a timely fashion.  They had to deal with those running low on fuel, finding enough runways to land them, and coordinating all of the pilots so that no additional lives would be lost. Not a single additional human life was lost as a result of their incredible response. Then you realize that to do any of this, they had to do one thing with every pilot, airport coordinator, each branch of the military, and each ground crew.  They had to ask.  They had to ask for permission to open fields on military bases, they had to ask for pilots to remain in a holding pattern for what had to seem like eternity, they had to ask ground crews to change their normal procedures.  They had to ask, ask, and ask.

 As I talked about last Friday at the first “Lunch & Learn”, as we try to improve the critical thinking skills of our kids, the need to first ask them is paramount. To check on clarity, we need to ask further intentional questions.  To check on accuracy, we need to ask further purposeful questions.  To check on precision, we need to ask further deliberate questions.  The same thing is true of relevance, depth, breath, logic, significance, and fairness – we first need to ask in very strategic ways.  The best critical thinkers were not born that way.  They had to learn how to critically think.  So, if they have to learn how to do this, then it only follows that someone has to teach them those skills and lines of inquiry.  That job goes to us. To make kids better critical thinkers, we must intentionally and purposefully practice strategies daily that will enhance the opportunities that we have with the kids.  I hope that last Friday’s “Lunch & Learn” was useful to you as you incorporate the strategies into the classroom.  If you missed the lesson, see me and I can provide you with a handout of what was covered.