21 Thinking Skills

  1. Systematic Exploration: A strategy used to seek and collect relevant information using an organized, goal oriented approach

  2. Focus: The ability to pay attention to the important information, maintain that focus and avoid distractions 

  3. Names, Labels and Concepts (Verbal Tools and Concepts): Vocabulary development and expression to describe and understand concepts more efficiently. Labels classify words (names) which facilitate use of concepts 

  4. Multiple Sources of Information: The ability to pull out important information by thinking critically - comparing, analyzing, and synthesizing multiple sources of information

  5. Spatial Orientation: the ability to recognize the orientation of objects or persons in comparison to others objects and persons. 

  6. Temporal/Time Orientation: The ability to recognize when events happened in comparison to other moments over time

  7. Precision & Accuracy: The ability to recollect information carefully to figure out what is true, exact or well defined 

    1. Sets Goals: the strategies of establishing a direction for your own learning, creating goals helps select necessary tools or material and important for independent functioning. 

    2. Plans: The development of a plan or map to achieve one's goals 

    3. Compares: The ability to recognize the similarities and differences between objects, information and knowledge 

    4. Orders, groups, categorizes: the ability to organize a lot of information into different categories in order to remember and understand it more efficiently

    5. Finds connections, relationships: the ability to establish relationships and connections within ideas, events, data, persons, or feelings – to create more significance for learning

    6. Visualizes: the ability to mentally visualize images or predict how something will look like without having seen it before

    7. Inference/Hypothetical Thinking: The ability to make prediction of a circumstance only using what you have at your disposal  (Now that x has happened, than y is likely to happen) 

    8. Cause and Effect: The ability to recognize patterns between cause and effect

    9. Summarizes: the ability to summarize important details from given information

    10. Appropriate Precision & Accuracy: The ability to carefully collect information to find out that everything is true, accurate, or well defined.

    11. Attention to Outcomes & Self-Regulation: The ability to guide their own learning by regulating their behavior. 

    12. Synthesizes: Consciousness of knowing how to communicate appropriately during certain situations or with certain individuals.

    13. Autonomy: Independence, ability to choose / make your own decisions

    14. Collaboration: The ability to work in a team, comprehending responsibility and helping team members