SLO#4: Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving

ABLE students will….

• Analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and apply information from a variety of sources;

• Embrace their own metacognition to become more aware of their own learning processes; and

• Use logical reasoning to organize and execute tasks.

We use this SLO on a daily. Whenever we have to solve issues or do work, we have to use critical thinking and problem-solving. This is something that everyone should get better at and probably is one of the more important SLOs. Critical thinking to me is when you think outside of the box. I've had to think outside of the box so many times, especially when I had an idea in my head and it didn't go well. Many times it takes me multiple times with projects before I get it just right, and that's okay because you learn from your mistakes.

A big problem that I had was that I was too hard on myself. I would connect my value to my grades. If I wasn't doing well academically, I felt like I didn't matter. When I started to focus on myself much more I saw how much of a problem this was. I would be exhausted with everything I did and I wasn't enjoying school anymore. I was so burnt out that I wanted to just give up, but I knew that if I did that I would end up regretting it more. I just wanted to give myself a break. I realized that if I mess up it's not the end of the world. If I didn't have a 100% grade it didn't matter. I took steps to just focus on myself, slowly trying to do things that I enjoy. To make sure that I didn't feel worn out or exhausted. If I had multiple assignments to do they weren't my number one priority, but made sure I was okay. It's a weird way to get better at school, but sometimes you just need a break it is okay.