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Extended Definition Draft

Term: Critical Thinking

Audience Analysis 1: Youth Committee

During 2016, I was a part of my local mosque’s youth committee. We focused on creating events that benefited the youth and most importantly activities that were fun. These events took place every Friday evening throughout the year. My role within the committee was deciding what events would work best with the youth as well as getting the information about the event out each week. During these events we would also partake in activities that were discussion based, as a committee member, I would help facilitate these discussions and talks. The committee was made up of about 10 people. Majority of the roles were exactly what mine were but three of the roles focused on getting funding for these activities, having permission from the mosque to carry these events out and making sure we had food for the youth every week.

Extended Definition: Youth Committee

Critical thinking is analyzing and evaluating facts and information to form a judgment. The skills to do this include observation, analysis, inference, communication and problem solving. At my local mosque, several committees and activities were in place to create an informative and educational atmosphere while focusing on religion. The youth committee was a way to focus on the youth and help guide them when it comes to topics of the religion and also including fun activities that range from individual reflection to group work.

In order to create this kind of environment and focus on growth and learning, we had to:

1. Understand. We had to understand and analyze the kind of issues Muslim youth were facing to create a positive and educational environment. Based on what we learned, and the information gathered then we could think critically about certain topics as it related to the youth and our religion.

2. Communication. We needed to communicate with the youth as well as the adults to facilitate this kind of environment. We would communicate and share personal experiences and provide advice for anyone who needed it.

3. Feedback. In order to grow and learn and be able to form a belief or idea about certain topics and our community we needed to hear from the youth about any ideas/solutions they had.

Audience Analysis 2: Teacher’s Assistant

I was a teacher assistant at my high school during the summer. The school was called Al-Huda School, a private school. I worked as a volunteer for the hours I needed during high school. For my role, I was assigned to a teacher and I helped her with anything she needed done, this ranged from checking student’s homework to making copies to taking the children to different classes. The other roles besides being a teacher or ta, was being the head of the camp, they were in charge of all the administrative tasks and made sure the camp ran smoothly.

Extended Definition 2: Teacher’s Assistant

Critical thinking is analyzing and evaluating facts and information to form a judgement. The skills to do this include observation, analysis, inference, communication and problem solving. At my school, several activities were always available during the school year as well as the summer. During that time, I was planning on becoming a teacher, so I decided to volunteer as an assistant. I was able to use everything I had been learning but apply at as an assistant instead of a student. Many of the tasks and activities required critical thinking and the school is a college preparatory school so students were always pushed to think differently and more analytically. In order to create an environment like this we focused on:

1.Creativity. Students were able to explore their creative side and focus on certain projects and in doing this they were able to observe and analyze, this led to a final project or solution. Students were encouraged to use the tools available to think and create about interests they had.

2. Technology. Most of the teaching and creating were done using technology. This allowed students to grow and explore all the options available to them.

3. Time Management. Students were taught to manage the time they had between different activities. This led to being able to problem solve in order to decide what you would focus more on that summer and use the time given wisely.

Audience Analysis 3: Tutor

I have been tutoring a family of 4 since 2018. I met this family through working as a teacher on the weekend, I was approached by the mother of the kids, she wanted a private tutor to work with her children on various subjects. I work with all of the children in all their school subjects as well as standardized tests they have for that year. I help them with any problems they have with their homework as well as reteaching any subjects they have difficulty with or may have forgotten. The goal was to get the children’s grade up and for some to get into a certain higher education program at their school. My younger sister also tutors with me and she performs the same tasks that I do.

Extended Definition 3: Tutor

Critical thinking is analyzing and evaluating facts and information to form a judgement. The skills to do this include observation, analysis, inference, communication and problem solving. Being a student for so long then getting the chance to teach was a different experience. I had to think from the point of view of the children and what would be the best way to get the information across to them, a way that was separate from what they were doing at school because that didn’t work for all the kids. I did research and observed each of the children to determine what was the best way to help them. From this, I was able to come up with a solution and a personalized plan for each of the children. In order to do this, I had to:

1. Observe. The best way for me to understand and get to know how each child was academically, I had to observe them completing different assignments and doing different tasks. Through this I was able to conclude what works and what doesn’t work for each student.

2. Communication. I learned the most by having a conversation with each child and what they felt they were good at, interests and hobbies. Learning all of this helped me build a connection and this helped when it came to tackling the different tasks and problems they completed/faced throughout the year.

3. Understanding. It was important to understand where each child was coming from and using this to better help them. Doing things my own way and not trying to comprehend what they were feeling or what they thought was not beneficial seeing as though they needed the help and that only benefitted me.