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Smart videos for curious minds of all ages: Search & enjoy 4,000+ smart & super-cool, "not-made-for-kids, but perfect for them" videos in the classroom or together at home. Click play and start a conversation.

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Curiosity: Twilight Zone, Radishes, and Teaching

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Part of the presentation "Fueling Learning: Sparking & Sustaining Curiosity for Learning"

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Letter
In a March 25, 2014, Commentary, writer and former teacher David Ruenzel asserts that the Common Core State Standards' emphasis on a "thinking curriculum" will require teachers as well as students to engage in critical thinking. This represents a significant change for teachers, he writes, adding that "the public has often perceived teachers-and the education schools that have prepared them-not as thinkers, but as taskmasters who force-feed 'content' to students who have to be kept in line."
Although a majority of commenters agreed with Mr. Ruenzel's case for the importance of critical thinking by teachers, many complained that schools fail to provide the time or resources for educators to develop these resources. Several commenters also questioned whether the common-core standards are conducive to encouraging critical thinking.

Read the full Commentary and reader responses here.

While it is true that teachers must be thinkers, schools do not typically provide time for teachers to think about their thinking or share their thinking with their colleagues. For some reason, we think that time allotted for reflection is not valuable. Yet how can teachers reflect "on, in, and about" their actions, if not given the time to do so?
-Ellen Eisenberg

It would be great if the common core did require teacher autonomy. The sad truth is that it does not. And unless educators move beyond hoping it might be so, and get organized, we will be reduced to the role of electricians, helping all sorts of devices and learning systems as they "plug in" to our classrooms.
-Anthony Cody

Thank you for pointing out that CCSS require a lot more critical thinking on the part of teachers. This means that better staff development needs to be in place so that teachers can practice what they are asking students to do.
-Emellor

[R]elying on teacher creativity or even teacher teaming can be a subversive force; experienced teachers don't need textbooks, scripts, or tests to teach well. However, the accountability movement relies on a business model to maintain control; teachers aren't even middle management in this model.
-Dr. Conde

Since I've become a teacher nine years ago, I've found that the worst place to have a cerebral conversation about education is inside an actual school. No one wants to talk about it. We all just have to rush through everything.
-thespecialeducator

Unfortunately teachers are expected to somehow slip into automatic with respect to teaching critical or higher-order thinking when typically there is little or no direct training either at preservice or inservice level to ensure at least some understanding of the processes.
-Dr. Trevor J. Tebbs

Published in Print: April 16, 2014, as Critical Thinking And the Common Core

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Letter In a March 25, 2014, Commentary, writer and former teacher David Ruenzel asserts that the Common Core State Standards' emphasis on a "thinking curriculum" will require teachers as well as students to engage in critical thinking.

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Teaching CT

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A Little Background

I won't go into too much detail about the semester-long unit, but suffice it to say that the end result of the presentations were for the students (and their superhero alter egos that they developed during our 1st quarter narrative unit) to present an advocacy speech to the United Nations.

And although the unit I created aligns to several common core standards, it speaks really well to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.

And, no, not the real U.N. I mean that the role-play didn't end at presenting. The audience also lent an additional layer of authenticity to our final production. You see, the whole class pulled nation's names out of a jar to research. They represented these countries during the classroom presentations. Our makeshift ambassadors made signs with their country's name, watched a live stream from the actual United Nations' floor, and wrote an informational blog post focusing on basic information about their assigned nation: it's main exports, stats, etc.

What this did was prep the audience to listen to the advocacy speeches through the lens of what they knew about their country. In other words, if Mr. Inconspicuous (a masked hero one of my students created) presented on the dire need to fund a mythical organization dedicated to helping endangered animals, the speakers had to think about whether this issue was applicable to the needs of their assigned country. After all, they can't just fund every cause.

The heroes pitched their national or internationally themed causes to the members of the United Nations in the form of either a PowerPoint or Prezi. They also presented a website they each created using Weebly as a means to get their message out to the public, and proved their research by showing an infographic developed using Piktochart.com.

However, the members of the United Nations can't be fooled. They won't just throw their weight behind any project. They have to make sure that the superhero before them knows what he or she is talking about, and the speeches themselves don't always prove it to a skeptical potential sponsor. To ensure this, the fledgling ambassadors asked questions of the presenter.

It was great when the presenter answered these questions on the fly, but to be honest, that wasn't what I was assessing. Instead, I was assessing those who asked the questions.

Scaffolding for Questioning

Asking students to ask high-level questions takes a certain level of scaffolding.

1. It starts small, with a mini-leson earlier in the year defining Level 3 questions.

2. From there, it's about providing students with the academic language they need to get them started. In the beginning of the semester, I displayed sentence stems to help them get started, but by the time these presentations had rolled around, I had taken down the scaffold.

3. Then, depending on the assignment or unit, it's about giving them the format they need to contribute in an organized manner so they aren't just yelling out their questions in chaotic academic enthusiasm. In this case, I shared a document with my classes using Google Drive as a means for students to type in their questions publicly, real time, as their fellow students presented.

Questioning Using Google Drive

We've been using Google Drive all semester, so the students had a level of fluency using the technology. However, of all of the collaborative activities we did this semester, for whatever reason, these U.N. presentation days proved to be the most engaging and successful.

What I prepped ahead of time was a Google document for each period that had the list of presenters already entered in the order in which they were to present. I used subheadings to divide them into dates.

Here's a quick screencast so you can see how I set it up.

Anyway, as students presented, I could watch as their questions lit up the Google doc. You could tell what presentations resonated or made the students really think because the high lever questions were quicker to come. Controversial topics or solutions really made the doc go wild. And generally, as really great questions appeared, they would inspire versions or follow-ups. In other words, the kids were learning from each other.

From there, I could look at my own monitor and announce the name of a country whose ambassador had a particularly interesting query for the presenter. The presenter would then say, "I recognize the delegate from Kazakhstan" or something like that. The student ambassador could then ask the question aloud and the presenter would try to respond using researched evidence.

The Power of Transparency in Developing Questions

The transparency of the document engaged everyone and encouraged the best from them all. I was playing along as "Heather (United States)," typing model questions along with them all. By playing along, students who still struggled could take cues from my own questions and be inspired to ask their own.

In the end, many students who were normally quiet were encouraged by the ability to type their voice in class, and I had a chance to see them all think aloud through their real-time writing.

It was a victory. It was a victory for Project Based Learning, for iPads in the classroom, and for critical thinking using technology. Sure, when the whole class typed there was some lag. But the level of engagement kept kids patiently waiting when any glitch happened. It was a victory for flexibility, and it was a victory for higher level questioning.

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Common Core in Action: Teaching Critical Thinking and Questioning | Edutopia

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I won't go into too much detail about the semester-long unit, but suffice it to say that the end result of the presentations were for the students (and their superhero alter egos that they developed during our 1st quarter narrative unit) to present an advocacy speech to the United Nations.

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In my last post, I discussed the nature of engaging the critical thinking (CT) process and made mention of individuals who draw a conclusion and wind up being correct. But, just because they're right, it doesn't mean they used CT to get there. I exemplified this through an observation made in recent years regarding extant measures of CT, many of which assess CT via multiple-choice questions. In the case of CT MCQs, you can guess the "right" answer 20-25% of the time, without any need for CT. So, the question is, are these CT measures really measuring CT?

As my previous articles explain, CT is a metacognitive process consisting of a number of sub-skills and dispositions, that, when applied through purposeful, self-regulatory, reflective judgment, increase the chances of producing a logical solution to a problem or a valid conclusion to an argument (Dwyer, 2017; Dwyer, Hogan & Stewart, 2014). Most definitions, though worded differently, tend to agree with this perspective - it consists of certain dispositions, specific skills and a reflective sensibility that governs application of these skills. That's how it's defined; however, it's not necessarily how it's been operationally defined.

Operationally defining something refers to defining the terms of the process or measure required to determine the nature and properties of a phenomenon. Simply, it is defining the concept with respect to how it can be done, assessed or measured. If the manner in which you measure something does not match, or assess the parameters set out in the way in which you define it, then you have not been successful in operationally defining it.

Though most theoretical definitions of CT are similar, the manner in which they vary often impedes the construction of an integrated theoretical account of how best to measure CT skills. As a result, researchers and educators must consider the wide array of CT measures available, in order to identify the best and the most appropriate measures, based on the CT conceptualisation used for training. There are various extant CT measures - the most popular amongst them include the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Assessment (WGCTA; Watson & Glaser, 1980), the Cornell Critical Thinking Test (CCTT; Ennis, Millman & Tomko, 1985), the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST; Facione, 1990a), the Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test (EWCTET; Ennis & Weir, 1985) and the Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment (Halpern, 2010).

It has been noted by some commentators that these different measures of CT ability may not be directly comparable (Abrami et al., 2008). For example, the WGCTA consists of 80 MCQs that measure the ability to draw inferences; recognise assumptions; evaluate arguments; and use logical interpretation and deductive reasoning (Watson & Glaser, 1980). The CCTT consists of 52 MCQs which measure skills of critical thinking associated with induction; deduction; observation and credibility; definition and assumption identification; and meaning and fallacies. Finally, the CCTST consists of 34 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and measures CT according to the core skills of analysis, evaluation and inference, as well as inductive and deductive reasoning.

As addressed above, the MCQ-format of these three assessments is less than ideal - problematic even, because it allows test-takers to simply guess when they do not know the correct answer, instead of demonstrating their ability to critically analyse and evaluate problems and infer solutions to those problems (Ku, 2009). Furthermore, as argued by Halpern (2003), the MCQ format makes the assessment a test of verbal and quantitative knowledge rather than CT (i.e. because one selects from a list of possible answers rather than determining one's own criteria for developing an answer). The measurement of CT through MCQs is also problematic given the potential incompatibility between the conceptualisation of CT that shapes test construction and its assessment using MCQs. That is, MCQ tests assess cognitive capacities associated with identifying single right-or-wrong answers and as a result, this approach to testing is unable to provide a direct measure of test-takers' use of metacognitive processes such as CT, reflective judgment, and disposition towards CT.

Instead of using MCQ items, a better measure of CT might ask open-ended questions, which would allow test-takers to demonstrate whether or not they spontaneously use a specific CT skill. One commonly used CT assessment, mentioned above, that employs an open-ended format is the Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test (EWCTET; Ennis & Weir, 1985). The EWCTET is an essay-based assessment of the test-taker's ability to analyse, evaluate, and respond to arguments and debates in real-world situations (Ennis & Weir, 1985; see Ku, 2009 for a discussion). The authors of the EWCTET provide what they call a "rough, somewhat overlapping list of areas of critical thinking competence", measured by their test (Ennis & Weir, 1985, p. 1). However, this test, too, has been criticised - for its domain-specific nature (Taube, 1997), the subjectivity of its scoring protocol and its bias in favour of those proficient in writing (Adams, Whitlow, Stover & Johnson, 1996).

Another, more recent CT assessment that utilises an open-ended format is the Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment (HCTA; Halpern, 2010). The HCTA consists of 25 open-ended questions based on believable, everyday situations, followed by 25 specific questions that probe for the reasoning behind each answer. The multi-part nature of the questions makes it possible to assess the ability to use specific CT skills when the prompt is provided (Ku, 2009). The HCTA's scoring protocol also provides comprehensible, unambiguous instructions for how to evaluate responses by breaking them down into clear, measurable components. Questions on the HCTA represent five categories of CT application: hypothesis testing (e.g. understanding the limits of correlational reasoning and how to know when causal claims cannot be made), verbal reasoning (e.g. recognising the use of pervasive or misleading language), argumentation (e.g. recognising the structure of arguments, how to examine the credibility of a source and how to judge one's own arguments), judging likelihood and uncertainty (e.g. applying relevant principles of probability, how to avoid overconfidence in certain situations) and problem-solving (e.g. identifying the problem goal, generating and selecting solutions among alternatives).

Up until the development of the HCTA, I would have recommended the CCTST for measuring CT, despite its limitations. What's nice about the CCTST is that it assesses the three core skills of CT: analysis, evaluation, and inference, which other scales do not (explicitly). So, if you were interested in assessing students' sub-skill ability, this would be helpful. However, as we know, though CT skill performance is a sequence, it is also a collation of these skills - meaning that for any given problem or topic, each skill is necessary. By administrating an analysis problem, an evaluation problem and an inference problem, in which the student scores top marks for all three, it doesn't guarantee that the student will apply these three to a broader problem that requires all three. That is, these questions don't measure CT skill ability per se, rather analysis skill, evaluation skill and inference skill in isolation. Simply, scores may predict CT skill performance, but they don't measure it.

What may be a better indicator of CT performance is assessment of CT application. As addressed above, there are five general applications of CT: hypothesis testing, verbal reasoning, argumentation, problem-solving and judging likelihood and uncertainty - all of which require a collation of analysis, evaluation, and inference. Though the sub-skills of analysis, evaluation, and inference are not directly measured in this case, their collation is measured through five distinct applications; and, as I see it, provides a 'truer' assessment of CT. In addition to assessing CT via an open-ended, short-answer format, the HCTA measures CT according to the five applications of CT; thus, I recommend its use for measuring CT.

However, that's not to say that the HCTA is perfect. Though it consists of 25 open-ended questions, followed by 25 specific questions that probe for the reasoning behind each answer, when I first used it to assess a sample of students, I found that in setting up my data file, there were actually 165 opportunities for scoring across the test. Past research recommends that the assessment takes roughly between 45 and 60 minutes to complete. However, many of my participants reported it requiring closer to two hours (sometimes longer). It's a long assessment - thorough, but long. Fortunately, adapted, shortened versions are now available, and it's an adapted version that I currently administrate to assess CT. Another limitation is that, despite the rationale above, it would be nice to have some indication of how participants get on with the sub-skills of analysis, evaluation, and inference, as I do think there's a potential predictive element in the relationship among the individual skills and the applications. With that, I suppose it is feasible to administer both the HCTA and CCTST to assess such hypotheses.

Though it's obviously important to consider how assessments actually measure CT and the nature in which each is limited, the broader, macro-problem still requires thought. Just as conceptualisations of CT vary, so too does the reliability and validity of the different CT measures, which has led Abrami and colleagues (2008, p. 1104) to ask: "How will we know if one intervention is more beneficial than another if we are uncertain about the validity and reliability of the outcome measures?" Abrami and colleagues add that, even when researchers explicitly declare that they are assessing CT, there still remains the major challenge of ensuring that measured outcomes are related, in some meaningful way, to the conceptualisation and operational definition of CT that informed the teaching practice in cases of interventional research. Often, the relationship between the concepts of CT that are taught and those that are assessed is unclear, and a large majority of studies in this area include no theory to help elucidate these relationships.

In conclusion, solving the problem of consistency across CT conceptualisation, training, and measure is no easy task. I think recent advancements in CT scale development (e.g. the development of the HCTA and its adapted versions) have eased the problem, given that they now bridge the gap between current theory and practical assessment. However, such advances need to be made clearer to interested populations. As always, I'm very interested in hearing from any readers who may have any insight or suggestions!

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Critical Thinking About Measuring Critical Thinking

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In my last post, I discussed the nature of engaging the critical thinking (CT) process and made mention of individuals who draw a conclusion and wind up being correct. But, just because they're right, it doesn't mean they used CT to get there.

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Teaching students critical thinking skills has become one of the most important goals of teachers and administrators in recent years, replacing the kinds of rote memorization techniques that long dominated the American education landscape. One of the biggest reasons for this shift has been the desire to teach students the kinds of skills that will serve them well in the real world.

In classrooms across the country, adherence to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) - along with an overall demand for better critical thinking strategies - is forcing teachers to rethink the way they present educational concepts to their students. Teachers are urging their students to dig deeper into the material they are studying and mine it for the profound lessons that mark critical thinking as such an important part of overall learning.

Encouraging critical thinking

One of the most important ways to promote critical thinking is to ask students of all ages to form opinions on what they're reading, rather than simply memorizing names, dates and plot points.

According to The Associated Press, Middletown, Delaware, provides one small example of how critical thinking is being utilized more effectively in the classroom. Amy Lawson has been teaching fifth grade there for years, but now she is asking her students to do more than simply remember the plot of a short story. Instead, she is challenging them to think about problem solving or how certain characters might interact with each other outside the context of the story.

In math classes, students are encouraged to think about numbers in terms of strategy, probability, predictability and luck, not just as tools for addition and subtraction. One way to encourage this is through the use of critical thinking activities like board games or the Total Motivation Math TM supplemental resource produced by Mentoring Minds.

In its look into the success of the CCSS in Michigan, The Detroit News went to two different classrooms where the standards have already been folded into lesson plans. Michelle Thornhill, a 21-year veteran teacher in Detroit schools, found that placing an emphasis on critical thinking allowed her to go more in-depth in her lessons.

"It's crucial that kids be able to bounce ideas off each other and be able to explain what they are thinking and listen to and be open to others' ideas." Thornhill told the News. "Because in math there isn't one way to solve a problem, and they learn from each other."

Teachers settling in

With the implementation of the CCSS and similar standards happening across the country, teachers have had to quickly adapt to changes in curriculum requirements. Even with enhanced classroom management techniques, incorporating so much change in such a short period of time was a concern for teachers and administrators alike.

Some states are dealing with the integration process by implementing the standards piece-by-piece, as is being done in Michigan. There, teachers and students were given ample time to adjust, as the standards were first introduced in 2010.

However, as time goes by and people at all levels of the education system are becoming more comfortable with what is expected of them, many teachers are also seeing a change in the outlook of their students. As Jon Warner, one of Lawson's fifth-graders, told the AP, "We're doing things, not just sitting there and listening. My opinions matter."

Another popular push has been to introduce technology into the classroom, with techniques like blended learning - where students learn through a combination of in-person and online instruction - becoming more popular. Kelly Bender, a first-grade teacher in Troy, Michigan, has been able to take advantage of innovations like interactive whiteboards to help her students move beyond simple memorization and start thinking critically about how to use numbers in the real world.

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Critical Thinking and the Common Core State Standards | Mentoring Minds

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Teaching students critical thinking skills has become one of the most important goals of teachers and administrators in recent years, replacing the kinds of rote memorization techniques that long dominated the American education landscape. One of the biggest reasons for this shift has been the desire to teach students the kinds of skills that will serve them well in the real world.

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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Great teaching seems to have less to do with our knowledge and skills than with our attitude toward our students, our subject, and our work.

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What Is Closure?

Closure is the activity that ends a lesson and creates a lasting impression, a phenomenon that Colorado State University professor Rod Lucero calls the recency effect.

Teachers use closure to:

Check for understanding and inform subsequent instruction

Emphasize key information

Tie up loose ends

Correct misunderstandings

Students find closure helpful for:

Summarizing, reviewing, and demonstrating their understanding of major points

Consolidating and internalizing key information

Linking lesson ideas to a conceptual framework and/or previously-learned knowledge

Transferring ideas to new situations

Like contracting your bicep at the top of a dumbbell curl, closure squeezes an extra oomph into a lesson. See my favorite closure strategies below!

Creative Closure Activities
1. Snowstorm
Students write down what they learned on a piece of scratch paper and wad it up. Given a signal, they throw their paper snowballs in the air. Then each learner picks up a nearby response and reads it aloud.
2. High-Five Hustle
Ask students to stand up, raise their hands and high-five a peer -- their short-term hustle buddy. When there are no hands left, ask a question for them to discuss. Solicit answers. Then play " Do the Hustle" as a signal for them to raise their hands and high-five a different partner for the next question. (Source: Gretchen Bridgers)
3. Parent Hotline
Give students an interesting question about the lesson without further discussion. Email their guardians the answer so that the topic can be discussed over dinner.
4. Two-Dollar Summary
Kids write a two-dollar (or more) summary of the lesson. Each word is worth ten cents. For extra scaffolding, ask students to include specific words in their statement. (Source (PDF): Ann Lewis and Aleta Thompson)
5. Paper Slide
On paper, small groups sketch and write what they learned. Then team representatives line up and, one and a time, slide their work under a video camera while quickly summarizing what was learned. The camera doesn't stop recording until each representative has completed his or her summary.
6. DJ Summary
Learners write what they learned in the form of a favorite song. Offer extra praise if they sing.
7. Gallery Walk
On chart paper, small groups of students write and draw what they learned. After the completed works are attached to the classroom walls, others students affix Stickies to the posters to extend on the ideas, add questions, or offer praise.
8. Sequence It
Students can quickly create timelines with Timetoast to represent the sequence of a plot or historical events.
9. Low-Stakes Quizzes
Give a short quiz using technologies like Socrative, BubbleSheet, GoSoapBox, or Google Forms. Alternatively, have students write down three quiz questions (to ask at the beginning of the next class).

Have kids sketch a book cover. The title is the class topic. The author is the student. A short celebrity endorsement or blurb should summarize and articulate the lesson's benefits.
11. Question Stems
Have students write questions about the lesson on cards, using question stems framed around Bloom's Taxonomy. Have students exchange cards and answer the question they have acquired.

Kids answer the following prompts:

What takeaways from the lesson will be important to know three years from now?

Why?

13. Dramatize It
Have students dramatize a real-life application of a skill.
14. Beat the Clock
Ask a question. Give students ten seconds to confer with peers before you call on a random student to answer. Repeat.
15. Find a First-Grade Student
Have kids orally describe a concept, procedure, or skill in terms so simple that a child in first grade would get it.
16. Review It
Direct kids to raise their hands if they can answer your questions. Classmates agree (thumbs up) or disagree (thumbs down) with the response.
17. CliffsNotes, Jr.
Have kids create a cheat sheet of information that would be useful for a quiz on the day's topic. (Source (PDF): Ann Sipe, " 40 Ways to Leave a Lesson")
18. Students I Learned From the Most
Kids write notes to peers describing what they learned from them during class discussions.
19. Elevator Pitch
Ask students to summarize the main idea in under 60 seconds to another student acting as a well-known personality who works in your discipline. After summarizing, students should identify why the famous person might find the idea significant.
20. Simile Me
Have students complete the following sentence: "The [concept, skill, word] is like _______ because _______."
21. Exit Ticket Folder
Ask students to write their name, what they learned, and any lingering questions on a blank card or "ticket." Before they leave class, direct them to deposit their exit tickets in a folder or bin labeled either "Got It," "More Practice, Please," or "I Need Some Help!" -- whichever label best represents their relationship to the day's content. (Source: Erika Savage)
22. Out-the-Door Activity
After writing down the learning outcome, ask students to take a card, circle one of the following options, and return the card to you before they leave:

Stop (I'm totally confused.)

Go (I'm ready to move on.)

Proceed with caution (I could use some clarification on . . .)

Download the PDF cards for this exercise. (Source: Eduscapes)

These 22 strategies can be effectively altered or blended. And they are great opportunities to correct, clarify, and celebrate.

Do you use a closure activity that's not on this list? Please share it in the comments.

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22 Powerful Closure Activities | Edutopia

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Too many university supervisors and administrators criticize the absence of lesson closure, the activity that ends a lesson and creates a lasting impression. Like contracting your bicep at the top of a dumbbell curl, closure squeezes an extra oomph into a lesson. Find 22 closure strategies in this article by Todd Finley.

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Take a class to make teaching students to write manageable and enjoyable.

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Let's do it!

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Congratulations on signing up! Now let's make the challenge a smashing success. Feel free to watch this introduction video:

Introduction

Prepare

Preparation is everything. There are two things to do to get ready for the challenge:

Today: Get to know the keto low-carb challenge

Check out these four things to be ready to start on Sunday:

1. Introduction

A low-carb diet is about avoiding carbohydrates and replacing them with other, real foods.

In this challenge we make low carb simple. We'll tell you exactly what foods to get rid of. We then supply you with weekly shopping lists, weekly meal plans and all needed recipes.

Follow the plan and you'll stay under 20 grams of carbs per day. This is highly effective for weight loss and diabetes reversal.

You'll cook only once a day, for the amazing dinners. Breakfast is very quick - scrambled eggs or one of our other delicious options. Lunch is leftovers from yesterday's dinner, so you'll save lots of time as well.

Here are sample recipes, click for a closer look:

Print guide

For a detailed look at the entire meal plan and all recipes, check them out here:

Consider printing the meal plans, recipes and shopping lists if you want them available offline. Before you print the recipes or shopping lists, please note these two things:

You can switch between US and metric measurements.

Make sure you select the correct number of people you are shopping and cooking for. The amounts will update accordingly.

2. Adjust

Most people can do the low-carb challenge right away. But in these three situations you may need additional preparation or adjustment:

Are you on medication for diabetes, e.g. insulin? Learn more

Are you on medication for high blood pressure? Learn more

Are you breastfeeding? Learn more

If you're not in any of these groups, you're ready to go. Great!

3. Tell

We recommend letting people you live with (like your family) know what you plan to do. Their support will make it easier for you to succeed. Perhaps they even want to join you?

Here's a one-page document that you can hand out to explain what this is about.

4. Schedule

Lastly, schedule 2-3 hours on Sunday afternoon for final preparations for the challenge. Among other things, you'll go shopping and you'll finish by cooking and eating a delicious dinner.

Bonus

Get daily inspiration on Facebook by liking our site.

Do you want to know more about how to eat a low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet? Watch this 11-minute introductory video course to learn the most important concepts:

Sunday - preparations & start

It's time! Today - Sunday - is when you start changing your life. Good luck!

Follow all the preparations - total time needed is 2-3 hours - and the upcoming week will be a breeze. Start in the early afternoon and end with a delicious dinner.

You have four important things to do:

1. Clean-out

Get rid of all the bad carbs in your pantry and fridge. Doing so massively improves your chances of success. Here's how - please do it now.

Thinking of bailing out already? If so, you could perhaps benefit from watching our video course on sugar addiction.

2. Shop

Time to buy some great food!

The week 1 shopping list contains all the food that you need for the entire first week of the challenge.

NOTE: When using or printing the shopping list, make sure you select the appropriate number of people you're shopping for. Also, for your convenience, you can select US or metric measurements.

Consider checking what you already have in your kitchen before you go shopping, to avoid buying duplicates of spices etc.

Here are two more items that you may want to pick up today if you don't already have them around:

Scale (for weighing yourself)

Measuring tape

3. Measure

Tracking your progress is essential so document three things before you start:

Weight

Waist circumference - use a measuring tape around your waistline, just above your belly button.

Take a full-body picture - ask a friend or take a selfie via a mirror.

4. Cook

Now you're ready to get started! Cook the absolutely delicious keto Asian cabbage stir-fry - you've already bought the ingredients. Make sure to cook enough so there are leftovers for lunch tomorrow (i.e. you need 2 servings per person).
Keto Asian cabbage stir-fry
No need to count calories. Eat as much as you need to feel satisfied. Enjoy!

Put the leftovers in the fridge for tomorrow.

Continue to Monday Week 1

Q & A

Do you have questions about this challenge? Check out the Questions and Answers page.

Optional question

Help us improve this guide. Answer this quick question in the comments below:
What's your number one question or worry about this challenge?

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Congratulations on signing up! Now let's make the challenge a smashing success. Feel free to watch this introduction video: Introduction Prepare Preparation is everything. There are two things to do to get ready for the challenge: Today - Get to know the keto low-carb challenge (15 minutes) Sunday - Preparations & start (2-3 hours)...