Building Cultures of Thinking

In Our Classrooms and Schools

Emily Freeman @emmytbots

ectfreeman@me.com

The Schroeder StoryOne ordinary staff on an extraordinary journey.

“We are champions of our colleagues’ success. It’s a think tank, not a shark tank!”

-Lauren Childs

2010-11PACE gone, Ellen Cale became Differentiation Resource Teacher

Visible Thinking on the horizon

Approached our 2nd grade team to “try out” VT in our classrooms, with the goal being a “bubble up” effect in the building.

Understanding of building culture - not a “jump right in” staff!

Commitment to building leadership necessary

Long-term movement

Actions Key Takeaways

2011-122nd Grade “pilots”

Principal support: bought the team books, gave us 1/2 day PD with Ellen, arranged field trips to Bloomfield Hills

Trying routines in classrooms - began to notice a shift in what kinds of responses and engagement we were getting from students.

Some routines were more successful than others

Importance of ROUTINE in using routines became clear

Presented to staff - seen as activities; not much buy-in

Actions Key Takeaways

2012-13Cohort 1 with principal

Principal mandated routine during formal observation

Whole-staff collaboration with demonstration lessons

Informal breakfast meetings

LOTS of anxiety on staff

Demo lessons were a big turning point - staff could “see”it for the first time

Informal meetings built trust; “Celebrations and Challenges”

Team of 8 to 4-day workshop in June

Actions Key Takeaways

2013-14New, larger leadership team planned four whole-staff collaborations

Cohort 2 with principal

Moving beyond routines with the 8 Cultural Forces

Incorporated reflection and goal-setting

Shifting from routine-dependent to learning-focused

Trust-building is ongoing!

Opportunities for open dialogue is critical

Staff survey identified Language as area to focus on

Actions Key Takeaways

2014-15Teacher labs focused on use of Language in the classroom

County-wide visit

Breakfast meetings reinstated

Summer book club

Teacher labs helped teachers feel more comfortable about opening classrooms

County-wide visit was a real confidence booster for all staff

Camaraderie and trust continue to be important!

Actions Key Takeaways

What CoT Has Given our StudentsMoving from teacher-centered to student-centered classrooms

Values every child

No more “They either get it or they don’t!”

Whoever is doing the most talking is doing the most learning

Gives students ownership

What CoT Has Given our TeachersConfidence! Our practice is more aligned with our teaching philosophy.

Deeper knowledge of our students…

Surprises!

Drives us to keep learning and growing as a staff

And…

Evaluations!

Culture-Buildingbegins with your building culture!

“For classrooms to be cultures of thinking for students, schools must be cultures of thinking for teachers.”

-Ron Ritchhart

ConsensogramsChoose a word card from the table.

Find the person who has the antonym.

Explore each consensogram together.

Place your dot along the continuum.

Don’t be shy!

Honor your colleagues’ feelings and perceptions, even if they don’t match your own.

What do we notice?What is there to celebrate?

What do we see that worries us?

What do we need to address?

Focusing on Learning Over Work

Who’s doing the heavy lifting?“When we hold the expectation that understanding is a chief goal of learning…, then our teaching becomes focused on deep rather than surface learning.”

-Ron Ritchhart, Building Cultures of Thinking p. 7

Minds of Our OwnUse the 3-2-1 Bridge routine to track your thinking after each clip:

3 words that come to mind

2 questions the clip brings up

1 simile, analogy or metaphor that captures your thinking

Between clips, use the Bridge to make connections. How has your thinking shifted?

Teaching vs. Learning

In thinking about the two classrooms in Minds of Our Own:

What was the difference in teacher/student roles?

How was language used in both classes?

What can we say about getting work done vs. focusing on learning?

Crafting Learning Targets

Setting Purpose for Meaningful Learning

“Teachers increase the likelihood that students will view tasks and assignments as worthwhile when students are able to see the purpose behind them…”

The Difference“…This is not a simple matter of stating one’s objectives and goals as many schools require, however… Instead, it [is] the ability of the teacher to place the activity within the context of a larger goal or enterprise that [makes] it worthwhile.”

Ron Ritchhart, Creating Cultures of Thinking, p. 165

Identify Big IdeasWhat are the overarching unit goals, the core content understanding that we want students to understand?

Understanding takes significant time. Choose a narrow set of essential questions to drive learning.

Share the essential questions with students to frame the unit. Plan on returning to them often.

What is air? Where is air?

What can air do? How do we know air

is there?

Identify Lesson GoalHow does today’s lesson or activity relate to the larger goal?

What will students do to further their understanding?

This can be your “I can” statement.

I can construct a parachute and test it under different

conditions. I can observe how a parachute interacts

with air.

Tie It All TogetherAlways return the class to a discussion of your essential questions at the end of a lesson.

Help students see how today’s learning fits with what they have already discovered.

Document changes in the class’s thinking.

The activity we do today is always in service of building a larger understanding.

What questions have we answered

today? What did we SEE that added to or

changed our thinking?

Connect-Extend-ChallengeHow does this connect with your experience using learning targets? (What seems familiar or similar to what you already do?)

How does this extend your understanding of learning targets? (What new ideas does this give you?)

What do you find to be a challenge in this model of thinking about learning targets?

Break Time!We will begin again at 11:05

Creating Opportunities

“Bumping up” Existing Tasks “Routines are content-neutral. Think of them as containers that you fill with rich content. Without good content, routines aren’t meaningful”

-Ron Ritchhart, Cohort I Professional Development

Video Lesson DebriefWho was doing the heavy lifting? What were the student and teacher roles?

What moves could you take into your classroom?

What actual MATH was learned? What core content understanding was being developed?

What learning target could we craft?

What do we see here?

What do we think it means?

78 + = 146 + 2 = 80 + 20 = 100 + 46 = 146

68

Sitting in the Learner’s Seat

Demo Lesson DebriefHow did it feel as a learner? What were the student and teacher roles?

What moves could you take into your classroom?

What actual MATH was learned?

What learning target could we craft?

Planning for Student Thinking

Creating more opportunities for thinking by bumping up tasks

Tips for creating thinking opportunities with Zoom-In

Select a task with multiple steps. These become natural break points for zooming in.

Consider something you know to be confusing to students. They are often confused by our directions! Students understand better when they come to it on their own, by wrestling with the unfamiliar.

Choose something that already has a visual model for you to use. No need to reinvent the wheel!

Think about the math content understanding that students will be developing beyond knowing how to do a certain algorithm. This will help guide your discussion/questioning and tell you when it’s time to move on.

Craft a learning target that uses the language of learning over work. Return to those deeper mathematical understandings to guide you.

Charting Your CourseWhat will you need to move forward in your planning for classroom instruction that focuses on learning over work?

What excites you about moving forward with this work?

What suggestions do you have to share with others about moving forward?

What worries you?

CreditsMinds of Their Own video clips can be found at http://www.learner.org/resources/series26.html#

2 Rule Frames and Arrows lesson adapted from Everyday Math Grade 2 Teacher’s Edition

Adding Up lesson adapted from Math Expressions Grade 2 Teacher’s Edition

Ron Ritchhart quotes came from the books Making Thinking Visible and Creating Cultures of Thinking.

Two quotes came from Cultures of Thinking Cohort 1 professional development workshops through Oakland Schools, 2012-13 school year (Lauren Childs and Ron Ritchhart)

FOSS science unit planning materials for Air and Weather Module can be found here: http://www.fossweb.com/delegate/ssi-wdf-ucm-webContent?dDocName=D980854

“Break Time” photo attribution: Kansas Jayhawks 2008 NCAA Basketball National Champions—Street Party by M31. https://www.flickr.com/photos/morphomir/2407451929

Compass illustration by Alan Kim, https://www.flickr.com/photos/igraph/8231264538/

Consensogram photo: http://gingersnapstreatsforteachers.blogspot.com/2011/08/for-assessment.html

“Crafting Learning Targets” ideas were adapted from Understanding by Design, by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

“Teaching vs. Learning” comic strip is from the Tiger series by Bud Blake. Find out more about the comic strip here: http://comicskingdom.com/tiger