Visible Thinking

I just finished watching the Visible Thinking DVD and was blown away by how rich and deep the discussions and conversations among the students were as well as the level of understanding they were able to demonstrate.  Watching how the different thinking routines work from children in Kindergarten to students in Grade 6 was really remarkable!  It was also great to see examples of how teachers were also able to facilitate discussions and provide feedback.

I’m always blown away by how much such a simple question as “What makes you say that?” or “Why do you think that is?” shows profound evidence of how students ‘think’ through connections they make and their reflections based on their own experiences.  Reflecting on my own practice, I was always more concerned with if a child is able to give me the ‘right’ answer or what I ‘think’ is the right answer and did not put much thought as to how that understanding came to be.  Now I know to be more cognizant of the fact that I need to incorporate more of these questions to make my students’ learning more visible to ME.  (After reading what I wrote, I can’t believe I’ve used the thinking routine: I used to think…Now I think… once again)

I also noticed a common thread among the thinking routines that is crucial in making learning meaningful and lasting for the students, and this is that these routines do not end with the students acquiring the basic knowledge or achieving a skill or goal of an activity but it takes their learning ‘beyond’ what they know and extends it so the students pursue new questions and directions.  This in turn makes learning very personal and therefore making students fully vested in delving deeper in the topic and their own learning.   For more information about Visible Thinking, visit: http://pzweb.harvard.edu/vt/