Study Group Update

Wow!  I can't believe it's already 2011!  Ricci and I have been very busy with using "Thinking Routines" and sharing what we learned from the Project Zero Institute to our colleagues.  We were able to organize a study group that meets every month to discuss the importance of making 'Thinking' front and center in our classroom.  We have also been sharing a thinking routine each month and sharing ideas on how the teachers have used them, how they adapted them for their student population and specific subject area/activity.  So far, teachers have noted some changes in their student's thinking and thinking disposition. Teachers have also reported how useful the thinking routines are for getting deeper in a topic and revealing information about their student's previous experiences.  For more information about the specific thinking routines we have already tried.  Visit our school's Study Group website here: Project Zero Study Group.

As for me, I have been busy reading and getting immersed in the whole concept of 'Teaching for Understanding.'  I have been reading "The Thinking Classroom" by Shari Tishman, David Perkins and Eileen Jay and getting some really good insight on how to move forward and create a culture of thinking not only in my classroom but also the whole school.  :)

3 Visionaries

In establishing our study group, I was reminded about the 3 Visionaries, David Perkins talked about the last plenary session at the institute.  He said that for change to happen, you need to have 3 Visionaries:

1. Conceptual Visionary
2. Political Visionary
3.  Practical Visionary

The conceptual visionary in our case I would guess would be Ricci and I since we are bringing this concept/idea back from the Project Zero Institute.

The political visionary would be our school administration (principal, assistant principal) who is supporting and allowing us create this study group.

The practical visionary would also be Ricci and myself for implementing it in our classroom and organizing the effort in having a group of teachers explore the ideals.

As of our last study group meeting, we have 12-15 teachers who consistently attend the meetings.  We are so happy that there is so much interest in creating a culture of thinking in our school. :)

Thinking Keys: Shaving Cream

Today, I experimented using the Thinking Keys with one of the most basic materials we use in Pre-K: shaving cream.  I thought I would use the Thinking Keys to introduce it.  In my experience teaching, shaving cream has always been a hit with the children.  They just love exploring it, feeling the texture, and drawing and writing on it.  For this activity, I divided the children in groups of 4-5 since having 20 children playing with shaving cream at the same time was just not feasible.

I started with the FORM key and the question: What is it like? The children were very excited touching it and exploring it that the vocabulary that came with it was just great! They said it was white, soft, sticky, stinky, smells good, smooth, fluffy and gooey.   Since I teach in an inclusive classroom with children with special needs and their typically developing peers, this activity lent itself to building their vocabulary.

The second was FUNCTION and the question: How does it work?  The discussion got more exciting as the children started thinking about what it is for.  They said that they use it to wash their hands, one said he saw his dad use it on his face, and another said it is what his mom uses to clean the carpet.

The third and fourth keys were the CONNECTION and REFLECTION key.  Here my students were really able to connect to their background knowledge and experiences as they thought about how it is like something they have seen before and I followed their connections with the question: How do you know to really get deeper into the reasoning behind their answer.  A lot of them associated it with ice cream and icing but they also said you can't eat it because it smells bad.  Some said it looks like snow but it can't be snow since snow does not have a smell and it was not cold like snow.  Another child responded that it looked and smelled like soap or hand wash that they have at home.

Using the Thinking Keys definitely added the thinking dimension to this activity.  Unlike before, conversations around this activity only revolved around what they are making or drawing on it.  This time aside from playing and exploring such a fun material as shaving cream, the students were able to use and build their vocabulary, connect to their background experiences and practice reasoning skills in providing evidence for their claims.  Hurray for the Thinking Keys!!!

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/

“Wild” About David Perkins!

With David Perkins

I came into the Project Zero Classrooms (PZC) Institute with the question – How will I be able to apply the Multiple Intelligences Theory in my classroom? This question may not have been directly answered (my Mini Class was not able to clearly address this) but it did not matter to me anymore because I discovered David Perkins. Not that I’m NOT amazed with Howard Gardner, I will still write about him in my future blogs. But David Perkins… what can I say? I’m a big fan.

My first encounter with David Perkins was during the Plenary Session when he talked about “The Tame and the Wild.” I have never seen anybody refer to teaching and learning as something that is “tame” or “wild.” Think of this contrast in terms of your lesson and your teaching strategy. Most of the topics we teach in class are considered tame – the quadratic formula, the 52 States, how to diagram a sentence, the four causes of the industrial revolution, etc. These topics are deemed tame because most students may not take interest in them, they are not “wild” about them. As David Perkins said – “Good tame illuminates the wild. And bad tame eliminates the wild.” Just imagine having a Wild-o-meter. Where will your lesson fall into that meter? Will it be so boringly tame? Or will it be confusingly wild? What we need to do is to order and organize the learning process to probably strike a balance to make students respond to learning and gain understanding of lessons being taught.

So what tames the wild? If you look at your curriculum or framework, most of the concepts may seem wild or difficult to teach, it will make you ask yourself “How can I teach this so my students can understand?” If you are teaching something “wild” what is needed is to build accessibility. First is teach the elements of things. Buildup the component skills of the lesson but not get caught up with “elementitis” where we just all get stuck with teaching the content without assessing student understanding. Second, teach about things, such as definitions and rules. Then again, be careful not contracting “aboutitis” and make students focus on memorizing information which they will eventually forget. And finally, teach the “Junior versions” of the lesson, sort of like simplifying the lesson for easier understanding and then build on that as a base for deeper understanding.

Now, what wilds the tame? Think about those concepts that seem to be boring to teach. How can students be “wild” about it to the point of talking about it, thinking about it, doing something about it? First, use The Skating Principle – “Learning for understanding is more like learning to skate than learning about skating.” Teach students to think authentically and to engage in work deeply. And another one is The Scaling Principle. Look at ideas on a wider scope. Ask student to compare or interpret more than just learning about “one official version.” Students want to see the relevance of the lesson and what they can generate from it.

The Tame and the Wild – what a way of analyzing teaching and student understanding! It is quite amazing how he actually used the metaphor in talking about teaching, learning and understanding. Now I always bring my “Wild-o-meter” with me as I plan my lessons and activities. I also find myself using this contrast in other aspects of my life. This why I’m wild about David Perkins! I am changed. Brazil?!?!?

PZC: Day 5

Project Zero Classroom on Prezi

For our final study group session, I made this presentation to illustrate how and why I chose my question and steps I need to start my plan.

PZC: Day 3

with Ron Ritchhart

THINKING ROUTINES.  This is the buzz-word today as I attended Ron Ritchhart's session on "Thinking Routines: Establishing Patterns of Thinking in the Classroom."  (He is the principal investigator of the Cultures of Thinking project).  Before the session, I assumed I was attending something about graphic organizers since the description mentioned about 'making thinking visible' and as a teacher I'm always in the lookout for new tools and strategies that I can use and implement in my classroom.  What I didn't realize is that what they meant about 'making thinking visible' is making students' thinking visible to 'ME' as the teacher and not just the literal meaning of visibility by having products or visuals.  For example, using the thinking routine, "I used to think...and now I think..." demonstrates how the child's thinking changed and evolved as a result of instruction.  Finally, it was also very powerful to internalize that 'understanding'  bridges the gap between ability and acting.

For our study group, we continue to work on our questions and this time we tried the protocol for considering evidence.  What I found really surprising is how voicing out your concerns and questions, and having collegial conversation and discussion can help bring clarity to my thinking and "unclutter" my mind :)