Reflect after reading Chapters 8-11:
As you begin to imagine a full lesson in a thinking classroom, what practices will support student autonomy and ownership? How will you know if the practices are working?
Consider the following questions:
- What is resonating with you from the reading?
- What caused you to pause and think during this section?
Respond and Interact
After reading these chapters, please post your response to one {or more} of the prompts above. Read our colleagues' reflections. Feel free to respond to someone by sharing a comment, insight or interesting possibility.
I loved everything about your reflection this week, Diana! I was nodding and smiling in agreement as I read it. One of the highlights in this section for me for me was near the end of Chapter 8, "Rather than being the source of knowledge in the room, teachers were working to mobilize the knowledge already in the room." It's hard for us not to respond to every single question that gets fired our way...we need to be intentional about mobilizing the knowledge instead of being the source of knowledge!
ReplyDeleteThe connection that Peter observed in relation to hand raising and group interaction was interesting to me! When the practice of hand raising decreased the practice of active and passive group interactions increased. It also hadn't occurred to me to model both active and passive interactions, definitely a helpful move.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of getting students in and keeping them in flow resonates. I feel like in my writing instruction and as part of the writing workshop I am able to accomplish the "just right" balance with this. The conferring that I do with my writers 1:1 allows me to give individual teaching points (in addition to the whole group lesson) that helps to keep students in the flow, gives them just enough challenge to nudge them forward in their writing development. Admittedly, finding the write balance of keeping students in flow in math feels challenging to me! I am hoping that as I continue to use this curriculum and feel more comfortable with it, this concept of striking the flow balance will feel less arduous to me.
It will feel so much better next year, Sara! Every one of our early implementers/math leaders have shared that. The pacing, the flow, the intentionality...year two is something to look forward to! 🥳
DeleteI really value note taking and have been very intentional in teaching students how they can annotate to fit their needs, but find myself having a hard time when they don't make notes. Having the move of keeping the emphasis on notes being "by them and for them" is helpful for me as well as my students because if they don't take the time to write the notes then they are the ones who suffer for it and will adjust to help themselves (hopefully). I really love the note about telling students to write notes to their future forgetful selves because they see me do it all the time and consistently remind me. 😜
ReplyDeleteI love this! I totally feel that challenge with not having them all do the same things, but it is so fascinating to see how they support each other and how the knowledge moves around. I am so excited for you to be able to add vertical working surfaces to your routine after reading what your class is already doing. I have been doing it for a couple of weeks and the changes are astounding! I also like the idea of having students who are finished with a task go to the carpet and meet up with someone else to discuss. I think Renae shared your practice in our flat panel class actually!
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