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Thinking Skills

Session 3: 29th January 2014

CPD: Thinking Skills

Dates:
Wed 16th Oct 2013: method one Thurs 5th Dec 2013: sharing experiences and method two Wed 29th Jan 2014: sharing experiences and method three Between 29th Jan 9th April: a peer observation should take place Wed 9th April 2014: sharing and planning for the future

This session:
1. Sharing experiences of Thinkers Keys i. How did you use them? ii. How did it go? iii. Any advice? 2. Method three: Arthur Costas Habits of Mind i. Overview ii. Examples of task-setting iii. Planning time iv. Evaluation

CPD: Thinking Skills

How did you use them? How did it go? Any advice?

CPD: Thinking Skills

Art Costas Habits of Mind

CPD: Thinking Skills

A Habit of Mind means having a disposition towards behaving intelligently when confronted with problems, the answers to which are not immediately known (Costa)

What good habits do we want students to have?

CPD: Thinking Skills

CPD: Thinking Skills

From AtL grade descriptors:


Highly motivated Takes responsibility for own learning Acts on advice Reflects on own learning Uses a range of resources (not dependent on teacher alone) Enjoys problem solving and looking at a problem from different perspectives Asks thoughtful questions Wants to learn Seeks new challenges Prepared to take risks and learn from mistakes Highly organised and prepared

CPD: Thinking Skills

Costas Habits of Mind is a list of sixteen habits of

thought and action to help students manage uncertain or


challenging situations.
When we teach for the Habits of Mind, we are interested also in how students behave when they don't know an answer. The Habits of Mind are performed in response to questions and problems, the answers to which are not immediately known. We are interested in enhancing the ways students produce knowledge rather than how they merely reproduce it. We want students to learn how to develop a critical stance with their work: inquiring, editing, thinking flexibly, and learning from another person's perspective.

CPD: Thinking Skills

The focus of this session will not be how to teach students these habits of mind, but how we as teachers can encourage them in students via our approach to learning.

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #1: PERSISTING Stick to it!


Trying different strategies Finding different ways to reach your goals Remaining focused
We can encourage this by: Equipping students with a range of different strategies to use. Students often give up if they dont immediately know the answer. We need to supply them with different ways of working it out. Making a range of sources of information or evidence available Outlining how to begin, what steps must be performed, what data must be generated or collected, and what resources are available to assist

Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they never quit. Conrad Hilton

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #2: MANAGING IMPULSIVITY Take your time!


Thinking before acting Choose your response Think time and wait time e.g. count to three before call out
We can encourage this by: Expecting students to think about their answer before calling out. Build in a pattern of thinking and sharing: individual -> pair -> table -> class. The students evaluate these different points of view and share the best ones. Asking students for two answers/possibilities rather than just one. Ensuring students understand directions by including activities which ask them to clarify and express this understanding, e.g. highlighting and annotating key words; allocating an expert role to a student who is responsible for offering help to others who dont understand; teaching note-making strategies. Before you start up a ladder, count the rungs. - Yiddish proverb

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #3: LISTENING WITH EMPATHY & UNDERSTANDING

Understand others
Understanding where another person is coming from Considering another point of view LISTENING versus HEARING
We can encourage this by: Asking students to paraphrase another students idea Asking students to probe, clarify or pose questions that extend an idea or piece of work, then allowing time to re-draft based on these ideas Building time to respond to other students thoughts and ideas into lessons; allowing students time to respond to the feedback they received Providing phrases for students to use when offering and responding to feedback: Im not sure I understand Can you explain what you mean by I see why ____ views it that way Listening is the beginning of understanding. Wisdom is the reward for a lifetime of listening. Proverbs 1.5

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #4: THINKING FLEXIBLY Look at it another way


Being able to change perspectives, generate alternatives, consider options.
We can encourage this by:
Building a pattern of thinking and sharing into lessons: individual -> pair -> table -> class. The students evaluate these different points of view and share the best ones. Asking students to generate more than one idea: teach brainstorming strategies; group work Asking students to state several ways of solving the same problem/ alternate ways of achieving the learning objective or stated outcome of the lesson Teach students how to evaluate the merits and consequences of these alternative courses of action Peer-assessment No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it. We must learn to see the world anew. -Albert Einstein

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #5: Thinking about your thinking METACOGNITION - Know your knowing
Being aware of your own thoughts, strategies, feelings & actions Reflecting what works and what doesnt work?
We can encourage this by: Being aware of the kind of thinking going on in our classroom. Can the students describe the type of thinking/ process? Can they make a judgement on whether or not it was effective? Ask students to share their problem-solving strategies with their peers. Making time in lessons for reflection: students should be able to talk about what and how they are learning: How did you figure that out? What steps did you take? What is your next step? What will you do next time? When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself. Plato

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #6: STRIVING FOR ACCURACY Check it again


Striving for your personal best Set high standards Getting it right doing it better Taking pride in your work

We can encourage this by: Giving students time in lessons to respond to marking corrections, spellings etc. Building in time and expectation for green pen marking Not accepting sloppy or incomplete work Allowing time for target setting, building on and responding to previous targets Providing model work and allowing students to compare their work to these models Prompting re-checking and re-doing, not just correcting mistakes A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake. Confucius

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #7: QUESTIONING & POSING PROBLEMS How do you know?


Having a questioning attitude Knowing what data you need Developing questioning strategies
We can encourage this by: Valuing questions in the classroom. Model questioning techniques and teach the students how to question and motivate each other via peer-assessment. Encouraging students to ask and answer questions: How do you know? What evidence do you have? How reliable is your source? Where can you find...? Whose viewpoint is this? What others exist? What if...? Why...?

Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.

- Voltaire

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #8: APPLYING PAST KNOWLEDGE TO NEW SITUATIONS Use what you learn!
Access prior knowledge Take knowledge beyond the situation in which it was learned
We can encourage this by: Providing opportunities for students to explain what they are doing now with analogies or references to past experiences/learning Making clear links between past and current learning; encouraging students to do the same, e.g. in target setting or planning an approach to their work Making comparisons to other learning within and outside of our own subject areas Using questions: How can I draw on my past experiences? What do I already know? What resources do I have available or need to generate? I've never made a mistake. I've only learned from experience. Thomas A. Edison

CPD: Thinking Skills

CPD: Thinking Skills

How well do these link to the AtL descriptors?

CPD: Thinking Skills

Link the Habits to the AtL descriptors:


Highly motivated Takes responsibility for own learning Acts on advice Reflects on own learning Uses a range of resources (not dependent on teacher alone) Enjoys problem solving and looking at a problem from different perspectives Asks thoughtful questions Wants to learn Seeks new challenges Prepared to take risks and learn from mistakes Highly organised and prepared

CPD: Thinking Skills

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #9: THINKING & COMMUNICATING WITH CLARITY AND PRECISION Be clear!
Being accurate when talking and writing Avoiding over generalising, distorting, deleting, exaggerating
We can encourage this by: Discouraging fuzzy language, e.g. everyone thinks... Modelling clear language in the classroom: instructions, displays, worksheets etc. Use terminology and specialist language when speaking as well as writing; support students in doing the same via displays, key words etc. Speaking and writing in full sentences; expect students to do the same Encouraging students to provide evidence for their ideas, justifying and clarifying their points and ideas Allowing time for students to prepare and re-draft written and spoken assessments, with a focus on clarity and precision "I have made this letter long, only because I lacked the time to make it short. - Blaise Pascal, French philosopher

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #10: GATHERING DATA THROUGH ALL SENSES Use your natural pathways
Tasting, smelling, touching, moving, listening, seeing Gathering different sorts of data
We can encourage this by:
Using our surroundings! If you can go outside, go outside Asking the students to come up with different ways of gathering data, encouraging a range of ideas Modelling a range of strategies in classroom activities: visualising; building a model; feeling textures; acting out/movement/dancing; listening to music Offering a range of sources which appeal to different senses; catering for different learning styles Encouraging students to participate, not just observe To know a wine it must be drunk; to know a role it must be acted; to know a game it must be played; to know a dance it must be performed; to know a goal it must be envisioned. Costa

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #11: CREATING, IMAGINING, INNOVATING Try a different way


Coming up with new ideas Being original
We can encourage this by: Encouraging original ideas and new approaches (including that based on past learning) Generating nuggets of ideas for the students to build on (see: Thinkers Keys) Giving students options and possibilities, allowing for open-ended results Encouraging the idea that creativity can be learned and that not being able to... is not the end of the story; students should take risks/venture outside of their comfort zone Allowing criticism/feedback as a positive force via peer-assessment

The future is not some place we are going to but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination. John Schaar, political scientist

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #12: RESPONDING WITH WONDERMENT & AWE Have fun figuring it out
Being passionate, amazed, intrigued Love doing what you are doing
We can encourage this by:

Modelling a positive, passionate approach to our subject Being contagiously enthusiastic Are we doing something fun today? > Did you have fun today? Displaying an attitude of I can and I enjoy and encouraging students to do the same Encouraging curiosity and allowing time in lessons to go off plan if its interesting and the students are enjoying learning Remembering why we love our chosen subject

The most beautiful experience in the world is the experience of the mysterious. Albert Einstein

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #13: TAKING RESPONSIBLE RISKS Venture out!


Trying something new Going outside your comfort zone and taking a risk
We can encourage this by:

Creating a safe space for risk taking Not letting nervous students opt out; instead, think of ways to make the task ahead more accessible for them Framing mistakes and wrong answers in a positive light: what can we learn from them? Using encouraging language: Lets try it What the worst that can happen if we try? Well only learn from it
"The only way to succeed is to be brave enough to risk failure Bobby Jindal

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #14: FINDING HUMOUR Laugh a little!


Seeing the funny side of things Being able to laugh at ourselves Not about putting others down
We can encourage this by:

Using humour to relieve tension or to liven up lessons Making clear the difference between messing around and using humour to increase productivity clear guidelines must be set and agreed to Encouraging students to poke fun at themselves, not others: humour should be found in the right places, not in profanity, violence, social injustice etc. Being aware of the positive power of laughter: it increases creativity and originality; provokes higher-level thinking skills such as anticipating, visual imaging, creating analogies etc.; creates an atmosphere of bonding and connection
You can increase your brain power three to fivefold simply by laughing and having fun before working on a problem. Doug Hall

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #15: THINKING INTERDEPENDENTLY Work together!


Working with others Learning from others Team work
We can encourage this by: Teaching students how to work in groups effectively e.g. assign roles, responsibilities, use De Bonos Thinking Hats Not allowing reluctant students to opt out of group work; instead, think of a way to make them able to participate safely and effectively Encouraging students to share their ideas on tables and in groups; to evaluate and peerassess Setting expectations for positive criticism and feedback; fostering a willingness to accept and respond to this positively Take care of each other. Share your energies with the group. No one must feel alone, cut off, for that is when you do not make it. Willie Unsoeld, mountain climber

CPD: Thinking Skills

Habit #16: REMAINING OPEN TO CONTINUOUS LEARNING I have so much more to learn!
Admitting you dont know Resisting complacency Enjoying learning for learnings sake
We can encourage this by:

Ensuring the classroom is a safe space to admit I dont know Being open to admitting that we dont know all the answers ourselves Allowing time for students to find out the answers and rewarding this behaviour Making sure extension work is appropriate and interesting for all abilities Valuing learning as much as knowing Building on past targets and identifying future goals

The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds. John F. Kennedy

CPD: Thinking Skills

How could you use the Habits of Mind in your subject area?
How many of these habits do you already include in your lessons? How could you include them more explicitly?

What you do speaks so loudly, they can't hear what you say.
Think about which Habits of Mind you personally would like to improve. How can you include this more explicitly in your lessons? What strategies would you use?

Use the website and resources to help you come up with some ideas.
http://independentlearningatkeswick.weebly.com/staff---route-three.html

CPD: Thinking Skills

What is our response to the Habits of Mind?

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. - Aristotle

CPD: Thinking Skills

Next session: Wed 9th April 2014 Before then, you need to pair up for peer observations. The lesson you observe should feature one of the methods weve covered during our sessions.

To help: http://independentlearningatkeswick.weebly.com/staff---route-three.html

CPD: Thinking Skills

Next session: Wed 9th April 2014

The final session will be spent writing up a short review or account of one of the methods you have used in class. These will be shared with your colleagues via the Independent Learning website and (possibly) an INSET session. Please bring photographs, samples of pupil work and any resources you are happy to share.
To help: http://independentlearningatkeswick.weebly.com/staff---route-three.html

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