Team Buffaloes

Ana Gil

American
International
A Window into AISM Brooks Lüscher
School of

Visible Thinking
Mozambique
Cynthia Munzanga

Harvard
Danae Pino
Visible Thinking
Online Course
Wanita Woithe

September 2017
Introduction
Our group is comprised of five highly motivated and dedicated educators. Each of us has brought to the table a unique set of skills
and knowledge. We are representative of a range of primary school educators; from early childhood, grade one, grade five and
additional language. Each of us has been witness to incredible growth in the thinking skills of each individual student. It has been
an incredible journey for us and a collaborative passage leading to permanent changes in teaching and learning. We are determined
to continue and sustain the development of a culture of thinking at AISM.

This window represents one possible way to document our learning journey throughout the course. We have chosen to organize our
window based on the Thinking Dispositions and have selected three Visible Thinking Routines for each of the Thinking Dispositions.

We highlighted our own learning journey by embedding the Claim-Support-Question (C-S-Q) routine in each of our reflections. For
each context, we have formulated a personal claim, the evidence to support our claim is based on our observations of students’
interactions and the responses we have documented during the process. We finalize with one or more lingering questions,
wonderings, puzzles.

The photographs illustrate some of the resources used and samples of students’ responses to display evidence of student voice.

The following snapshots give the context for each class and the variety of subjects and Grades in our team.
 Ana Gil teaches Brooks is an
As an IB school, AISM
Grades 3, 4, 5 beginner ELC teacher working
values thinking and
Portuguese as the with multi age group
reflection.
host country 3-4 year olds.
language.

Danae teaches Wanita teaches

Cynthia is a Grade 1 Grade 5
Grade 1
teacher.
Reasoning
Pilobolus Dance group video
Teacher: What did you see?
Abdallah: We see an elephant and a car.
Teacher: What made you say that?
Abdallah: Because the people made
them together.
Teacher: How do you know?
Abdallah: Because we saw them make it
in the video.
Juliette: I did see the men do the
elephant and the car. I saw them make
it.
Teacher: How do you know they made
an elephant and a car?
Juliette: With all of them.
Abdallah: They used their whole bodies.
Victoria: It was black..
C: What Makes You Say
That? allows students to
describe what they see or
experience and support
their observations with
evidence. They are able to
use and interact with new
vocabulary
S: It gave students an
opportunity to experience
the idea of light and
shadows and make
connections from prior
experience. They were able
to connect with the
statements of others and
develop new
understandings.
Q: Could I have chosen an
activity that was more hands
on?
Trying out Kahoot as a tool to C: Claim, Support, Question provides space for
learn Portuguese reasoning that goes beyond simplistic responses.
S: Instead of just saying that playing Kahoot is fun,
the students could express their reasoning by
explaining how the tool supports their learning in
Portuguese.
Q: I wonder if this VTR could be the recurrent
structure to explore different learning tools.
Reflecting on using Visible Thinking Routines
C: What Makes You Say That? validates reasoning as it brings depth to students’
thinking.
S: When we ask for students’ reasoning with a simple “Why?” some respond “I don’t
know” but using this routine made students consider what exactly is on their minds,
which helps others make an effort to explain what they are also thinking.
Q: How do I know if students are not just saying what they think I want to hear?
Julie: It helps organize my thinking. I Ben: It helps me process the problem or the equation.
Faraz: It really challenges my thinking when I have to think so
can do better at thinking. When you
write in a piece of paper, you can much.
come back to your thinking. Isak: I will make my answer better the next time because you
can always answer a question and make better to make it easier
Lisa: It is easy to say what you are
thinking. for you to learn.
Toko: It helps give reasons why. But Sammy: It helps me understand what we are doing in
it is also hard to come up with ideas. Portuguese. It makes me feel I can speak actual Portuguese.
Francis: It helps me understand why we are speaking
Portuguese to other people.
Comparing and Connecting
Drama Performance of Skellig C: 3-2-1-Bridge engages students in synthesizing
C: Headlines require students to reflect and synthesise the perceptions, in describing their feelings and in
essence or core of a situation.
comparing points-of-view.
S: The students debated their point of view about the
message they drew from the story. This gave them the S: It gave students the opportunity to
opportunity to ask further questions and in turn led to compare their perceptions about talking in
discussions about the possible ending to the story -
Portuguese at a restaurant before and after
especially with regards to the role Skellig (the protagonist)
played. viewing an animation and allowed them to discuss
about similarities and differences in their
Q: How could I engage the students deeper understanding understandings .
and connections to the character to enable them to create
more meaningful headlines?
Q: Have I chosen the right video? Was the timing
right within the unit?

Lifestyle decisions for our well-being Interactions at the restaurant - an animation

C: Connect, Extend, Challenge allows students to make

connections with what they already knew. Students
looked in depth at the prior knowledge which help them
reflect on what they are learning now.

S: This VTR generated many powerful questions. Students

were curious about markets which made the inquiry
process meaningful for further learning.

Q: Will it be better for students to document their own

extension of learning even if they are young?
 Observing and Describing
Exploring the Metical coins as a cultural
aspect of language learning
C: Looking Ten Times Two gives students more
opportunities to become active observers.
Abdallah: A lot of people talking.
Juliette: They are looking at
C: Listening Ten Times Two gives students an
opportunity to be active listeners, to build off each something.
others ideas and to share their thoughts and Victoria: They are looking at the
feelings.
water.
S: Together as a class we looked at the cover page Ruby: Some are looking away.
and discussed what we thought the book was Louis: I see a dog.
about. Making a connection with the title, one of the Thayla: I would hear a dog
students mentioned that maybe the book was
the barking.
about how the characters in the book felt. After n on
reading the first part of the book, students made a f te rnoo Jatte, Maria: The dog is smelling.
a e
nday rand 84
list of 10 words about how felt listening to the story. A Su o f La G t , 18 Abdallah: I would smell the dog.
d ra
With the twist at the end of the story, they made Islan rge Seu Nicolas: Dog black.
another list of 10 words of how their feelings had Ge o
changed. We then talked about how we can use
these words in our writing to show our feeling. We
also made a vocabulary list using these words.

S: Some students chose not to elaborate on their
first observations, they preferred to just add more
individual disconnected elements they had not
noticed before. Others started to stretch their
observations by adding more detail to their first
observation of a particular aspect. When they
shared their findings, the first students decided they
could add more details by doing a Looking Ten
Times Three.
Q: I wonder if using the real coins would have a
stronger impact in exploring the connection
between what they observe and what
Mozambique culturally values.
Q: How can you move students thinking further
after using this routine?
Reading for understanding
“There is a nightmare in my closet”
C: The Elaboration Game gives students the opportunity to identify
details and elaborate on the statements of others, drawing out
greater amounts of details.
S: The dictation is a partial demonstration of the complete
discussion. Students were able to build upon the observations of
others and had a few ‘aha’ moments when a detail was pointed out
by another. It was a wonderful opportunity to see what details each
student picked up on and how their comments inspired others.
Q: Does this have to be used with a piece of art? It might be a
wonderful way to examine any interesting artifact.
 Questioning and Investigating
C: With See, Think, Wonder, students
make observations, have conversations
and share many of their thoughts.
S: It was amazing to see how students
were engaged and fascinated with the
pictures. They made connections with
their prior experiences and knowledge.
Q: I wonder if students that are not so
engaged can come back to the VTR
and add wondering later on?
Trip to the local market - A provocation
C: Think, Puzzle Explore invites students to
connect to their prior knowledge, to be
curious and plan for their independent
inquiry.
S: Students were able to connect to prior
knowledge about problems faced by our
planet.This routine stimulated curiosity and
laid the groundwork for further inquiry into
topics such as:Deforestation, Tribal
Displacement, Climate Change and Shark
Finning.
Q: How can their curiosity lead to action?
Unit Provocation - Sorry (Video Poem)
I See...
I Think...
Thayla: It is like a seed.
Thayla: I think it is a seed.
Abdallah: It is like a boat.
Ruby: I think it looks like a whale.
Juliette: It is like a bone.
Maria: I think it looks like a people.
Louis: It is like a big truck.
Juliette: It looks like a drum.
Thayla: I can see it is open.
Maya: I think it looks like a snake.
Juliette: I see a green thing there.
Iwan: I think it is like ice.
Maya: I see it looks like a boat.
Kaylane: I think it is interesting.
Ruby: It is like a shark.
Ruby: It looks like it is big.
Thayla: I see the shape of the moon.
Juliette: It is like a banana.
Maria: I see black.
I Wonder...
Louis: I see it is the size of a moon.
Thayla: I want to know why it is so big.
Abdallah: I see it is like a boomerang.
Louis: I want to know what is inside. Is it a
Thayla: I see white.
fish?
Maria: It is like white.
Maria: I want to know if it is a cookie.
Thayla: I see some strings.
Kaylane: I want to know what it is. It isn’t a
Kaylane: I can see green.
fish.
Ruby: I want to know if it is a shell.
C: See, Think, Wonder promotes curiosity, paving the way towards inquiry using
careful observations and interpretations.
S: Students were instantly intrigued by the seed pod. It was amazing to see their
reactions. They wanted to get in it, be on all sides and look at every nook and cranny.
Their imaginations were sparked and they made many different connections to prior
knowledge and experiences.
Q: Could this been done over a longer period of time? Could this been done as a
writing experience? Write about the things you see? Write about what you think and
wonder?
Exploring Viewpoints
Breaking down the Transdisciplinary Theme
Sharing the Planet
C: Circle of viewpoints gives students
an opportunity to share their ideas
independently and to consider others’
perspectives.
S: Looking at our transdisciplinary
theme ‘Sharing the planet’ students
shared ideas of what they thought the
Transdisciplinary theme was going to
be about. They shared different
opinions, and were enthusiastic and
open-minded inquirers. They stepped
out of the box and even made
connections to previous U.O.Is.
Q: Because of time limitations, how can
you keep the flow of documenting
student's thinking, without having to
stop and write?
C: Step inside gave students the opportunity to share
different perspectives on ideas they came up about what
was happening in the picture.
S: Students were very creative with the ideas they came
up with, as well as their point of view when they stepped
inside the picture.
Miss
Q: Could we maybe have students working together to W anita
share their perspective of a picture, a character, story? as a
Grad
e 5 Tea
cher
If I was in the picture...
C: Compass Points enables students to
consider an idea or proposition from different
angles.
S: Students recorded their thinking to write a
mid-year report on me as a teacher. The
students were honest in their feedback when
exploring the various viewpoints through a
constructive and positive manner.
Q: How can we use the constructive feedback
to improve our learning environment?
 C: Parts / Purposes / Complexities structures student

Finding Complexity thinking to become aware of the different steps to analyze

critically.

S: Students freely explored and found out by themselves

C: Parts / Purposes / Wonderings allows for careful observation of aspects particular elements of Google Translate. As they looked into
of an object, in order to cultivate curiosity, develop questions and drive details, experimented each part of the tool and discussed
inquiry. findings to figure out purposes, they concluded that they
S: Students had the opportunity to touch, look and examine the light. They need to use the tool carefully to achieve good translations.
were exposed to new vocabulary for the parts they were curious about.
Q: Could this routine be used to explore sentence and text
They investigated the movement of the parts and how they were Google Translate as a tool to support learning structure?
connected. They theorised the purposes and built upon each other’s in Portuguese. Link to student portfolio video:
statements.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZXvA-uW_1RV1_WdnjGaEbUcZdtgrg-kN
Q: If the object used is complex and something completely new to a group,
would it be beneficial to do front-loading of terminology or theories before
using this thinking routine?

Thayla: I can see a round one. I think its purpose

is to turn. Why does it turn?
Abdallah: This thing is not a pattern. I think it is so
that we can see if it is the right name or not. What Interview to our maids in Portuguese - The
does it say? impact of speaking Portuguese at home
Nicolas: This is black. It goes here (on top).
Iwan: Black, on top. I don’t know. It is like
brother’s skin. Why is it there?
C: Think / Feel / Care allows students to tune into their personal values and contributes to tighten
Victoria: The top. I think it holds this (light). You
have to put it in there and then wait for a second relationships. (VTR from Harvard Agency by Design, not in MTV book)
and then something happens. I wonder what will
Exploring light
happen?
Nicolas: Button. Turn on light. S: Beginner Portuguese students, parents and home working staff used the VTR as an interview to understand
Kaylane: This is like a door, but it isn’t. Like a the impact of using Portuguese in the context of their home. Parents and especially maids’ responses were
desk. incredible examples of how they value the students’ effort in using the language. I translated the maids’ words
Maya: This button is to turn on. This can go there
(Light on the base) to the students as I observed a renewed will to keep on learning and shared the responses with the Principal
Louis: This (button) to move it up and down. who reacted emotionally.
Rentaro: Button. Turn light on.
Keano: Light here, on and off.
Q: I wonder if recording a video of the interview would have an even greater impact and create a stronger
bond around speaking Portuguese at home.
 How has our thinking changed over time?
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were limited but now I think that I can use and adapt them
to fit the age group I teach. I’m looking forward to
continuing implementing these thinking routines!” Danae

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