Building [My] Thinking Classroom

I am building my thinking classroom. This work is not burdensome nor is it insurmountable. In fact, I find myself in the state of flow, working to solve the problem of student thinking and learning about math.

Some adjustments I have made as I build my thinking classroom include:

• teaching my students about proximity, keep thinking, and stop thinking questions;
• prepare and practice a variety of hints and extensions; and
• adding note making to the closure.

I know I have a long way to go in this work, but it is well worth it.

Thinking Tasks

Typically, I use tasks from my curriculum to encourage student thinking. A sample task is shared below.

Currently, I move my students though tasks in a whole class format where all students must wait until the last group is finished to move on to the next task. One of my next steps is to utilize a series of tasks with increasing complexity/challenge that are seamlessly accessed by students in an asynchronous format.

Visibly Random Groups

In order to form visibly random groups, I labeled craft sticks with my students' names and organized them by class into jars. I keep these jars close by as I use them often for more than creating groups. I love the simplicity of the sticks - I can easily remove students who are absent, move them when there is a schedule change, and add new ones when students join my classes.

I always create groups of three students unless the numbers don't work out that way in which case I use two students in a few groups. And, I always create new groups every day.

Vertical, Non-Permanent Surfaces

I have a combination of types of dry erase boards in my classroom for students to use. Some are like the one in the photo below, on a stand with clips for problem tasks (if they have diagrams that are needed for the problem). 

I also have a few dry erase boards mounted around my classroom, like the one in the photo below, which is on my classroom door. This one is magnetic and students can use magnets to hold diagrams, as needed.

Asynchronously Use Hints and Extensions to Maintain Flow

When I monitor thinking as I circulate the room, I carefully observe what the students are writing on their dry erase boards and carefully listen to the academic discourse among them. Based on their individual (group) needs, I provide hints and extensions to maintain flow. This ultimate state of thinking is when they are so engaged in the task that nothing else seems to matter - they are solving the problem for the sake of it. Some of the things I say are:

• Does that always work? Is that always the case?
• When would that strategy not work?
• What wrong way do you think students might use to solve this problem?
• What would this look like if you drew a diagram?
• Is there a pattern you can see and use to solve?

Keep Thinking Questions vs Proximity Questions and Stop Thinking Questions

I speak openly to my students about types of questions so they can metacognitively categorize their questions before they are asked. My students know about proximity questions - ones they ask me only because I am close by. And, my students know about stop thinking questions - ones they ask me so they can stop thinking about the problem solving. The most common stop thinking question I am asked is about correctness: Is this right? Is this what we should do?

Closure - Consolidate Up

I monitor student work on the white boards and watch for the most accessible means to solve the problem. This may be a group's work that completed the first step accurately then somehow lost the process or made an error. It may also be a group's work that took a less efficient means to solve.

I ask the students to gather around this specific white board and have the group explain their thinking. If they didn't clearly explain something or the other students don't understand, I interject. Working our way up to the most advanced way of solving, we move to connect to other group's thinking. I ask the class to gather around their dry erase board and continue the conversation. We don't visit all groups in this way - only those whose thinking supports a clear path.

Closure - Note Making

My most recent adjustment was focused on the lesson closure and included a change to my students' note making. In their notes to their future forgetful self, my students use a 4-quadrant system that includes:

1. A sentence starter to prompt their thinking. In the example below, the sentence starter was: To multiply a whole number by a mixed number...
2. A piece of an important task for the day.
3. An easy problem they write and solve themself based on the concept of the day's lesson.
4. A hard problem they write and solve themself based on the concept of the day's lesson.

An example of a student's notes are below.

Next Steps

As I continue to reflect and refine my thinking classroom, I want to integrate check-your-understanding questions that are intentionally leveled (mild, medium, spicy) with a means for my students to check their understanding. I also want to work toward using asynchronous problem task sets.

Listen and Read More

As I explore more ways to improve, I recently listened to these podcasts that included interviews with Peter Liljedahl:

• Cult of Pedagogy Episode 206 (The Thinking Classroom: An Interview with Peter Liljedahl)
• Make Math Moments Episode 270 (How to Consolidate and Close Your Building Thinking Classroom Lesson [Part 1])
• Make Math Moments Episode 272 (How to Consolidate and Close your Building Thinking Classroom Lesson [Part 2])

And, I recently read this article from Edutopia: 5 Ways to Stop Thinking for Your Students.

Are you implementing a Building Thinking Classroom? I'd love to learn your story! And, if you have any resources to share, please do so in the comments below.