It's Simply Elementary

Organize · Simplify · Teach

Teaching with Intention Chapter 4 – Promoting Student Thinking

By

Happy Wednesday! It’s time for CHAPTER 4 of Teaching with Intention, and guess what?!? I’m your co-host this week!!! You can link up below to join in on the fabulous book study that my friend,  Mr. Greg at The Kindergarten Smorgasboard has put together for us!! You will absolutely LOVE this book!
I’m co-hosting chapter four with Positively Learning! Hop on over to check out her post all about chapter 4, too! 🙂

Moving into Chapter 4 – it was ALL about getting students to THINK as well as providing, practicing, and expecting a classroom culture that PROMOTES and includes student thinking, too!
Reading Teaching with Intention has been a GREAT tool for me to use to reflect on my own classroom, and if I’m being honest, I was a bit nervous to reflect on my classroom culture when it comes to promoting student thinking which reading chapter 4!! 
Sometimes, as Debbie Miller talks about in chapter 4, it IS easier to just tell the students the answer or to tell them how to solve a problem, but I’m feeling confident now that I have been able to establish a classroom culture that DOES support and promote student thinking by:
 1) Putting my own Thinking on Display  
2) Encouraging and scaffolding student thinking and
3) Intentional Use of Language 
I dive into each of these pieces and parts of my classroom culture that models, teaches, and promotes student thinking by using a few guiding questions to help keep my own thinking focused on a few key points about chapter 4 – otherwise I could be here all day telling you about the fun things that we do to encourage each other to THINK in my classroom!!! 🙂
ALL DAY LONG. . . . . ?! We MUST be present and actively and mindfully SHOW OUR STUDENTS WHAT GOOD and MEANINGFUL thinking looks and sounds like!!
The picture above is where we do a lottttttt of our thinking in room 201!! Our carpet area is where we like to learn and think together in an active and engaged way!
JUST as we wish and hope that our STUDENTS are actively engaged in our lessons, their reading, etc, WE must also BE PRESENT!!  On page 52 of chapter 4, Debbie said “If I’m always rushing around, looking ahead to what’s coming up next, I don’t have the time, the inclination, or the mind-set to put my thinking on display” . . . Oh my word was she ever SCREAMING at me!!  I’m always worrying about what’s coming up next, do I have everything prepared for the staff meeting after school, did I pack my sneakers for Zumba?! Now I know just HOW INCREDIBLY important it is for us to BE PRESENT during our own lessons and discussions!
Maybe you’re not sure what that “good thinking” looks like?! Maybe you’re not sure how exactly to “think out loud” in a way that the students will be chomping at the bit to join you?…. well guess what Debbie has to say about that.  . . . 
BE YOU!!!
I mean, how many times have you heard me preach that to you all?!? Debbie Miller says that those think alouds ARE INSIDE OF ALL OF US! We just have to be authentic in our thinking and practice getting them out for the world . . . . or at least our STUDENTS . . . to see!
WHY? Why think aloud? Because . . . whether you believe it or not… our students are watching our EVERY MOVE.  Monkey see…. monkey do!!  When they see and hear US thinking out loud all day long…. THEY WILL TOO!! They will learn how, they will do it constantly, and they WILL interrupt your teaching and even YOUR thinking with THEIR thinking…. and YAYYYY for that, right?!?!
Here are a few ways to think about “putting your thinking on display” as Debbie describes in Chapter 4:
Show your kiddos your curiosity and interests
Did you notice… Remember yesterday…. Why….??
Show your open-mindedness and willingness to consider alternative perspectives
So YOU are thinking that…. I was thinking… but now I’m not sure!
Show them how you seek truth and understanding
in my classroom, I google…. a lot.  ^^^^
Be REFLECTIVE!! 
After school, I did some thinking about our discussion…. I’m wondering now…  Now I want to try..
Show them what it means to have healthy skepticism
Can that be true?! That seems almost unbelievable!
Thinking out loud is FUN!! And once you have shown, promoted, and continue to encourage student thinking, you better WATCH OUT because you’re going to have a whole room of THINKERS thinking out loud at once!! How fabulous does THAT sound?!? 

How many of us have had that one kiddo who has their hand WAVING in the air to answer or to contribute to discussion, but when they begin to share their thinking, we’re not quite sure where they’re headed? All of us, right?  Well, we need to make sure we don’t squash their enthusiasm for sharing their thinking by telling them “no” or “you’re thinking about this wrong” or “are you even listening?”.  Sadly… I’ve heard kiddos be told these VERY things, and I’m willing to bet that it was QUITE some time before their hands went flying in the air again.  I make sure that I gently guide their thinking back into the direction of where they need to be because, as Debbie mentions, when the kiddos KNOW that we aren’t going to ask them to do something unless we know they can do it, they are more often than not going to accept our challenge!!

I always like to say that one of the “hats” I wear as a teacher is a cheerleader’s hat… I cheer them on every minute that I can as they learn to “think aloud” and to share their learning with me!!

Another way that I encourage my kiddos to think is to give them ALL individual opportunity to THINK FOR THEMSELVES…. not just let our quick thinkers do all of the thinking for them!! . .  .

One way that I do that…. WHOLE BRAIN TEACHING.  Click {HERE} to see one of my most FAVORITE WBT Pinterest boards filled with some AMAZING videos that will just make you want to read and learn more and more and more about using Whole Brain Teaching Strategies in your classroom! I CAN’T GET ENOUGH!!

But keeping my focus back on encouraging my students to think  – one WBT strategy I use is “Teach, Okay”.  (check out some videos on YouTube in addition to the one I will share in the last part of this post!!

 I have them “teach‘ what I just said/taught to a neighbor before I ask them to share their thinking out loud.  This way, they all get a chance to think out loud with a peer as well as share thoughts and questions with their neighbor, too, before thinking out loud for the class! It is a RULE that they MUST “think the whole time”…. no one is to be “sitting without thinking!” I teach this rule on day 1 and keep them held accountable for following that rule all year long!

This strategy LITERALLY leads EVERY SINGLE KID in my class to THINK ALOUD at once!! It sounds like heaven as it’s happening.  Seriously.  And they KNOW that I expect their thinking to be ON TASK and meaningful at all times.    THENNN when I call their attention back with some more WBT (class, yes), their hands are FLYING in the air to share their thinking!!! It’s so much fun so see how excited they are to SHARE what they “thought aloud” with the neighbor….

Do I have time to hear ALL of their thinking ALL of the time? Of course not…. sooooo I like to give them the opportunity to “JOT YOUR THOUGHTS“.

Click HERE to grab this FREEBIE below!!
 

These come in handy to be used perfectly in SO many ways. I’ve used them at the end of a whole group sharing time – they can “jot their thoughts” that they wanted to share if they weren’t able to share in front of the whole group.

They’re also PERFECT for students to jot their thinking, questions, connections while reading!! If you’re with a small group, and they are reading to self or someone, they can jot their thoughts to be able to share with you later!! PERFECT!! 

I’m telling you – watch out!! You’re students are going to be thinking about EVERYTHING!! 🙂 🙂 

SOOOOOO much of my “language” that I use in my classroom includes Whole Brain Teaching strategies.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE using Whole Brain Teaching as it promotes CONSTANT engaged thinking and active learning.
As promised, here is a brief video that shares SOME of the whole brain language that I love to use!! You can catch a glimpse of what “teach, okay!” looks like, too, and as I’ve mentioned that I expect and promote in my classroom, too, EVERY KID IS THINKING ALOUD!!  Not ONE kiddo is doing all of thinking for the rest! LOVE!!
 What I LOVE about this video in addition to EVERY SINGLE KIDDO THINKING is that at one point, she briefly says “problem solve”, and just like that, all of her learners are ready to think.

Additionally… one thing that comes out of my mouth A LOT during the day?…. “problem solve”. It takes modeling and setting of expectations for my kiddos to know exactly what I mean by that… but it’s code for – “I’m not doing it, answering it, saying it, fixing it for you,  so you’re going to have to THINK about it!!”

I KNOW it is easier to just do it for them – to answer it for them – to fix it for them – to put it away for them – to finish it for them – but that’s not what’s BEST for them!!!

We MUST – as Debbie Miller says – teach them to THINK!! As I show them that my expectation IS for them to think for themselves, to THINK about what we’re learning, to THINK about what we are discussing, I find myself less and less REMINDING them to “problem solve”, reminding them to “think about it”.  They just DO IT! They just begin to THINK on their own! And it is SOOO powerful for them as learners!! LOVE!!

Is the beginning of the year spent with a lot of Teacher Talk?! YEP.  But eventually, you’ll notice as I have, that the teacher talk becomes less and less, and you will be learning to think about things differently because of how one or more of your STUDENTS encouraged YOU to think about!! Now THAT’S a classroom culture I want to be a part of!!

Thanks so much for reading! Be sure to join us and let us know your thoughts on Chapter 4 by linking up below! 🙂


Comments

  1. 1

    Positively Learning says

    I loooove how positive this post is!
    I need to recommit to WBT this year – I've tried things here and there and ♥ it (more importantly, my students ♥ it!). This post inspired me to revisit it! Thanks for sharing and co-hosting 🙂 Jen

  4. 4

    C Hath says

    Love this!! Love your ideas on how to be present in our classrooms! For sure thought of you when Debbie was talking about a to do list, and it was for sure in my post too!! Our to do lists are great, but we need to make sure we aren't spending too much time thinking about them when we should be enjoying our kiddos in class!! I totally need to look into WBT too! I love the pair sharing idea, and that they are thinking aloud before you even call on them! Great ideas!!

    Mrs. 3rd Grade 

  5. 5

    One Giggle At A Time says

    Excellent post my friend! You just sold me on this book! 🙂 I love books that validate what we do and why we do it! (And remind us to do what we know is right versus not just what we know is on our to-do list!)
    xxoo,
    Romo

  6. 6

    Ms. Fliss says

    Thanks so much for your wonderful post! After the immediate feeling of inspiration that comes from reading anything by Debbie Miller, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed after reading this chapter. Reading your answers to these questions and your thoughts on the chapter made it seem so much more attainable. And you made me think that I need to be more committed to WBT next year! 😉

    Thanks again!

    Felicity

    (If anyone is interested, you can also check out my reflection on this chapter here — I linked up a little too late!: http://parlez-vouskindergarten.blogspot.com/2015/07/teaching-with-intention-link-up-chapter.html)