Earlier this month, I was fortunate enough to attend Harvard's Project Zero in Memphis, TN. Over 700 educators from all over the United States and countries around the world gathered at Presbyterian Day School, home of The Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence, to learn from top researchers from Harvard's Graduate School of Education and other presenters. One of the driving questions for the conference was how do we create, cultivate, and maintain a culture of thinking in our classrooms and schools? Each presenter addressed this question in his or her own way, but all sent the message that we must encourage and teach our students to be critical thinkers, creative innovators, and directors of their own learning.
The practice of making thinking visible is not new to me; it is a primary focus of the Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence and is a frequently visited topic of discussion amongst the Resident Teachers. But the question asked by Project Zero is one with many answers. I am so grateful to have participated in so many engaging sessions, collaborative conversations, and activities that challenged me to think, am I really making my students' thinking visible? Am I actively promoting a culture of thinking in my teaching? What more can I do for my students? These opportunities to share with other teachers and hear of their experiences with thinking routines and attempts to make thinking visible in their classrooms made me excited to get back to my students and be better for them. I have seen firsthand, over the course of my year as a Resident Teacher, just how transformative making my students' thinking visible can be for my teaching, but more importantly, my students' learning. However, my time at Project Zero gave me a renewed passion for shifting the focus from my teaching to the students' learning. I left Project Zero excited to bring even more thinking routines into my teaching and so proud to be a teacher. While I had more takeaways from PZ than this blog post can handle, three moments from the conference continue to cross my mind frequently.
The practice of making thinking visible is not new to me; it is a primary focus of the Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence and is a frequently visited topic of discussion amongst the Resident Teachers. But the question asked by Project Zero is one with many answers. I am so grateful to have participated in so many engaging sessions, collaborative conversations, and activities that challenged me to think, am I really making my students' thinking visible? Am I actively promoting a culture of thinking in my teaching? What more can I do for my students? These opportunities to share with other teachers and hear of their experiences with thinking routines and attempts to make thinking visible in their classrooms made me excited to get back to my students and be better for them. I have seen firsthand, over the course of my year as a Resident Teacher, just how transformative making my students' thinking visible can be for my teaching, but more importantly, my students' learning. However, my time at Project Zero gave me a renewed passion for shifting the focus from my teaching to the students' learning. I left Project Zero excited to bring even more thinking routines into my teaching and so proud to be a teacher. While I had more takeaways from PZ than this blog post can handle, three moments from the conference continue to cross my mind frequently.
The first great takeaway from the conference came during a presentation by Ron Ritchhart, co-author of Making Thinking Visible (the handbook for visible thinking that you need to get your hands on ASAP!). In his keynote address he said, "our students' thinking should be valued, visible, and actively promoted." I think this statement not only encompasses the values of Project Zero, but also, encompasses the values of good teaching. Even better though, his challenge to value, make visible, and actively promote thinking is totally do-able.
The second occurred during a session with Tina Chambers, a middle school principal in Michigan. She challenged participants to speak less and listen more. "The person doing the most talking is doing the most learning," she said. All I could think about after she said this was all of the times I had been the one talking, leaving my students to listen. As painful as it was to reflect on those times I should have let me students do the talking, I feel energized to focus my lessons and questioning to drive the students thinking and encourage them to be the ones talking.
The third, and perhaps the greatest takeaway occurred during a latter session with Ron Ritchhart. As a closing remark he said, "The greatest validation we can give our students is simply listening to them." Moving forward, I want to be sure that I am truly listening to my students, hearing their thoughts, and encouraging them to share their thinking. After all, it always has been and always will be all about the students.
The third, and perhaps the greatest takeaway occurred during a latter session with Ron Ritchhart. As a closing remark he said, "The greatest validation we can give our students is simply listening to them." Moving forward, I want to be sure that I am truly listening to my students, hearing their thoughts, and encouraging them to share their thinking. After all, it always has been and always will be all about the students.