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UP Campaign, January 2017
Hidden Heroes: Thinking about Thinking
The focus for the January UP Workshop was "Thinking About Thinking." Participants learned about and experienced Thinking Routines through the lens of the 6 Cs of 21st Century Learning:, Collaboration, Communication, Confidence, Content, Creativity, and Critical Thinking. The anchor text for the day was Making Thinking Visible by Karin Morrison, Mark Church and Ron Ritchart.
Loved the “thinking about thinking” and the variety of new routines and activities I learned to take back to my classroom. - Teacher Feedback
Building confidence is key – and helping students to learn from failures. - Teacher Feedback
BUILDING COMMUNITY: If You Knew Me
The morning kicks off with a Building Community Activity - If you Knew Me, You Would Know… In a circle, participants take turns sharing a fun fact about themselves that nobody else knows.
THINKING ROUTINE: Chalk Talk
In table groups, participants walk around the room to music to butcher paper with the 6Cs written on them. They add their thoughts about each "C" to each paper and make connections to what others write. In this way, they have a silent "conversation" with each others' ideas. They then share their own practice within their groups. This is how they entered the text of an article about the 6Cs from the book Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us About Raising Children by Kathy Hirsch-Pasek and Roberta Mishnick-Golinkoff. After the discussion, they return to add to the Chalk Talk, continuing the conversation.
6Cs Scavenger Hunt
Using a note catcher with the 6Cs listed, participants are asked to jot down whenever they notice any of the Cs referenced throughout the day.
I absolutely love when we get time to plan cooperatively with my group - More time to plan would be great!- Teacher Feedback
Making Thinking Visible
Table groups chose thinking routines out of the book, Making Thinking Visible. They shared out and discussed why they chose the routines they did and how they will use them in their classroom.
Planning Time
The UP teams had the opportunity once again to take advantage of coveted planning time and plan with other grade level teachers throughout the district. Kurt Wootton, our frequent visitor and author of A Reason To Read, was on hand to help teams plan.
Thinking routines are “routines” you do not have to use numerous ones – become an expert in one or two. - Teacher Comment
Featured Teacher Presenters:
Mary Chavers and Megan Stranzin, 1st Grade teachers at Rosewood Magnet, present their Unit Plan on Ancient Civilizations.
Kaitlyn Fiori, Indian River County Teacher of the Year and 4th Grade teacher at Vero Beach Elementary, presents her Unit Plans on Native Americans in Florida, Galileo, and innovation, and gave insights into her pedagogical practice.
Valuable Planning Time
This workshop focused on providing support and guidance in the basics of unit planning while allowing participants to actively plan a unit for their classrooms. They collaborated in grade levels across schools and with their school teams.
[I would love the opportunity to have]continued time to share with teachers from other schools on same grade levels. - Teacher Feedback
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