Student Survey -  On his website, Ron Ritchhart has a student survey (and survey breakdown) on classroom perceptions.  This is a great idea to give to your students at the end of this school year and use for personal reflection for improvement for next year.  The constructs being surveyed include: Teacher Goals (work vs. learning), Academic Press or Thinking, Learning as Collaboration, Building a Community of Learners, and Academic Efficacy.  You can then use the breakdown to look at each type of question and what the response say about your classroom.  I have also attached these documents.  

Maker Spaces -  Nicholas Provenzano and Suzie Boss highlight some of the positive influences maker spaces are having in schools across our country.  Stop by our own maker space to see what’s happening here at Reuther! 

Food for thought:  
"Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think."  - Albert Einstein

http://www.teachthought.com/ this is a blog devoted to supporting educators in evolving learning for a 21st century audience.  They offer tons of ideas for incorporating technology into your classroom.  Their mission from the website:  “Our mission is illuminate and actuate optimal learning for everyone, everywhere. This starts with helping smart teachers teach smart, and it extends to work with like-minded organizations to bring visibility and traction to their ideas.”  Check it out! 

This infographic reminds us that interactions through opportunities with others in class help us to remember up to 90% of what we say and do.   We only remember 10% of what we read, but incorporating a routine through which we can discuss our reading, and we will remember much more! 

Positive Mindset - Check out this video of Harvard researcher David Perkins on positive mindset.   He shares some wisdom about teacher interactions and the impact it has on a student’s mindset.  

Bring on the Learning Revolution! Check out this Ted Talk by creativity expert Ken Robinson about personalizing learning for our students.  http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution You can also find the link on our TFM Lifelong Learners page.  

Friday, March 20- the Reuther/Brandon Science Action Research project meets for the final time this school year.  Teachers from Brandon Middle School will be back at Reuther to discuss their personal artifacts from data point 3 using the Student Thinking Continuum.  

Ron Ritchhart Interview  http://www.edutopia.org/discussion/cultures-thinking-bridge-future-interview-ron-ritchhart Check out this interview with Ron Ritchhart by Arina Bokas, PTA President of Clarkston, MI Schools.  The Future of Learning Public TV series are produced by Independence TV and Clarkston Community Schools, MI. Arina Bokas, the Clarkston PTA Council President, hosts this show.   In this interview, Ron provides insights into how Cultures of Thinking prepares students to succeed in a global society, as employees and as individuals. 

Do you follow us on Twitter?  https://twitter.com/hashtag/rcstfm is the Twitter feed link for our Think From the Middle website.  Many of our colleagues from around the district post pictures and useful links on this site by including #rcstfm when they post.  These posts show up on the website within the twitter feed.   Will your post be next? 

The Student Thinking Continuum developed by Ron Ritchhart can be used when looking at student artifacts.  The continuum is used to determine if a student is a beginning thinker, developing thinker, or deep thinker.  If students are not at the deep thinking end of the continuum, what can you do to get them there? 

Check this out!  The following image is from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/21st-century-schools-or-learning-george-couros