OPPORTUNITIES
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Providing purposeful activities that require students to engage in thinking and the development of understanding as part of their ongoing experience of the classroom. 

Teacher Perspectives...

"Planning an Entire Quadratic Unit using Cultures of Thinking" by Jeffrey Watson, International Academy East, Troy, MI
"Sparking Curiosity & Solving Real-World Problems" at
Birmingham Covington School in Bloomfield Hills, MI

OPPORTUNITIES 

  1. The teacher ensures that rich thinking opportunities are woven into the fabric of his/her teaching and students aren't just engaged in work or activity. 
  2. Students' attention is focused on big subject matter issues, important ideas in the world, and in meaningful connections within the discipline and beyond. 
  3. Opportunities are provided for students to direct their own thinking and become independent learners. 
  4. Time is spent to select content and stimuli for class consideration in order to provoke thinking. 
  5. The teacher provides opportunities to reflect on how one's thinking about a topic has changed and developed over time. 
from Ron Ritchhart's The Development of a Culture of Thinking in My Classroom: Self-Assessment
#8CulChat Wk 6-Opportunities: Creating a Vehicle for Learning