Cultures of Thinking

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  • Home
  • Teacher Toolbox
    • Thinking Routines
    • Comprehension Strategies
    • Metacognition Strategies
    • Discourse Strategies
    • Formative Assessments Strategies
  • Professional Resources
    • Common Core
    • Cultures of Thinking
    • Life-Long Learners
    • Reading & Vocabulary
    • Standards Based Grading
    • Writing
  • Our Journey
    • Hart Middle School
    • Reuther Middle School
    • Rochester High School
    • Van Hoosen Middle School
    • West Middle School
  • Creative Ideas
  • Conferences
    • Moving Learning Forward 2015 Conference
    • Moving Learning Forward 2014 Conference

Year 3: This Book is "Tweet"! 

11/25/2014

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This month's Book Club utilized the 4C's thinking routine and Twitter to conduct our conversation about Chapter 4 of Intellectual Character by Ron Ritchhart. Staff placed their 4C's post-it notes on the group poster which was then photographed and shared on Twitter. Book Club members then tweeted out a few responses about other members' connections, extensions, ideas, and thoughts.  Each group member was asked to tweet at least three messages.  
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Year 3: Reuther Joins Panel

11/24/2014

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Reuther had its second opportunity to be on a panel discussion to share our Cultures of Thinking journey.  Cheryl Gambaro and Rachel Mainero joined colleagues from across Oakland County to share our journey with Year 1 Foundations Seminar participants. Gambaro and Mainero also participated in a LAST Protocol looking at student artifacts of Step Inside and Peeling the Fruit.  The discussion provided additional ideas and protocols to use with our staff. Two new protocols that we plan on sharing are Considering Evidence Protocol and Slice Protocol. Our goal is to use these protocols as we continue our Action Research Project with Brandon Middle School.

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Year 3: CoT Customized Tour with Brandon Middle School

11/18/2014

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This year Oakland Schools provided a different twist on the CoT Tour opportunity.  Based on strengths and needs, third year CoT schools were matched up to provide a customized tour.  Reuther was matched with Brandon Middle School and met for the first time on November 18, 2014 at Reuther.  Together, our science teachers are working on an action research project with the hypothesis: 

Will students achieve a deeper level of thinking after multiple implementations and teacher reflections of the _______ routine? 


Teachers will be analyzing their student artifacts using Ron Ritchhart's Student Thinking Continuum at three different times during this school year: November 18, January 27, and again in March. The customized tour also includes observation in six different classrooms as well as the utilization of the Opportunities Protocol to reflect upon the observations. 
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Teacher-Created Headlines about the CoT Customized Tour: 
  • The Wonderful World of Synergy
  • Eleven Minds Really Are Better Than One
  • Opportunities Abound when Teachers Connect, Extend and Challenge
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Year 3: It is Thursday Think Tank

11/13/2014

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Beth Rogers, 5th Grade Teacher at Clarkston Community Schools, provides a sneak peek inside the culture of her classroom. 
Today's Think Tank PLC watched a Clarkston Community Schools' video of a 5th grade elementary classroom during Readers' Workshop time.  While the video did not include a routine, it did highlight the other seven cultural forces.  Individuals noted the forces while watching the video and then discussed as a whole group.  The remainder of the time was spent brainstorming and discussing future lesson plans, collaborating on new ideas, and discussing revisions to previous lessons.  

 

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Year 3: Growing Our PLC

11/4/2014

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Due to the success of last year's Visible Thinking Gallery Walk, the School Improvement Team planned another one for today's professional development session.  Each staff member brought one set of student artifacts from a thinking routine that had been implemented since the October PD session.  Staff was asked to have identified the "thinking moves" prior to choosing the routine.  The Gallery Walk was conducted in three twenty minute rotations, which allowed each staff member to "present" their student artifacts to the rest of the staff. In addition to presenting the artifacts, the presenting staff members used a Compass Points thinking routine to guide their presentation:
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11.4.14_pd_evaluation.pdf
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NEEDS:  
What do you need to know (or need to find out about) in order to improve the routine/protocol next time you try it?  What help do you need?

EXCITEMENTS: 
What was good or what excited you about the routine and lesson you used?  What successes 
did you have?
WORRIES:
What worries do you have about the routine/protocol?  What worries do you have about the outcome of your lesson?

STANCE/Steps/Suggestions: 
What is your current stance or opinion of this routine/protocol?  What steps will you take 
to improve or change the way you taught this lesson?  What suggestions do you have at this point about how to teach this routine/protocol?

Following the Gallery Walk, staff reflected on their learning by using a Connect-Extend-Challenge in their journal that was followed by a Microlab Protocol to share their learning. 
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Year 3: Sharing Our Knowledge

11/4/2014

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Amy Hoekstra and Natalie James presented visible thinking routines to high school Geometry teachers from AHS, RHS, and SCHS on November 4 during the morning professional development session. The high school teachers were interested in seeing how visible thinking routines are being used at the middle school level.  Amy and Natalie presented several examples of lessons involving the routines, as well as answered questions from the high school teachers to help them get started with the routines in their own classrooms.  

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