Reflective Journal/ Visible Thinking

Anna MooreSt. John Catholic School

5th grade teacher/ Assistant Principal

Timeline

What is visible thinking?

What is reflective journaling?

How do I use this in my classroom?

Try it out!

What is Visible Thinking?

Visible Thinking is a flexible and systematic research-based approach to integrating the development of students' thinking with content learning across subject matters.

The goal is to cultivate students' thinking skills and to deepen content learning by building a culture of thinking.

http://pzweb.harvard.edu/vt/VisibleThinking_html_files/VisibleThinking1.html

A Culture of Thinking

What kind of thinking do you value and want to promote in your classroom?

What type of thinking do your lessons force your students to do?

MYST

Me: How do I make my own thinking visible?

You: How do I make my students’ thinking visible?

Space: How is space in the classroom organized to help facilitate thinking?

Time: How do I give thinking time? How does thinking develop over time?

MYST

How am I (Me) making my own thinking visible for students? How and when do I display the habits of mind and thinking dispositions I want students to develop?

MYST

How is the thinking of students (You) made visible to me and the rest of the class? When and where do students share their thinking? Do I have a sense of what my students are thinking about on our current topic of study? Am I able to see their thinking develop? How can I get more access to this thinking? As a class, do we examine and discuss the thinking of others?

MYSTHow is thinking displayed in the physical setting of my classroom (Space)? Could a visitor to my classroom see students' thinking? What artifacts of thinking do I put up on the wall? What records of thinking do I keep? Who has access to these records? Are the ideas and issues we are exploring and our efforts at developing understanding on display in the classroom? How can I use the space to make my thinking and that of students visible for examination, discussion, and reflection?

MYST

What are the opportunities for thinking in my classroom (Time)? How much time do students really spend in meaningful thought around the issues and topics we are exploring? Are homework assignments and classwork infused with opportunities for thinking? How can I increase their thoughtfulness?

Making the Invisible Visible

Questioning- moving past the simple, short answers. As teachers we must ask our students to think.

What makes you say that?

What does that tell you then?

What are you basing your answer on?

Document

Record students answers on the board, post-it notes, or larger portfolios.

What kind of thinking does this routine

promote?

This is a routine that encourages students to use critical thinking skills through observations and discussions. It also encourages students to make interpretations of texts and drawings on their own.

What is Reflective Journaling

A way to tie in common core and 21st century skills.

Reading, writing, creativity, communication, and critical thinking.

In the Classroom

Set-up: Read a story/poem or view a painting.

Discussion: discuss themes of the story/poem/picture, thinking routine.

Thinking: give students an opportunity to think about a theme and what to draw. How will they represent their theme? (Critical thinking)

Reflective JournalingCreativity: Students are given 20-30 minutes to draw/paint their picture. Rules: they cannot simply write the theme or draw something obvious. (Example: love cannot be a heart)

Writing: students must write at least a paragraph to explain their painting (15-20 minutes).

Students share their painting and writing with a friend or the class. (Communication)

What does it look

Begin with a painting or story.

Ideas: novels in class, seasons of the year, social studies lessons, poems, beginning of the year, end of the year.

See, Think, Wonder

What do you see?

What does this make you think?

What do you wonder about this picture?

Other Ideas

Holes

Grandfather’s Journey

Call it Courage

Sea of Dolphins

We Can Soar

Martin Luther King Jr. I Have a Dream Speech

Locomotion By:Jacqueline

Woodson

Word, Sentence, Phrase

A word that strikes you as powerful.

A sentence that you feel captures the big idea.

A phrase that helps you gain a deeper understanding.

The FireLocomotion By: Jacqueline

Woodson

Communication

Share with the people around you.

Share as a group.

Themes

What common themes came up in our responses? What did the author or artist want us to think about?

What themes can we pull from this passage?

Interpreting the Theme

What interpretations can you make? What is being said that matters here?

Try it out

Select a theme.

Decide how you will represent it in your drawing.

Draw your interpretation.

Write a short explanation of your drawing.

http://www.vickiblackwell.com/timer.html

Communication

Share your drawing with others at your table.

Video

• 5th Grade Students

Thank You!

Please feel free to ask any questions.

Contact Me: annadhshc@yahoo.com