time for the big think david v. loertscher & carol koechlin

Time for The Big Think

David V. Loertscher & Carol Koechlin

Traditional Assignments

• Choose a topic or a topic is assigned

• Do research• Create a product• Share• Get a grade• The end!The end!

Koechlin & Loertscher 2009 2

Watching the Game


•Who?•Why•How?•So What?

Content and Process:What We Know; How We Learn It


Process Drives Content


Content Knowledge


21st Century Skills & Learning to Learn


Triple Your Investment

• Students – Consider content– Reflect on process

• Teaching Partners– Reflect on learning– Improve teaching

• School Improvement


The BIG THINK


Bottom line –Build on student understanding to keep the thinking flowing!

BIG THINK Strategies

• Conduct active discussion• Present a problem or challenge

with a new question• Invite students to create new

questions• Write about larger ideas,

concepts and process of learning

• Engage with H.O.T.S.• Collaboratively build charts,

diagrams, maps etc.• Interact with an expert• Re-create to deepen

understanding• Play with ideas• Take action• Take part in the real world


BIG THINK about unit content• So What?

– What are the important ideas we explored?

– What does this tell us about the topic?

– What does this mean?– What new

understandings emerge?

• What Next?• What new questions do

I/we have?• What else do we want to

explore?• How can we use what we

know to do better next time?

• What action can I/we take?• How can I/we make use of

this new knowledge in the real world?


Content Example

Who deserves the ‘Book of the Year’ award?

• So What? What makes a book great?

• What Next? How can we promote our favorite reads?


• How do we encourage positive positive mindsets mindsets about learning to learn?


Reinforcing EffortReinforcing Effort Marzano, Pickering and Pollock2001

• Studies have demonstrated that some students are not aware of the fact that the effort they put into a task has a direct effect on their success relative to the task.

• ‘the effort belief’


Mindset: the new psychology of successMindset: the new psychology of success by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.

Fixed Mindset• Leads to a desire to look smart

and therefore a tendency to– Avoid challenges– Get defensive and give up

early– See effort as fruitless or

worse– Ignore useful negative

feedback– Feel threatened by the

success of others

As a result they may plateau early and achieve less than their full potential.


Mindset: the new psychology of Mindset: the new psychology of successsuccess

by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.

Growth Mindset• Leads to a desire to learn and

therefore a tendency to– Embrace challenges– Persist in the face of

setbacks– Use effort as a path to

mastery– Learn from criticism– Find lessons and

inspiration in the success of others

• As a result they reach ever higher levels of achievement.


What does the brain have to do with education?

The brain is malleable. And the research is showing that if students think they can learn, then they do. If they think their intelligence is fixed at a low level – whether because of social or economic status, skin colour, gender, family history, which country they live in – then they stick to that level.

• Brains: the secret to better schools

• The Toronto Star – a series of articles researched and written by Alanna Mitchell a Toronto-based writer and journalist who specializes in global science issues.


http://www.thestar.com/atkinsonseries/atkinson2009/article/719091--brains-the-secret-to-better-schools?bn=1

http://www.thestar.com/atkinsonseries/atkinson2009/article/719091--brains-the-secret-to-better-schools?bn=1

Brain Based Learning

The more we understand the brain, the better we’ll be able to design instruction to match how it learns best.

Wolfe 2001

Carol Koechlin 2009 23

BIG THINK about unit process

What strategies did we use to learn?

How did these strategies work for us?

Which worked well or didn’t work well and for whom?

• So What? Could we have learned more in the time we had? Are we all getting better as learners?

• What Next? How can we use our findings to improve as learners?


Process Example

Do collaborative Web 2.0 writing environments enhance quantity and quality of production?

• So What? How does our writing measure up to traditional writing standards? How does writing change in Web 2.0 environments?

• What Next? How do learners feel that writing should be assessed in Web 2.0 spaces?


Teacher BIG THINK

• Reflect on Learning– What did they learn?

How did they learn it?– Why is this important?

• Teaching to Learn– Content and Process– Ongoing Assessment and

intervention– Teaching and Learning

Strategies– Learning Environment


Sandbox Thinking


AASL BIG THINK

• Write down 3 BIG IDEAS you gained from this session today.

So What?• How do the connections

we have made together here at AASL impact the future of TEACHING & LEARNING? Show me!Show me!

What Next?• What action will you

take to use our new collective knowledge to transform school libraries and programs?

• Lead the way!Lead the way!


time for the big think david v. loertscher & carol koechlin

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