We have at least a billion responsibilities as teachers. Some are really big and overwhelming, and some are fun and silly. A responsibility that both overwhelms and excites me is this: to develop students who are thinkers and solvers and doers. (Those of you with toddlers at home may think... hmm, I swear I’ve heard that before. Ah yes, it’s that deeply philosophical and wildly inspiring song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse... “Mouseke hey, Mouseke hi, Mouseke ho Mouseke ready, Mouseke set, here we go! You're a thinking and a solving working througher”… and now it’s stuck in your head, sorry!)
I like to think that my children have received the latter part of that song as a blessing-of-sorts from the divine cartoon-prophet, Mickey-the-Mouse. I tell myself, looky here — I’m raising little thinkers one cartoon at a time! And — voila! — gone is that nagging mom-guilt. See, I’m doing the world a favor by letting my children zone out in front of Disney Junior for a chunk of the day.
Mickey isn’t too far off, actually. We need to grow a generation of kiddos who are learning to think by solving problems and working together. 21st century career and college readiness standards demand that we cultivate experiences wherein students think critically, solve problems, and learn how to share their mental processes with diverse audiences. Fortunately, we have access to terrific texts such as Making Thinking Visible, and other resources like Rochester Community School’s Think From the Middle website, to help us adjust our instruction to this heady call. These outstanding resources and databases house dozens of ideas, routines, lessons, videos, and an abundance of samples for teachers to reference.
I love the thinking routine, See, Think, Wonder, because it doesn’t feel overwhelming. Instead, this routine feels blessedly simple.Yet when used with intentionality, it can develop rich, reflective tendencies in thinking. (Here’s the gist: what facts do you see/notice; what analysis can you make based on those facts at this point; what questions do you have about those facts/analysis?) In regards to thinking routines, See, Think, Wonder is a good place to start; in fact, here are couple ways you might use it in the days or weeks to come:
Preview a forthcoming learning unit by projecting a related visual or text. Model the routine by talking through what you see, what it makes you think, and what you currently wonder about it. Make a double-sided See, Think, Wonder chart and use the front side for your preview. Hold on to the document and revisit it at the end of the unit. Project that same image or text after students have experienced the necessary learning and give them a chance to state the new things they see, their deeper thinking, and higher level kinds of wondering.
Create stations around the classroom where large chart paper with See, Think, Wonder is labeled at the top, and tape the chart paper to the wall. At each station, post a visual, figure or text that relates to your unit of study. Set a timer so groups stay at the chart just long enough to think and write, and them move them along. Classroom management tip (swiped from my friend Jenny who uses color-coded sticky notes in a Gallery Walk): have members from each group write with the same, particular colored maker (ie: group 1 = red, group 2 = green, etc.). This way students can demonstrate their thinking anonymously, but you have the ability to more easily track down individuals who wrote something inappropriate or produced sub-quality work. Better yet, you’ll know which groups or individuals within that group deserve a whole-class celebration for their exceptional contribution.
Getting kids to notice what they see, think, and wonder will put them on the path to fulfilling the dreams of Mickey Mouse, their parents, and all of us (overwhelmed yet excited) teachers.
Happy thinking!
Lindsay