Keeping students actively engaged in their own
learning is an ongoing challenge for every teacher, but there are tools to
help. Building Thinking Classrooms is
the focus of this session, and Explicit Instruction is offered January
21, 2025.
We will explore the book Building Thinking
Classrooms . . . (Liljedahl, 2021) featuring
14 Teaching Practices to move students from “mimicking” toward thinking. The Practices include a form of vertical
learning with specific enhancements developed through action research. At this session, teachers will experience
thinking tasks, visibly random groups, and vertical non-permanent surfaces
(standing whiteboards).
Although the research
started in math classes, Dr. Liljedahl has confirmed that this instructional
approach has value in multiple subject areas, and we will explore a variety of
examples. The teaching practices are appropriate
for Grades K-12; most examples in this session will be from Grades 3-9.