Based on our Lifting Student Learning trainings in September and October, we decided to explore the ideas presented around Visible Thinking. In the menu on the left, we have gathered resources related to various Thinking Routines, which are simple protocols for exploring ideas. According its website, "Visible Thinking emphasizes several ways of making students' thinking visible to themselves and one another, so that they can improve it." These routines are divided into different modules for different purposes: Introducing and Exploring Ideas, Synthesizing and Organizing Ideas, Digging Deeper into Ideas, and Promoting Creativity and Empathy. You may notice, however, that many of the routines can work across categories, depending on your purpose.
The goal of Visible Thinking is to help identify and support the kinds of thinking moves that are integral to learning. To that end, the book Making Thinking Visible, by Ritchhart, Church, and Morrison, names the following as essential to understanding new ideas:
1. Observing closely and describing what's there
2. Building explanations and interpretations
3. Reasoning with evidence
4. Making connections
5. Considering different viewpoints and perspectives
6. Capturing the heart and forming conclusions
7. Wondering and asking questions
8. Uncovering complexity and going below the surface of things
CRTs are very willing and excited to come work in your classrooms to help implement any of these ideas!