Learning Opportunities

Series Overview: 

For too long, classrooms have operated under industrial-age norms, often sidelining genuine student thinking in favor of mimicking. This series of workshops delves into research-backed practices needed to transform your classroom into a vibrant, problem-based learning environment. While these practices are applicable across all grade levels and subject areas, our discussion will be grounded in examples from mathematics, with connections made to other disciplines. We will unpack the Building Thinking Classrooms research and demonstrate how a culture of thinking can be quickly established, even in classrooms where students may initially resist change.

Workshop 1: Building Your Thinking Classroom 

Appropriate for all teachers, regardless of their familiarity with the book, this workshop lets you experience a Thinking Classroom firsthand. We will dig into the foundational teacher moves that bring the classroom to life, including how to structure tasks, create collaborative groups, use vertical surfaces, and manage questions with effective hints and extensions.

Workshop 2: Deepening Your Practice 

For teachers who have attended the introductory workshop or have begun implementing the practices, this session is designed to push your practice further. We will explore how to thoughtfully handle homework, foster greater student autonomy, build effective consolidation practices into your lessons, and rethink how students take notes.

Workshop 3: Measuring What Matters 

This workshop is for experienced Thinking Classroom teachers ready to delve into assessment. We will explore how to evaluate what you truly value and implement powerful formative and summative assessment practices. We'll also revisit and explore advanced teacher moves relevant to all the practices explored in the introduction and intermediate workshops.

(Although not required, it is recommended that teachers have attended an Introduction and/or Intermediate workshop prior to this session.)