There was a day not too long ago when I felt like I had absolutely no idea how to teach students how to research. It was an existential – what’s the point of it all? – moment that was heightened by a persistent cold and frustration with, well, the world. So, what did I do? I engaged in some retail therapy and bought a stack of professional books that I’m eager to read!
Who Owns the Learning?: Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age by Alan C. November (2011)
Our middle school staff is reading this one, and it was recommended at my Tech committee meeting. Looks like a quick read.
Dive into Inquiry: Amplify Learning and Empower Student Voice by Trevor MacKenzie (2016)
I noticed my teacher friends shelving this book on Goodreads, so I grabbed a copy too. Looks to be another quick read – and a new release this year.
Making Thinking Visible by Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church, Karin Morrison (2011)
This one looks like it may take some digging into – and it comes with a DVD of the “thinking” in practice. Curious – and just realized it correlates to the Harvard Project Zero PD class that I may take this spring!
Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions by Dan Rothstein, Luz Santana (2011)
I wonder if the “Question Formulation Technique” is something different than what I have been doing and teaching. I will soon find out!
Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding by Jay McTighe, Grant P. Wiggins (2013)
This book was the first I perused online – and the one that inspired me to think about our 3rd and 4th grade research units differently.
If you’ve read any of the books above, please comment and let me know what you thought! I imagine it will take me some time to get through the stack, so I’d love some help navigating my way.
Making Thinking Visible changed the way that I teach. If you can get teachers on board with some of the routines, students will begin to understand how they (and their peers) are learning about a subject and how that changes over time. See, Think, Wonder is an easy visual routine that works for introducing material at any level.
Also a big fan of Essential Questions.
Enjoy!
Making Thinking Visible has dramatically changed the way I think about teaching, and seeing teachers using it in my school has made me a huge believer. The effect on the kids is pretty amazing. The thinking routines are easy to implement quickly (at least some of them) in the library setting. I did a course through Project Zero this past spring with a group of teachers from my school, and I think we all would agree that it was pretty life-changing. The best professional development I’ve ever done.
This is great to hear! I’m about to choose a Project Zero course to do in the spring with a group of teachers, and that one was high on my list.
Making Thinking Visible and the Project Zero course changed the way I teach. My colleagues and I at St. Thomas School in Medina, WA, continue to meet and discuss ways in which we can incorporate routines into our everyday practice and how ideas and concepts within Making Thinking Visible provide us with a myriad of ways to strengthen the teaching and learning that happens in our classrooms.