Cultures of Thinking

Heather Larsen

Expectation of Thinking:

In my class right now, the thoughts my lessons and notes want them to develop are very

surface level. The notes give them the information and they just need to apply it to the

assignments and the practice problems I give to them. The notes do the thinking for them, and

they just have to remember the ideas. To a certain point I agree with this, however this doesn’t

help them develop good thinking habits. Sometimes the notes I give them do ask them to think

and develop and idea and they are never very good at it, and many a too scared to try to think.

What I would like to happen is for the students to be given a problem and then they have

to develop ideas and needs on how to solve those problems. I would be there as a resource of

either giving them hints of ideas to go off of. I would want thinking to be in groups so that not

just the strong thinkers are involved. That would be ideally want I would want my lesson to

create.

Opportunities Provided in the Classroom:

 Welcome Work: When the students first enter the classroom there is a problem on the

board that gets them thinking about math. It’s usually from their homework assignment

or has something to do with the lesson they will be hearing that day. It’s just one

problem, and it can be done within 3-5 minutes.

  Question on Homework: Before I correct the assignment I take 4 questions that they had

on the previous night’s homework. I’m not sure if this helps them or hurts them. Some

students I think ask just to get the points, which is disappointing. Other students ask

because they legitimately have no idea, and some students I think ask because they’ve

tried it and want to ensure that their thought process was correct.

 Knowledge Checks: I started to do knowledge checks instead of quizzes, basically they

are quizzes but I grade them 1-4 based on how well they know the material. I let them use

their notes, however this allows me to see how much understanding is going on within

the classroom. I don’t know how well it fosters actual thinking, but when I can look at

what they’ve done I can see if they have actually understood the concept the way they are

supposed to according to the curriculum.

 Notes: Most every day we go over a new topic. This allows the students to be exposed to

new ideas. However, like I said at the beginning of my paper I don’t know how well it

fosters them to really think for themselves. This is where they should be able to see a new

topic, practice it with my help and ask questions.

 Assignments: After notes I give them an assignment to practice their new skill learned.

This is where I hope a lot of their thought takes over and they really try to learn and

understand the new topic.

 Exit Tickets: This is a quick multiple choice question that at the end of most class I give

them to check for understanding. It takes 3-5 minutes and should foster thoughts to see if

they can apply what was taught to them during the lesson.

Creating More Time for Thinking:

 I think if I restructured my notes, I could start the students off on a better foot to be

thinking for themselves. Like I stated earlier in the paper, I would like to give them a problem

and see if they can come up with a way to solve for it, and hopefully it would be the way that

they need to learn to follow the common core curriculum. However, even if it did create a

different pathway then the curriculum, I know that somehow we could tie it back into the

curriculum of what they should be learning.

Modeling How I Want the Students to Think:

So far the students have caught glimpse of me doing the thinking that I want them to do.

It’s usually when I made a mistake on my notes and I have to figure out how to fix them or

where I went wrong. Not often is it because of a question that is asked, which is somewhat

disappointing that the students are not coming up with questions that make me stop and think. I

do think if I were to maybe slow down when I’m solving a problem, and really explain each

thought process I have while I am solving it they could see how thinking should be done.

Another thought would be to take a problem I haven’t seen before to really show them what my

thought process is while I solve it. It would be somewhat scary to do this, because being that

vulnerable in front of the students is hard, however it would show them that it is okay to put

yourself out there and really try and think.

Feedback, Questions and Encouragement Given to Students:

 I honestly don’t feel that I am great at giving feedback that fosters thinking to the

students. I have just gotten used to telling them their mistake right away or just tell them they did

a good job and they got it right. I do try to foster thinking when they ask questions, and I try to

just guide them to the answer that most of the time they already know. I really need to focus on

asking them how they felt the process went on solving the problems and what they thought while

they were doing the problem.

How My Classroom Fosters Thinking:

My classroom is clutter free and very calming. There’s not much on the walls and is very

clean. I think that this give the students opportunities not to have their thoughts distracted so that

they can focus on whatever the task is at hand they are asked to do. I think to improve I could

add a poster about the unit we are studying so that while they are looking around the room trying

to think maybe a picture, or an equation can give them a spark that could lead to a thought

needed to solve the problem they are working on.

How to Increase Interaction in My Classroom:

I am getting a smart board set up in my classroom. I am so excited for this because I

really feel that if I am in front of the classroom giving the notes that I will have more

opportunities to walk around and see what they are writing when I give them time to try

something on their own. Usually I am stuck by my computer using my document camera and it’s

really hard for me to get up, walk around their desks, and still be able to quickly run back to my
desk if they need to see something on the notes. Being able to just stand the entire time will

really enable me to be able to be up close with them, and talk to them more one on one, instead

of talking to the back of the their heads.