How to Create a Thinking Classroom

Create randomized groups of 3 students to foster collaboration and active learning in the classroom. Mixing up groups regularly
Grouping promotes diverse perspectives and communication skills, reducing social hierarchies and enhancing group effectiveness.
Collaborating in groups can deepen students' understanding and prepare them for success in school and beyond.
To promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills, present challenging, open-ended tasks that allow for student choice and
Content collaboration. Keep instruction time to a maximum of 6-10 minutes to allow for task review and instruction, ensuring most class
time is spent on the thinking task.
Provide vertical non-permanent work surfaces, such as whiteboards, wipe boards, plexiglass, or large laminated papers, to allow
VNPS students to easily erase mistakes and work more freely without stress.

Arrange groups throughout the classroom with visible boards to enable struggling groups to seek help from others and learn
Set Up from each other. Provide one marker per group and ensure students switch regularly, promoting communication and
collaboration.
To keep everyone challenged, provide multi-step questions where a new task is available as each part is completed. Start with an
Thin Slicing easy task and gradually increase the difficulty. This approach challenges students at all levels.

While students work on tasks in groups, check in and guide their thinking towards the objective with effective questioning rather than
Mobility of showing them how to do it. Allow students to look at the other groups work to moves knowledge from studnet to student opposed from
teacher to student. Use a different colored whiteboard marker from the groups when making notes, to make it easy for students to
Knowledge distinguish the teacher notes.

Classroom Set expectations with students to work in their groups and avoid wandering around chatting with friends. Remind them that
while it is a discussion-based classroom, excessive noise is discouraged. Use a specific signal such as a clapping sequence, bell or
Management saying, to indicate the end of the lesson and get everyone's attention.

Effective Ask open-ended questions that allow student-led discussions. This approach fosters a deeper understanding of the subject and
helps identify areas for improvement. Effective questioning throughout the learning process also provides immediate feedback
Questioning and helps educators adjust their teaching accordingly.
Assessments will mainly be through observation in small group settings. Monitor each group's work and conversations to gage
Assessment where the students are at with the content. Allow students to demonstrate their knowledge three times before moving on.
Assessment can be done through observation, formative assessments, oral assessments, and/or summative assessments.