‘Thinking & Learning Toolbox’ Rationale Matt Buxton Djanogly City Academy Nottingham Image:

Thoughts are... Private Invisible Abstract Ref: Caviglioli, O., Harris, I. & Tindall, B; Thinking Skills & Eye-Q; Stafford:NEP; (2002), p.9 Image:

“Thinking can be transformed from being a private, abstract and invisible act, to one that is public, concrete and visible.” Ref: Caviglioli, O., Harris, I. & Tindall, B; Thinking Skills & Eye-Q; Stafford:NEP; (2002), p.9.

Rationale Thinking is hard because it’s invisible, private and abstract Therefore, we need to make it visible, public and concrete Visual Thinking Templates help to do this by: – Facilitating Thinking by enabling students to produce structured graphic organisers which can be seen, edited, commented upon. – Stimulating Thinking by ‘leading’ them through particular ‘thought-processes’. Ref: Thinking Skills & Eye-Q; Caviglioli, O., Harris, I. & Tindall, B; Stafford:NEP; (2002)

Two distinct areas of Thinking: Mindmapping Big Picture thinking Topic Reviews Holistic Cause & Effect Compare & Contrast Categorisation etc. Conceptual Image:

The Three-Stage Learning Model

3-Stage Learning Model - Rationale Break down learning process. Focus on Conceptual Thinking. Facilitate & Stimulate cognitive processing. Focus assessment opportunities at Thinking Stage, as opposed to solely Output Stage. Provide Visual link between Thinking and Output, particularly literacy i.e. Visual essay planning.

How to use the ‘Toolbox’ The student ‘Toolbox’ has one slide for each Thinking Tool; a blank template for them to complete – either on PowerPoint or a paper-based version printed by the teacher. The teacher ‘Toolbox’ has one blank template & one completed example to show the students. Copy-&-Paste required templates onto new PowerPoint for student ‘workbook’; provides lesson sequence. Ideally, the Tools should be introduced with a ‘practice’ first that is not related to the lesson content; then used with the lesson content. The Tools should be used by students numerous times throughout the year; it is important that opportunities are built-into your teaching and planning for them to do so.

Objective The over-arching objective is for us to arrive at a situation where students will independently use appropriate Tools within Tasks. To achieve this, we must: – Ensure students know about the Toolbox – Ensure they know how to use a range of Tools – Design & Plan lessons and tasks which require the use of the tools – Ensure the students use the Tools regularly – Assess the students ‘Thinking’ by giving comments and feedback on their use of the Tools.

The over-arching objective is for us to arrive at a situation where students will independently use appropriate Tools within Tasks. Ensure the students use the Tools regularly Assess the students ‘Thinking’ by giving comments and feedback on their use of the Tools. Design & Plan lessons and tasks which require the use of the tools Ensure the students know how to use a range of Tools Learning/Thinking Tool: Target Chart

Web 2.0 functionality & collaboration Microsoft Learning Gateway running over either SharePoint 2003 or 2007 can enable users to collaborate on documents online. Students can therefore work collaboratively from remote locations. This fundamentally extends Learning Opportunities and enhances Student Design of their learning.

Web 2.0 functionality & collaboration Upload PowerPoint ‘Toolbox Workbook’ to a Sharepoint 2003/2007 site. Remote users then access document online. When the document opens, the learner selects ‘Edit Presentation’ - The learners then work on the document, saving regularly by clicking Save icon – Each learner must Refresh the document regularly to see their peers amendments -