Classroom Photos
Graphic organizers are more powerful and more memorable when students design them. When we give students copies of organizers, we take away the deep thinking that comes along with figuring out how they need to organize their thoughts. If we model the kind of thinking they need to do on the organizer (compare/contrast, explore new words, cause and effect), offer possible options for organizing their...
Students can hit any target that we make clear to them, AND that we hold still long enough for them to continually advance toward. Post the learning objectives clearly in the classroom. Make reference to them. Ask self-monitoring questions such as, "Who made a connection to today's lesson and the big idea of this unit?" or "Who has a new question to be clarified about our big idea?"
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Students need to see themselves as individuals who can contribute to the classroom. They also need to see each other as having unique talents that the whole community can benefit from. After conducting surveys, display your community talents in the room. Don't forget to refer back to the displays when discussing how students can help one another, who can step-up to a difficult challenge or how we benefit...
This young teacher took a big risk with her Metacognition poster. When she learned more about the powerful act of teaching kids to monitor their own thinking, she was excited to show us what her students do. On each slip of paper the students reflected on their own thinking strategies, describing what they did when they were stuck in their reading. Now, the class has a Wall of Strategies that readers...
This is an ongoing chart one elementary teacher is using to collect ideas about quality work as the year goes on. Students reflect on their projects, discuss what they did that contributes to quality and track their noticings overtime. Then, the chart becomes a bank of ideas for goal setting when new projects come up. ...
