PLP Log

Abby Johnson
PLP Log
Date
2/12/16
Chapter
s
1-2
2/26/16
3-4
3/11/16
5-6
Daily Reflection
During this session, we discussed the
importance of having students practice thinking.
Many times teachers focus on what the students are
doing or what they need to know. Instead, teachers
should be giving students the opportunity to practice
their thinking so that they gain an understanding. We
also discussed that teachers must model these
things for students before expecting them to
understand how to do it. When teaching a lesson or
before giving the students a practice assignment, the
teacher should make her thinking visible so that the
students can understand and learn from it. The goals
of a teacher should be to create opportunities for
students to think and to help the students make that
thinking visible. One of the benefits of this type of
teaching is that teachers can see when
misconceptions in student thinking occur. Finally, we
talked about how we can make that thinking visible.
One of the biggest things is through discussion in the
classroom. The teacher must ask open-ended
questions to spark conversations. These questions
display interest and advance understanding. Through
active involvement in the classroom, teachers assist
students in developing an understanding.
During this session, we talked about how we
can use thinking routines. Just like any educational
strategy, they only work if used in the proper
context. These thinking strategies are tools that
teachers must carefully select based on his or her
desired learning outcome for the students. They
support students in their thinking and help them
develop that as a habit. They also act as a scaffold
that helps students develop that higher-level
thinking. After that we moved into discussing the
thinking strategies. The fourth chapter emphasized
thinking routines that could be used to introduce new
ideas. We discussed how a lot of these as
engagement activities in our lessons.
During this session, we began by discussing
the routines in chapter five that can be used when
students are organizing and synthesizing ideas. We
3/15/16
7-8
discussed how these would be great to use in the

teaching portion like the I used to think. . . Now, I
think . . . We noticed how a lot of these are centered
around the students making connections to previous
knowledge. I think that these are great ways to
practice those strategies in a way that is visible to all
students. We also discussed chapter 6 which were
routines the teacher can use with students when
digging deeper into certain ideas. A lot of these
thinking routines require the students to look at the
information in a different way to apply what they are
learning. Some of these would be great in teaching
while others would be good to use in the closure of a
lesson.
During this session, we began by
breaking down the definition of cultures of thinking.
We discussed how important collaboration is in the
classroom. As teachers, we should promote an
environment where the individual is able to think but
also contribute those ideas to the larger group. We
also discussed how these thinking routines must be
incorporated daily into the classroom. If we choose to
engage students into a thinking routine occasionally,
they are not going to create these strategies and
thinking patterns into a habit. We broke down most
of the case studies to discuss what it would look like
in our classrooms to incorporate these strategies. As
we closed, we discussed what challenges could come
from this and how long to you persevere when
students dont understand. If students are not
actively involved in deeper level thinking, it may be
an adjustment for them. However, it is important for
the teacher to continue developing that thinking
because it is something they will use for the rest of
their life.
This experience was something very meaningful and beneficial to

my growth as a teacher. First of all, the structure of these meetings
was highly beneficial to me. I could have read the book on my own, but
I would not have had the opportunity to hear different perspectives on
the subject. Secondly, the book presented the concept of thinking in
the classroom in a way I had never thought of before. Many times I

think of needing to teach students the foundations of different content,
but I had never thought about needing to teach students how to think.
This book gave many practical strategies that teachers can use to
develop that higher-level thinking in students. At the beginning of the
book, it talked about effective questioning. This is something I want to
incorporate into my unit and in the classroom. I have asked many
questions throughout, but I realize I can be more intentional in those
questions to elicit better discussion. Another strategy I would like to
use is the Think-Puzzle-Explore thinking routine. This would be a great
thing to do as an engagement activity at the beginning of the unit. I
also want to use the Generate-Sort-Connect-Elaborate thinking routine.
It takes the idea of a concept sort and makes it more meaningful by
adding the element of making connections. Finally, What Makes You
Say That? is something that can be used throughout our unit. When
teaching science, it is extremely important that students back up their
ideas with evidence. This would be a great routine that students can
use to begin forming that habit.

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Abby Johnson

discussed how these would be great to use in the

This experience was something very meaningful and beneficial to

the classroom in a way I had never thought of before. Many times I

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