Week 3 - 8/4-8/10 - Chapters 8-9

[Sarah]

Part 3 – Building Intellective Capacity (Optional questions)

Chapter 8: Where do you see opportunities in your classroom to incorporate information processing activities?

Chapter 9: What routines and rituals have you seen in your own classroom or in others’ classrooms that help teachers build communities of learners who support each other rather than compete with each other?

[Stephanie]

Chapter 8: Where do you see opportunities in your classroom to incorporate information processing activities?
Oh my gosh, so many places!!! This chapter was chock-full of thought-provoking pieces for me, especially in regards to incorporating significantly more "Chew time" in order to allow for processing. Math is hard for most 6th graders! Developing a routine of strategic think-time in order for them to be able to discuss with each other, doodle out their thoughts, or revisit graphic organizers would be incredibly helpful for building understanding.

Chapter 9:
I have seen colleagues incorporate weekly circle-time with students, specific non-curriculum days, incentives for whole class behavior, and regular game/ice-breaker use in their classrooms.
I try hard to create spaces for students to work together, some times are more structured that others, but I am in need of a more "ritualized" strategy for these times. In my science classroom I was able to build more structure into the daily activities and incorporate more student-input/sharing of thoughts/discourse than math. Now, as I will be focusing on math, I will need to build in more routines that make connections between students that they can relate to and experiences that they can share with each other.
I can see the think-time ritual being a great one to add in. I also am thinking about the sensory experiences that I can add to my classroom (which will also affect the aesthetics) such as scent and more intentional incorporation of music, particularly for transitional moments.