This course will help you excel in your role as as an educator. Focusing on active learning teaching practices, this course will help you encourage students to become deep thinkers and build a “thinking classroom.” Review the skills you will need to pass the Instructional Paraprofessional’s exam as you explore creative ways to present math skills to students. Here, you will learn ways to help students become excited about math and explore ways to present math skills to students at all grade levels!
This course is applicable to teachers as well as instructional paraprofessionals.
Students will:
- Explore ways to encourage students to think deeply for learning and engagement in a math class.
- Reflect on the challenges that surround building a thinking classroom.
- Determine the most effective ways to interact with and evaluate math students to encourage thinking.
- Explain how to randomly group students in a thinking classroom setting.
- Select graphic organizers that would work best for your students.
Course Outline:
Lesson 1: Building a Thinking Classroom
This lesson will introduce you to the concepts, issues, and practices that are foundational to building a thinking classroom. You will also learn about the importance of highly engaging tasks that encourage students to think deeply about the class material.
Lesson 2: Forming Collaborative Groups in a Thinking Classroom
In this lesson, you will learn the fundamentals and importance of placing students in randomized groups, and the challenges associated with this task.
Lesson 3: Layout and Furniture Arrangement in a Thinking Classroom
In this lesson, you will learn about the importance of the physical layout for building a thinking classroom. You will also learn the most effective places for students to work.
Lesson 4: Answering Questions in a Thinking Classroom
In this lesson, you will discover the best ways to answer student questions while still encouraging thinking and learning. You will learn the different types of questions that students tend to ask, and how to handle questions that discourage thinking.
Lesson 5: Tasks and Homework in a Thinking Classroom
In this lesson, you will learn about how tasks are given in a thinking classroom. You will also learn about the importance of “rebranding” homework.
Lesson 6: Student Autonomy in a Thinking Classroom
In this lesson, you will learn about the importance of student autonomy in a thinking classroom. You will also learn how to provide this autonomy in a productive and structured way.
Lesson 7: Hints, Extensions, and Consolidation in a Thinking Classroom
In this lesson, you will learn the best practices for giving hints to students to encourage thinking. You will also learn the concept of increasing the challenge level for students by using extensions and the importance of consolidating a lesson.
Lesson 8: Taking Notes in a Thinking Classroom
In this lesson, you will learn how to encourage students to take meaningful notes that encourage thinking and learning. You will also learn about the most effective graphic organizers that assist students in meaningful note-taking.
Lesson 9: Evaluation in a Thinking Classroom
In this lesson, you will learn the most effective techniques to evaluate students in a thinking classroom. You will also learn about key competencies for students.
Lesson 10: Formative Assessment and Grading in a Thinking Classroom
In this lesson, you will learn best practices for formative assessment and grading in a thinking classroom.
Lesson 11: Pulling the 14 Practices Together to Build a Thinking Classroom
In this lesson, you will pull all that you have learned together to build a thinking classroom.
