Written By Ron Ritchhart - April 67, 2020 - Source LINK

As we collectively move into the world of distance learning, we face a lot of questions and uncertainties: 

• How do I ensure that the tasks I assign students remotely are worthwhile and will actually produce learning versus just keep them busy? 

• How do I manage students doing different things at different times in different places?  

• How do I explain complex assignments and ideas remotely? 

• How do we stay together as a community of learners?

This is unfamiliar space for many of us.  While not a panacea and certainly not an answer to all of the questions above, I believe that thinking routines can be a very useful tool during this time.  Someone asked me the “best” thinking routines for distance learning.  My reply was that the best routines would be the ones you have already established and with which your students are already familiar.  This saves both you and your students the time needed to teach a new routine. This is precisely why we have routines, to provide structures that scaffold and support learning.  As these structures are used over time,  they become routine ways of interacting with content, and learners become more independent.  Using familiar routines, allows students to learn in a familiar space in which they can experience a sense of agency and security.  That said, new thinking routines can be taught online and I want to share a few with you that might be very useful in distance learning.

As David Perkins has said, “learning is a consequence of thinking.”  Therefore, as we engage students remotely with content that they are reading, listening to, or watching on their own we want to make sure they are thinking about that material.  

Take Note

A simple routine that can help ensure students are thinking about the material is the “Take Note” routine, which is one of the new routines featured in the new book due out at the end of April.   The Take Note routine asks students to respond to at least one and up to four different prompts after they have read/watched/listened to the material:

• What is the most important point?

• What are you finding challenging, puzzling or difficult to understand?

• What question would you most like to discuss?

• What is something you found interesting?

Students can post their response online for others to use (perhaps on Padlet or a Google doc) or you can collect them via email.  Based on students’ responses, you can then design online discussions & future instruction.

Peeling the Fruit

A second thinking routine that might be useful is Peeling the Fruit. Many teachers are using this time away from the classroom to have their students engage in some kind of independent inquiry. Students investigate a topic of interest using online and in-home resources.  One way of documenting that inquiry would be to use the Peeling the Fruit routine. (See "Peeling the Fruit" image below this article) 

Students begin on the skin by "describing what's there" and identify prior knowledge about their topic of inquiry. Then move inward to identify their puzzles, wonders and mysteries. As the inquiry progresses, they can keep track of the connections they are making explanations being built, and the different perspectives they have explored. Then Identify what is at the core: What's it all mean? Finally step back to identify the nuances and complexities of the topic. If students do have access to large chart paper (even a paper sack cut apart would work) they can document each stage on their personal graphic organizer. Alternatively, each stage of the routine can be documented on paper or in a word processing document using the appropriate heading.

Resources

Of cours there are many other possibilities for the use of thinking routines and distance learning than just these two. Around the world, educators are coming together as a community to share their practices and help others. Some of these that might be helpful are:

• Carol Geneix, and Jaime Chao-Mignano at Washington International School have put together a resource page in which thinking routines are matched to appropriate online tools.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JM826jA_dZobwu21SaLlovzaaetuJiFO0aCn9IIQDyo/edit

https://mailchi.mp/bdb1b398afc0/stumped-with-distance-learning-weve-got-solutions?e=90b05b1441

• Thinking about how to communicate with his students and explain concepts, Erik Lindemann, a Third grade teacher at Quaker Valley School District, discovered the Loom was a great tool. Loom has also made its Pro version completely free for teachers to use. The easy to use app allows you to create a video using any open window on your computer in which your video image appears in the corner of the page to offer commentary. It also has highlighting tools.