# data[].attributes.headline
Vicki Davis Podcast - Visible Thinking Routines

# data[].attributes.subject
Vicki Davis Podcast - Visible Thinking Routines

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Today Karen Voglesang @NBCTchr teaches children to use thinking routines in her classroom. After participating in Harvard's Project Zero, she is applying and using the methods in classrooms and with teachers. Learn some thinking routines and how to apply these valuable techniques in your classroom. Karen was the 2015 Tennessee State Teacher of the Year and I interviewed her at the NNSTOY Conference in DC this summer.

Today's sponsor is Kids Discover Online. They're doing awesome things to drive inquiry based learning. The Kids Discover online platform lets students enter discovery mode. This fun, visual tool lets students explore 150 different science and social studies units for elementary and middle school learners.

And while they can explore a wide variety of topics from the US Constitution to Ecology and Ancient China, I also like that you can assign these nonfiction texts at three different lexiles to supplement what you're doing in the classroom.

Go to coolcatteacher.com/discover and get started for free. They support single sign-on with Google and Clever.

Listen Now
Below is a transcript modified for your reading pleasure. For information on the guests and items mentioned in this show, scroll down to the bottom of this post.
****
Transcript for Episode 134
How to Teach Thinking Routines in the Classroom

Shownotes: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e134

Download the Transcript: Episode 134 Karen Voglesang

Thursday, August 24, 2017

What are thinking routines?

00:09 Vicki: Today we are with Karen Vogelsang or Ms V from Tennessee. Hey, that rhymes, that's awesome. She was State Teacher of The Year for 2015. And I'm at the in NNSTOY Conference, that's N-N-S-T-O-Y.org. So thanks to NNSTOY for having me to present but also letting me talk to so many amazing teachers. Now, Karen, thinking routines are very important to you in your classroom. What are thinking routines?

00:39 Karen V: Thinking routines are really an opportunity to allow students to ask questions and really give teachers an opportunity to deepen their understanding of different content knowledge. And one of the beautiful things about thinking routines, it doesn't matter if you're a kindergarten teacher or a 12th grade teacher, thinking routines can be used for all grade levels.

The "Compass Points" thinking routine is a great way to open up a school year

01:01 Vicki: So give me an example of how it's used in your classroom.

01:04 Karen V: One of the things that I do at the very beginning of the year is I use this thinking routine called "compass points". And it's north, south, east, and west. We got a little integration of social studies there. And I did this routine for the very first time when I came back from Harvard's Project Zero Classroom in 2012, and it's an opportunity for the kids to really share what are they nervous about so that's the N. What are they nervous about? What do they need from me as the teacher? And then the S is, what support do they need for me? What specific things do they envision as they go throughout the year that they're going to need my support in?

And I'll never forget the year Morgan told me, "Ms V, I'm not good at math and I can't ever have you raise your voice at me 'cause I get too nervous about it." Not that I was ever a teacher that raised her voice but Morgan was just that nervous about it.

And then W, worries. What worries do you have about being in that particular year? It was second grade but I've done this for third graders and fourth graders. And then E, what excites you? And what happens, children are honest and they basically put down what are their Ns, what are their Ss, what are their Es, what are their Ws, and what that does is it really gives me a glimpse into what they're thinking about as they embark on this school year. So that's just one example of getting the year started off with a thinking routine.

02:36 Vicki: I love that. So are these different ways of thinking that you teach students?

The Book: Making Thinking Visible

02:43 Karen V: Yeah, now I don't know if I can plug a book here but the...

02:47 Vicki: Go ahead, plug a book, plug away.

02:48 Karen V: The book is "Making Thinking Visible" and the principal author was Ron Ritchhart, it was also written by Mark Church. There's different types of thinking.

Perspective Taking Thinking Routines

So for example, one of the types of thinking is perspective taking.

So as we go through and we read a book, I may ask my students to step inside those characters and ask them, "What are they seeing? What are they thinking? What are they feeling as that character?" And what happens is they have to go back in the text and they have to look for evidence in the text that would reinforce what they're learning, what they're reading about in that text. So it depends on what kind of thinking that you're wanting the children to do and that will dictate, in some respects, what thinking routine you'll use as a teacher.

The biggest mistakes Karen made with teaching thinking routines

03:36 Vicki: What do you think the biggest mistake you made with thinking routines was?

03:39 Karen V: What I learned... I was privileged to go back for a second time as a study group leader to Project Zero a couple years after my initial experience there. I didn't teach my kids the specific routines.

Note from Vicki: Could there be a more important point than this? We all need to listen to Karen here. We want to teach students to think! So, let's give them the routines to think and let's help them know the routines to think. Then, students can go into that mode of thinking when tackling problems. This is a fantastic point!

Karen: So, when I came back that following year, I was teaching third grade, and so I really taught my children what these thinking routines were. So instead of having to constantly repeat the steps and the other beautiful part about these routines, is none of them have more than three steps. So they're very easy to integrate in any content area, in any grade level. That was the first year when I came back that second time I was like, "Okay. I'm going to teach them what these routines are."

The tug-of-war thinking routine

Karen: So if I said to the kids, "Hey, guys we're getting ready to do They knew what tug-of-war was and I'll never forget the first time I did that. I was like, "Okay, guys we're going to be looking at this debate. These two different authors have two different view points about this particular topic. When we're done reading it we're gonna do tug-of-war." "Yay! Yay!" They get all excited about it. So not teaching them the routines when I first came back and now that's something I'm very deliberate every year. I start to teach the students what these routines are so when there's an applicable point of using them, they jump right in and do it.

The first routine many teachers use: See/Think/Wonder

05:00 Vicki: So you've already given us three examples. Do you have another example or two that are like, "These are your tried and true, we use these a lot?"

05:08 Karen V: The very first routine that most teachers come back and use when they come back from this experience, is See/Think/Wonder. And See/Think/Wonder can be done in so many different kinds of ways because it can be done with pictures that teachers cultivate from different resources and they put up on a smart board, they project it on a promethean board, whatever it is. It may be actual artifacts.

I actually did math with art one year when we were looking at geometry and had them use these particular different pieces of art that really incorporated a lot of geometry. And that is really giving them an opportunity to name what they observe so that's practicing observation skills. Then from there, they're answering the questions, "What do you think is going on in that picture?" And then from there, "What do you wonder?"

05:58 Karen V: And that's the beautiful part right there because when you get the kids to say what they're wondering about, for me, that was like my road map of, "Where am I going to go next to help them explore what it is that they wanna know?" Because when I do that, then they're engaged, they're excited about the learning. And there's no behavior problems that are going on in the classroom 'cause they're so excited about this kind of learning.

And as a teacher, those questions also help me capture any misconceptions. And you know as well as I do that when kids get hold of a misconception, if we wait until there's an assessment and then we catch it, it's already so deeply rooted that it takes that much more time to undo it. So these are great opportunities to find out what student misconceptions are and catch those on the front end.

How Karen's classroom has changed since using thinking routines

06:51 Vicki: Give me an example of how you think your classroom has changed now that you're using thinking routines?

06:57 Karen V: It is a student centered classroom where they are excited about learning and I am just the guide on the side. I'm the person that's going around asking them questions, "What do you notice? What do you wonder? What is your partner talking about?" They're collaborating with each other. Every time I use a thinking routine I have never ever had a child off task. And that's been the exciting part because this is really tapping into what they're bringing to the table in their learning, so it's just been very exciting to see the enthusiasm they have for learning. So as I've come up and over the learning curve in utilizing these thinking routines, I keep trying to find more and more ways to integrate them whether it's in ELA, science, social studies, math.

Resources to Learn More

07:48 Vicki: So your favorite resources for thinking routines, you have "Making Thinking Visible", you've got the Project Zero resources. Any other places that you go to learn these?

07:56 Karen V: Well, if you live in Memphis, Tennessee or Shelby county [laughter] myself and another teacher were asked, actually asked by Harvard's Project Zero to start basically a Project Zero satellite group in Memphis. And so, every year we conduct Project Zero workshops where we bring in teachers from all the surrounding areas.

You can just google Project Zero or you can google "Making Thinking Visible" and you will find a multitude of resources out there. There's videos out there so that you can see what this actually looks like in a classroom, whether it's early childhood, middle childhood, if it's secondary. And we use these during in service to get our teachers kicked off so that they can see how these routines are used, model that for them, and then take it back to fit their students and their particular content areas.

A Challenge to teach them to think

08:47 Vicki: So remarkable teachers, we all have an important strategy to understand and that is thinking routines. And I especially like how Karen or Ms V says that we need to teach these routines to our students because this is something they can carry with them for a lifetime, the way to think, the way to analyze. And really, isn't that something that so many teachers say, "I want my students to know how to think?"

Well, maybe we're not teaching them how to think. Maybe we're just feeding them too much and not giving them the thinking routines they need. So, so many great resources and a way to unlock more remarkable teaching.

Full Bio As Submitted

Karen Voglesang

Karen Vogelsang has taught elementary school in Memphis, Tennessee for fourteen years. She currently serves Shelby County Schools in a hybrid role working on teacher engagement projects for the Chief of Staff, as well as teaching 4th grade. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and a Master's in Elementary Education.

She is the 2015 Tennessee Teacher of the Year. Karen is National Board Certified in Early Childhood, and a certified mentor. Karen currently serves on Governor Haslam's Teachers Cabinet. She also serves as a Fellow Facilitator for Tennessee Hope Street Group.

Karen is a member of the Gates Foundation and NCTQ Teacher Advisory Councils. In March 2012, Karen received a fellowship to attend Harvard's Project Zero Classroom, and is the co-founder of Project Zero Memphis. As a result she has been invited to speak about the integration of thinking routines with effective questioning strategies.

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a "sponsored podcast episode." The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Teach Thinking Routines in the Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Today Karen Voglesang @NBCTchr teaches children to use thinking routines in her classroom. After participating in Harvard's Project Zero, she is applying and using the methods in classrooms and with teachers. Learn some thinking routines and how to apply these valuable techniques in your classroom.

# data[].attributes.body
Use consistent icons to indicate to students their action

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Noun Project: Free Icons & Stock Photos for Everything

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Noun Project has the most diverse collection of free icons and stock photos. Download SVG and PNG. Over 5 million art-quality icons and free photos.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coolors - The super fast color palettes generator!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Generate or browse beautiful color combinations for your designs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Captivate your audience with our collection of professionally-designed PowerPoint and Google Slides templates. Boost your presentations and make a lasting impression!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
400,000+ Best Pictures of People · 100% Free Download · Pexels Stock Photos

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Download and use 400,000+ People stock photos for free. ✓ Thousands of new images every day ✓ Completely Free to Use ✓ High-quality videos and images from Pexels

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
4.5 million+ Stunning Free Images to Use Anywhere - Pixabay - Pixabay

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find your perfect royalty-free image or video to download and use. ✓ Royalty-free ✓ No attribution required ✓ High quality images.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Beautiful Free Images & Pictures | Unsplash

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Beautiful, free images and photos that you can download and use for any project. Better than any royalty free or stock photos.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We express ourselves in different ways. On Flip, you can use our simple and fun built-in camera to record your thoughts, add effects and share within your Flip group as video, audio only or text in your web browser or mobile app.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Flip is a video discussion and sharing app, free from Microsoft.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Flip (formerly Flipgrid) is a video discussion and video sharing app, free from Microsoft, built for classrooms and beyond. Learn more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Listenwise | Listening Comprehension Matters

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Listening comprehension matters | Listenwise

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Explore the best podcast lessons for grade-level rigor. Curriculum aligned lessons with literacy & language supports, great for English Learners. Free sign up!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Vocaroo is a quick and easy way to share voice messages over the interwebs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The list below features some of the best Math YouTube channels to help your students and kids learn math in engaging ways. I was so picky in my selection and I handpicked only those math channels that I believe would provide real educational value to students.

Using these channels, students will get to learn complex and abstract mathematical concepts in fun and engaging ways. Explanations and tutorials are visually illustrated making it easier to develop a more nuanced understanding of math concepts.

If you are worried about the distractions that often surround YouTube videos (e.g., offensive language in comments, in-appropriate content in related videos, ect), I would highly recommend using tools such as Safeshare TV and Viewpure; two of the best tools that provide a student friendly and distraction-free environment to watch YouTube videos.

Here are the best math YouTube channels:

Numberphile is definitely one of the most popular math YouTube channel created by video journalist Brady Haron. It features hundreds of videos tackling all sorts of mathematical concepts and often featuring mathematicians and other guests from all around the globe

Khan Academy is another must YouTube channel for math and science. It provides great educational videos on math, geometry, physics and many more.

MooMooMath "provides fun helpful Math and Science videos to help folks learn Math and Science. We add a new video every day and take great pride in this."

Socratica provides educational videos spanning various subjects including math, science, computer programming and more. Some of the math playlists it features include: Mathematica essentials, Abstract algebra, Number theory, Calculus, Geometry Lessons, Geometric constructions, Euclidean Geometry, Geometry glossary, and more.

"3Blue1Brown, by Grant Sanderson, is some combination of math and entertainment, depending on your disposition. The goal is for explanations to be driven by animations and for difficult problems to be made simple with changes in perspective."

Mathologer, by a math professor at Monash University in Melbourne, offers accessible explanations of complex mathematical problems. Some of its popular videos include: Math in the Simpsons, Numberphile vs Math, Secrets of the nothing grinder, infinite fractions and the most irrational number, How not to die hard with Math, and more.

"The Organic Chemistry tutor focuses on providing tutorial videos on organic chemistry, general chemistry, physics, algebra, trigonometry, precalculus, and calculus."

PatrickJMT Free Math Videos provides video content on different topics such as calculus, derivatives, differential equations, limits, integrals, and more.

This is a great channel that provides several tutoring math videos covering different topics including Basic Math lessons,, calculator tips, brain teasers, and many more

This is another cool channels that offers math tutorials on topics such as fractions and decimals, algebra and functions, number sense, arithmetic, geometry...and more.

This is a web based program for students to practice and master math concepts. They get to learn math from hints , video lessons, and personalized worksheets.

This channel provides math teaching tips to help teachers, parents and tutors to teach mathematics.

This is a channel of a veteran math teacher who has been teaching mathematics and writing textbooks for over 30 years. You will definitely find something for your students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The list below features some of the best Math YouTube channels to help your students and kids learn math in engaging ways. I was so picky in my selection and I handpicked only those math channels that I believe would provide real educational value to students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This site is a curated collection of science phenomena for the NGSS, along with phenomenon based learning resources and help for how to use phenomenon to drive student questions in the classroom centered around 3 dimensional teaching and learning.

# data[].attributes.body
An award-winning source of unbiased, reliable, easy-to-understand answers and explanations of how the world actually works.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
HowStuffWorks is an education website dedicated to satiating curiosity and explaining the world around you. You've got questions; we've got answers! Our team of know-it-alls isn't afraid of a challenge. Follow @howstuffworks on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Check out our awesome lineup of podcast shows at https://www.stuffmedia.com - and be sure to follow @hswpodcasts on Facebook and Twitter!

# data[].attributes.body
Science and engineering videos featuring experiments, expert interviews, cool demos, and discussions with the public about everything science.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An element of truth - videos about science, education, and anything else I find interesting.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
history biology literature learning education science humanities school "world history" ap tests smart fun chemistry psychology apush whap study "crash cours...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At Crash Course, we believe that high-quality educational videos should be available to everyone for free! Subscribe for weekly videos from our current courses! The Crash Course team has produced more than 45 courses on a wide variety of subjects, including organic chemistry, literature, world history, biology, philosophy, theater, ecology, and many more!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
history biology literature learning education science humanities school "world history" ap tests smart fun chemistry psychology apush whap study "crash cours...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At Crash Course, we believe that high-quality educational videos should be available to everyone for free! Subscribe for weekly videos from our current courses! The Crash Course team has produced more than 45 courses on a wide variety of subjects, including organic chemistry, literature, world history, biology, philosophy, theater, ecology, and many more!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
smarter every day science education "how to"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I explore the world using science. That's pretty much all there is to it. Watch 2 videos. If you learn something AWESOME, please subscribe if you feel like I earned it. Contact: http://www.smartereveryday.com/contact. I currently get lots of correspondence so please forgive me if I'm unable to reply.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
TED-Ed celebrates the ideas of teachers and students around the world. Discover hundreds of animated lessons, create customized lessons, and share your big ideas.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Quizlet has study tools to help you learn anything. Improve your grades and reach your goals with flashcards, practice tests and expert-written solutions today.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
AnswerGarden is a new minimalistic brainstorm tool for online brainstorming, real time audience participation and classroom feedback.