THOUGHTFUL CLASSROOM PROFESSIONAL LEARNING SUITES
A Professional Learning Suite
Helping Students Connect Personally with Learning
Tools and strategies for getting students more personally invested in classroom learning
Featuring Dr. Harvey Silver, today’s leading expert on instructional tools and strategies
Dr. Harvey Silver, one of today’s top experts on deep learning, and best-selling author of Teaching for Deeper Learning, reminds us of the role that personal connections play in deep learning: “Deep learning is powered by connections. The more we help students make connections—to their own lives and interests, to the academic goals they’re pursuing, to the human stories residing in the content—the more commitment we’ll see from them, and the deeper their learning will become.”
This professional learning suite is designed to create classrooms where these kinds of connections are the norm and are used to fuel powerful learning. More specifically, the tools and strategies in this suite will help you address three critical questions . . .
- How do we increase students’ commitment to new learning by making strong connections at the outset?
- How do we tap into the power of empathy and perspective to help students find greater meaning in classroom content?
- How do we use variety, choice, and decision making to engage students in meaningful applications of their learning?
What Tools & Strategies Will I Find In This Suite?
Establishing Strong Connections
- Student-Friendly Learning Targets (+ Post, Discuss, Reference): Clarify learning expectations and empower students to take greater control over their learning process
- Hooks & Bridges: Use thought-provoking lesson-openers to help students activate their background knowledge and connect it to the upcoming learning
- Goal Cards: Help students become more self- directed by giving them a simple framework they can use to set personal learning goals and establish plans for achieving them
Integrating Empathy and Perspective into Classroom Learning
Tools for Sharing Who We Are
- Hand of Knowledge: Invite students to reflect on and share aspects of their identity that make them who they are
- Think of a Time: Encourage students to use their collective thoughts and experiences to help them explore key concepts and content
Tools for Standing in Others’ Shoes
- A Day in the Life: Challenge students to “become” the individuals and topics they’re studying —and write about a day in their life
- You Are There: Bring content to life by having students imagine they are at the scene of a real or fictional event
- Meeting of the Minds: Invite students to discuss or debate key ideas from the points of view of notable figures or characters
Tools for Seeing It from the Other Side
- TFWN: Encourage students to step outside themselves to consider what someone else is thinking and feeling
- Questioning Prompts: Engage students in considering other people’s feelings and perspectives using a variety of versatile prompts
- Perspective Chart: Ask students to view topics, concepts, issues, and events from the perspectives of different stakeholders
Applying Learning in Personally Meaningful Ways
Tools for Sharing Who We Are
- Task Rotation (& Task Selection): Design tasks that invite students to think deeply about content and express their ideas in a variety of ways
- Decision Making: Empower students to make decisions related to what they’re learning while teaching them a strategic approach to decision making
PLUS:
- Practical resources to help teachers and PLCs plan, reflect, and analyze student work.
Click above for an advance organizer of the tools and strategies in this suite.
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Thoughtful Classroom Professional Learning Suites
Tools and Strategies for Active, In-Depth Learning