The Four Cornerstones of Effective Classrooms
A powerful new online learning suite that helps teachers
Improve student behavior
Increase student engagement
Raise student achievement
Dr. Harvey Silver explains why the Four Cornerstones are essential to raising student achievement in any learning environment.
With this new online professional learning suite, your team will have on-demand access to over 20 tools for building and reinforcing a successful classroom culture.
ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING THAT REALLY WORKS
The Four Cornerstones of Effective Learning Environments is a new professional learning suite for educators. It provides teachers with simple, ready-to-use teaching tools for establishing a learning culture that promotes better student behavior, increased engagement, and higher levels of thinking and learning.
What Are The Four Cornerstones?
In our forty-plus years of helping schools improve teaching and learning, we have learned that the most successful classrooms rest on Four Cornerstones. These Four Cornerstones are the non-negotiables of a truly successful learning environment—those universal elements that we find in all highly effective classrooms and schools. Establishing these cornerstones is essential to deep learning—and to making any school improvement initiative work.
Organization, Rules, and Procedures
How can I organize my classroom to enhance learning and establish rules and procedures that clarify expectations?
A Culture of Thinking and Learning
How can I develop a classroom culture that promotes serious learning and sophisticated forms of thinking?
Positive Relationships
How can I build meaningful relationships with students and among students to promote learning?
Engagement and Enjoyment
How can I motivate
students to do their best work and inspire the love
of learning?
Practical Tools to Make It Work
At the Thoughtful Classroom, we take the word tools seriously. Tools are classroom-ready techniques for improving teaching and learning, and we’ve been developing them in collaboration with educators for over forty years. With The Four Cornerstones online suite, your team will have on-demand access to over 20 tools for building and reinforcing each cornerstone.
Tools Go Digital: “A Tool in Twelve"
The tools in this online suite are presented as “Tool in Twelve” video segments, guided by Thoughtful Classroom content experts. Each Tool in Twelve video segment provides teachers—in approximately twelve minutes—with the most important information they need to use the tool effectively in the classroom. To help teachers successfully implement the tool, each Tool in Twelve segment comes with PD resources that are directly aligned to video content, including
- Fillable planning forms and reflection guide
- Interactive student handouts
- Classroom posters
Watch a full Tool in Twelve sample video – Power Previewing
Based on the
Award-Winning Bestseller
“Once again, The Thoughtful Classroom team has provided simple tools that open the door for thoughtful work in the classroom. Each of the Four Cornerstones provides a strong foundation for students to participate in challenging work, both individually and collaboratively.”
—Bena Kallick, Co-director,
Institute for Habits of Mind
Meet Our Content Development Team
The Four Cornerstones Online Learning Suite is designed and presented by Harvey Silver and the Thoughtful Classroom team, today’s leaders in practical tools for improving teaching and learning.
Dr. Harvey F. Silver
Matthew J. Perini
Joyce W. Jackson
Dr. Tom Dewing
Dr. Ida Teverbaugh-Turpin
Susan Kreisman
Cindy Weber
Rick Fisher
Tijuana Russell
