Geraldine


 * Patuha.**
 * What wonderful professional development sessions. I love Lyn's approach. She kept us interested and focussed on things that are important. Blooms/Andersons taxonomy have never made any sense to me before. Equally I saw the thinking hats as just another thing to add to the long lists. I now have some practical ideas that have motivated me to give them a go, along with four new colourful hats to adorn my wall.**

I would like the students to become aware of many thinkers tools and how to use them. ||
 * ** Teaching as Inquiry **
 * Teacher planning and reflections ** ||
 * ** My name: Geraldine Irvine ** || ** Class Level:Year 3&4 ** ||
 * ** Achievement Target: **I am aiming to develop my knowledge of De Bonos Hats, The Thinkers Keys and learn how to use graphic organisers more often and more effectively.
 * ** Timeframe: 2011 ** ||

Develop the childrens understanding of how to use some thinking tools  D evelop childrens questioning skills. Introduce the hats. || Baseline: Find out what students can already do and what more they need to learn. Refer to National Curriculum and other resources || ** Reflective questions ** || Post reflections here || Dates || No knowledge of Thinkers Keys Limited knowledge of graphic organisers( sound knowledge of bubble maps and some are aware of Y charts) ||  || ICT knowledge (mine and the childrens) ||  || Research to see what has worked for other teachers and contexts. Formulate a plan. || ** Reflective Questions ** || Post reflections here || Dates || Plan for the use of many thinking tools. In particular use a thinkers keys planning sheet for each inquiry. Use STUFF and The Taranaki Daily News photos and articles as a base for teaching some of the thinking tools. ||  || Find examples of learning opportunities with which to use the hats Find examples of graphic organisers that will be effective to use with my children Create a thinkers learning display that shows the thinking tools I wish to use and acknowledges how they can be used Provide lots of experiences for each new tool that is being used Reflect on the learning experiences ||  ||
 * ** Discovery ** || ** Focusing ** |||||| <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 12pt;">Introduce a variety of thinking tools:
 * ^  || Potential – what might be? Prioritise outcomes.
 * ^  ||^   || Why am I focusing on this? || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 9pt;">Many children choose the easy option and allow other children to do their thinking for them. I would like all children in my class to understand that their thoughts are important and they should all have ways of contributing. ||   ||
 * ^  ||^   || What level are my students presently at? How do I know? || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">No knowledge of de Bono's hats
 * ^  ||^   || What barriers to learning need to be overcome? What resources will I need? || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Lack of focus
 * ^  ||^   || Other observations, reflections or ideas to try ||   ||   ||
 * ** Designing ** || ** Teaching ** |||||| // What is my plan for doing this? What strategies will I try? How will I change my practice? // ||
 * ^  || What craft knowledge do I already have? Search your own and colleagues' past practice for strategies that may be more effective.
 * ^  ||^   || What new teaching strategies & tools will I use? || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Relevant Thinkers keys, HOM's, Graphic organisers, and De Bono's Hats
 * ^  ||^   || What are the key steps for implementing my inquiry in the classroom? || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Become familiar with the hats
 * ^  ||^   || What methods & ICTs will I use to track & record student change/achievement and how often? || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Charts recording thoughts ||   ||
 * ^  ||^   || Other observations, reflections or ideas to try ||   ||   ||

Use this new information to decide what to do next to ensure continued improvement in student achievement and in your own practice. ||||||||^  ||   ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Display these activities on the walls where able-this acknowledges the value of the childrens ideas ||   ||   ||
 * ** Delivering ** || ** Learning ** |||||||| // Put my plan into action. Monitor; collect evidence; write regular dated reflections; interpret data. Plan next steps // ||  ||
 * ^  || Monitor students' progress towards identified outcomes and reflect on what this tells you.
 * ^  ||^   |||| ** Reflective Questions ** || <span style="display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt; text-align: center;">Post reflections here || Dates ||   ||
 * ^  ||^   |||| How am I infusing my ideas into classroom practice? || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Adding 1 or 2 specific thinking activities into each weeks programme.
 * ^  ||^   |||| What am I learning from monitoring student outcomes? ||   ||   ||   ||
 * ^  ||^   |||| What are the next steps I need to take? (Research, resources, activities) ||   ||   ||   ||
 * ^  ||^   |||| Other observations, reflections or ideas to try ||   ||   ||   ||
 * ** Evaluating ** || ** Summarising ** |||||||| // Analyse data and observations and draw conclusions. Prepare and present findings to colleagues. // ||  ||
 * ^  || Reflect on progress, observations: current versus initial data. How did it go? What strategies have made a difference to my students' learning? How do I know? ||||||||^   ||   ||   ||
 * ^  ||^   || ** Reflective Questions ** |||| <span style="display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt; text-align: center;">Post reflections here || Dates ||   ||
 * ^  ||^   || What methods will I use to collect ‘end’ data? ||||   ||   ||   ||
 * ^  ||^   || What conclusions can I draw from data analysis? ||||   ||   ||   ||
 * ^  ||^   || What are my main points? ||||   ||   ||   ||
 * ^  ||^   || Specifically how will I share my Inquiry with my colleagues? ||||   ||   ||   ||
 * ^  ||^   || Notes ||||   ||   ||   ||

I thought this was an interesting photo that Josh wanted to share with us after his long weekend. We have used open and closed questions before. We will use this as a motivational picture to ask more open and closed questions. Room 5 wrote haiku poems after a visit to the art gallery using the five senses. The senses gave the children a basis to formulate their thoughts. || =**RESOURCES**= [|Thinking resources] || //Oral Language/Starter// || **Key Competency:** **Thinking** || (class) || **What resources did I use?** Projector and Taranaki Daily News Website || We had a look at several photos, an article and a video of the recent tornado to hit Taranaki. I introduced the WHITE & RED hats and what they represent. The children were then required to tell me a fact or make a statement regarding their emotions depending on which hat was placed on their head. || **Why was this activity successful?** Simple way of developing some understanding of the hats. || Same concept but use more hats once the children are aware of what the other hats represent. || **Next time I would …** Use three hats. ||
 * [[image:auckland_trip_june_2011_018.jpg width="186" height="220"]]
 * The children found it easier to ask a closed question this time round. Many children are not used to asking a question at all. The higher level thinkers in the class are starting to develop the idea of an open question. The children understand that open questions create more questions.** || =====Loved this image so I now use it to for display when we are using our five senses.=====
 * |||| **Thinking Activity or Idea**  ||
 * **Class Level:** Year 3/4 || **Date: 20/06/11** ||
 * **Learning Context:**
 * **Thinking Strategy or Tool:** De Bonos’ Hats || **Specific:** //White Hat & Red hat introduction// ||
 * **Who was involved?**
 * **What did the activity involve?**
 * **How could I use this in other ways?**