We are using the Here's What (I tried).... So What (Happened....) and Now What? ('s the Next Steps...) reflection routine. I decided to focus on "visibility" for my action. Richhart speaks of four "fronts" from which to work to create environments to enhance learning and build culture: visibility, flexibility, comfort, and invitational quality.
Here's What (I Tried)....
As I was reading the section of the chapter on "visibility," I was struck by the simplicity of putting ideas literally "on the table" for debate, examination, and modification (p 248). Ritchhart quotes Bill Buxton of Microsoft Research as saying "to collaborate effectively others need to see what is in your head." He recounts Buxton as describing a time when he passed by a conference room and noticed participants in a meeting being bogged down and communication was stalled. He snuck in the room and placed large pieces of foam-core board, pins, sticky notes, and markers on the table. When he returned the room was buzzing with conversation and the ideas were quite literally "on the table!"
So What (happened)....
When I gave the instructions to the students, they just looked at me at first, confused. One girl raised her hand and said, "so, we can write anything we are thinking about the video in any format we want?' I said, "yes." I encouraged them to draw pictures, make connections between their own ideas and each others. They were expecting me to give them questions to answer and specific items to capture and in a specific way. I was fully expecting only some students to write and to write a minimal amount. I was SO shocked! Every single student participated and wrote throughout the entire video. I couldn't believe it! When we were done, we have 5 charts - one from each table group charting all the thinking that was done during the video to foster the conversation and to be able to refer back to throughout the unit. Talk about making the "invisible" ...."visible!" If I had done it the traditional way, ...gather all kids to the front, watch the video, ask a view prompting questions and discuss, ...so much of their thinking would never be visible!
Now What ('s next)....
This is definitely a strategy I will repeat in my classroom. I told a colleague about it and she put the paper on her guided reading table and when the kids were having book club conversations, they recorded their thinking. She dated the paper and brought it back out to refer to and add to at the next meeting. I see great possibilities for this strategy as well for math discussions. Not all schools can turn entire walls into giant whiteboards using IdeaPaint to help with visibility...but all schools have paper and markers and table space. My only regret is that I didn't grab my iPad to take a photo to share!
I look forward to additional opportunities to support my students literally putting their thinking "on the table!"