Thinking Caps — NOBLE OCEANS

Yes, how do you show your thinking? A student tries his best to show his thinking in this response to a math problem.

Statements such as the one above to "show your thinking" or to "think hard" provide little clue as to how to go about such thinking unless the statements have been prefaced by explanations of what good thinking looks like. Activities that provide opportunities for students to develop a vocabulary of thinking and to apply different thinking moves can help students to reflect on the processes that lead to greater understanding.

Put on Your Thinking Cap

In the book The Thinking Classroom, Harvard University researchers Shari Tishman, David N. Perkins, and Eileen Jay present "pictures of practice" as a way of fostering a general culture of thinking in the classroom. One picture of practice, "Put on Your Thinking Cap," encourages students to make meaning of the familiar metaphor of the thinking cap. The following outline is adapted from The Thinking Classroom. The dialogue presented in italics features snippets of the original dialogue provided by Tishman, Perkins, and Jay. For the full dialogue, please refer to the chapter "Mental Management" from their book.

Overview: Over the course of a week, students will reflect on their thinking processes with the final goal of designing their own "thinking cap."

1. Share: Preparing for Thinking Caps

Prepare students for the upcoming activity by explaining that at the end of the week they will design their own thinking caps. Explain that the purpose behind designing their own thinking cap will be to discover what kind of thinking they already use to help them in certain scenarios and to consider ways of improving their thinking.

"On Friday of this week, we're going to do an unusual activity. I'm going to ask each one of you to draw your own custom-made thinking cap, an imaginary hat that will make you the best thinker you can be. The purpose of making imaginary thinking caps is to help us learn about our own thinking, and to help us think of ways we would like to make our thinking better."

Let students know that they will be taking moments throughout the week to reflect on some of their thinking moves. By paying attention to their own thinking moves students can gain a better understanding of what sort of features might be helpful to include in the design of their thinking cap.

2. Model: Share Your Thinking

Elaborate upon the idea of a useful thinking cap feature by offering a personal anecdote of what you might include on your own thinking cap. This sort of modeling not only provides a concrete example, it also draws a connection to how anybody can benefit from reflecting on their own thinking processes. The authors provide the example of the teacher describing that sometimes her thinking feels a bit disorganized. She explains:

"For instance right now I have lots of ideas about thinking caps, but they are getting jumbled up in my mind; sometimes I don't sort things out and I end up feeling confused."

The teacher then turns it over to students for ideas on a useful feature she might include on her thinking cap that could help her organize her thoughts. Examples might include a bell that reminds her to write a list or an ejection slot that provides post-it notes for her to keep track of her ideas while she is working.

3. Highlight: Students Reflect on Their Own Thinking

Build in specific moments throughout the week for students to reflect on their own thinking. This may include moments during different subjects and during partner and group work. You might preface this with an introduction:

"All week we're going to pay especially close attention to our thinking, so we can discover ways we want our thinking caps to help us. This week, I'm going to ask you lots of questions about your thinking, and give you plenty of time to think about your thinking."

Throughout the week, you might draw attention to existing strategies students already use to help them in their learning. For example, if students are preparing mind maps during a lesson to generate connections among ideas you might pose the question of how the mind map is helping them in their thinking on the topic. Perhaps after noting the kind of discussion fostered after a student asked a question, the group can note that a "question button" is one approach to breaking down big ideas.

The authors also note that certain behavioral dispositions can aid in the thinking process. As an example, they refer to one student's inclusion of a "bravery button" to inspire her to speak up in class. You might also draw attention to classroom procedures or routines that students might adapt as behaviors of their own. Is there a classroom filing cabinet that stores student work that might spark a "file away" button as a way of encouraging a student to keep his or her binder organized? By creating opportune moments for students to reflect on their thinking, students can become familiar with the variety of features that aid the full scope of the learning process.

4. Create: Design a Thinking Cap

Design the thinking caps. Offer students materials (markers and craft paper will do just fine) to begin designing their thinking caps. Embrace the full range of ideas that may emerge (some may be sillier than others!). You may want to allow students to share their thinking caps in small groups. Post the final designs on the wall so they can serve as visual reminders of what kinds of thinking moves might be useful for a particular exercise.

Now we can hope that "show your thinking" has just gotten a little bit clearer (unless, of course, the next time a math problem asks a student to "show their thinking" the student draws a thinking cap!).

Additional Resources

For more information and "pictures of practice" of how to create a classroom culture of thinking, read The Thinking Classroom by Shari Tishman, David N. Perkins, and Eileen Jay. To read more about fostering a language of thinking in the classroom, you may be interested in the article "Languages of Thinking" from Noble Oceans.

Both Shari Tishman and David Perkins are affiliated with Project Zero, a research organization at Harvard Graduate School of Education. For further information regarding Shari Tishman's research at Project Zero explore her work in multiple projects , including Agency by Design, Artful Thinking, and others. David Perkins served as co-director of Project Zero for nearly thirty years. View his work on many projects , including Teaching for Understanding and Visible Thinking.