Disruptive Thinking

Eric Sheninger’s Disruptive Thinking encourages the reader to rethink the learning, rethink the Learner and rethink our mindset. This brings about greater passion for the Learners and the educator as we focus more on our culture for learning and a new culture of thinking. To better prepare our Learner for their future, we’re aligning much of the guidance in Eric’s Disruptive Thinking. Our Learners are so engaged this year! We believe that some is due to how we’re disrupting their thinking, how glad they are to be back in person learning together and how much fun we have learning high school Math. We appreciate that Eric encourages us to see our kids as Learners, not just as students. This is changing our mindset to engage in more thinking and learning, not merely doing. 

     Eric reminds us to start with our why (from Simon Sinek) and our philosophy for learning as we rethink what learning can look like to bring about more inspiring experiences. He encourages us to rethink why we facilitate learning, how we can create opportunities to learn, relate, and integrate concepts that empower our Learners to truly engage. We can ask the right questions to cultivate a thinking culture and create environments that our Learners really need and want to prepare them for their future. 

     The author encourages us to know our Learners, their gaps, their needs, their challenges so we can better create learning opportunities that engage thinking, chase growth (not perfection), personalize the learning and bring out the awe in our day to day learning. We get to know our Learners by understanding what they bring to our learning environment from past years, past courses, the courses on their current caseload and the extra curricular activities in which they engage. We make weekly #GoodCallsHome to connect with their parents to better support our Learners and our learning. Eric reminds us that involving families is a vital component of empowering greater learning. 

     He suggests we find the connectedness in our content to bring about greater understanding, to integrate concepts, to find the relevance to drive thinking and to create opportunities that encourage thinking through play. We create more visual learning, more Tic-Tac-Toe learning opportunities and BINGO games to bring about more play, competition and fun. Our Learners are regularly at the board. They are teaching. They’ve asked to have their voices take up 80% of our class time where my voice they’ve capped at about 20%! Actually, they tell us they learn so much more when they are doing the thinking, speaking, and applying.

     To best use our time in class together, Eric reminds us to give the beginning, middle and end more significance and delineation. The first 5-10 minutes he suggests creates engagement, hooking our Learners and offering them a sense of where we’re headed. Eric guides us to recognize that technology can be incorporated during a Do Now, a Check For Understanding or an Exit Ticket. We use Google Forms and project visuals on the board to make learning more visible. The middle portion of our class includes time for our Learners to ask their questions, time for them to engage in independent practice and time for them to get feedback through thinking and questioning. The last 5-10 minutes should bring about some closure to the goals of the day. This is a great time for a formative assessment or Exit Ticket that checks for understanding and offers the opportunity for our Learners to apply their thinking and ultimately get feedback before class ends. Our Learners often correct their Exit Tickets before they leave and jot themselves notes as to where they might want to improve during our next class.  

     The main portion of our class time is best designed using Universal Design for Learning where all Learners can individually understand and connect to the learning since we’re minimizing all barriers to learning. To bring out the best in our Learners, we encourage our Learners to lead the learning, let their questions drive our thinking and learning, and offer them time to practice the learning while we are available to provide them guidance. 

 

     In closing, Eric reminds us to let our Learners see how much we care about them, our learning and collaboration to unlock their potential. When we do, our Learners can reach and exceed their potential to unleash their greatness!