I used to think .... now I think .....

It was great to reflect on our teaching practice at a recent staff meeting using one of the Project Zero Visible Thinking routines "I used to think .... now I think ...."  This is a great routine for reflecting on how and why our thinking has changed.  Teachers said a variety of things, for example:

• I used to think I had to cover a lot of content, now I know I need to have a smaller amount of content but to go into it in more depth (less is more). There were a lot of similar statements to this one.
• I used to think that technology could enhance student learning, now I think it can transform it.
• I used to think I could never become a music teacher, now I am one.
• I used to think students learned in quiet, orderly classrooms, now I think they need to be active, moving around and talking to learn.  Again we had a few like that.

There was one negative comment:  I used to think that PYP was great for really bright children, now I'm not so sure.  It was an honest comment and one that we will need to explore further.

Photo Credit:  All I want for Christmas is a 2 dimensional reduction by Kevin Dooley