Building Thinking Classrooms 2025 Annual Conference

Instructional Routines in a Thinking Classroom: Compliance vs. Thinking
A thinking classroom is dynamic and, from some perspectives, unpredictable. But, there are moments within every thinking classroom lesson that are controlled and predictable—moments that are occasioned through the use of instructional routines. In this session, I talk about the varied roles that instructional routines can play in the thinking classroom and discuss the delicate tension between instructional routines, compliance, and maintaining student thinking.

When implementing site-based/division-wide initiatives have you ever questioned how your current practice fits with new information and asked, “but what about...?” We will reflect on the “moves” we researched, observed, and tried through the lens of Building Thinking Classrooms that helped answer the “what about . . .” questions through a modeled lesson. We will collaboratively discuss prioritizing pedagogy while planning by using a task to reach and engage all learners to transform your practice.

How can we focus on the verbing of mathematics during the Launch, Body and Closing of a math lesson? Lets look at how we can craft hands-on experiences with the use of linear, set and area models within the building thinking classroom framework. We will chat about how we can center on change and motion while we play with structure and then name it in a Thinking Classroom.

What do mathematicians do? What do they say? What do they think? What do they feel? These are impactful questions to ask any young mathematician, but this session will spotlight these questions with a major plot twist. What do elementary thinking classroom teachers do, say, think, and feel? Participants will ask these questions of themselves and access each other’s expertise in a great exchange of practical moves that can be easily incorporated into any elementary thinking classroom. As Peter Liljedahl has been known to say, “The smartest person in the room is the room.” Whether your thinking classroom is fairly new or well established, this is a room you’ll want to be in. Come join us as we pull the curtain back on our very best moves.

Conversations around kinesthetic learning best/promising practices, research behind movement-based learning and mathematics, and connection to the Think and Tinker Space.

This year, we launched a new after-school math class based on Thinking Classrooms pedagogy for 4th-6th graders. Students collaborated in random groups to investigate rich math tasks. We used various tools, including AI, as BTC teaching assistants to support student learning. Thin slicing problems is key in Thinking Classrooms, especially when working with diverse learners. AI tools, like ChatGPT, helped thin slice problems to engage and challenge all students. Join us to learn about our BTC work in a multi-grade setting and to discover AI tools that will support your own BTC classroom.