Building Thinking Classrooms 2025 Annual Conference

In this session, participants will participate in several task/lesson launches. We will discuss the importance of story, authenticity, and information at the beginning of a task. Participants will discuss the qualities of a great task/lesson launch and then will prepare launches for next Fall.

Teachers make countless in-the-moment decisions that are shaped by our beliefs and biases within a colonized system. This session explores these "discretionary spaces"—unplanned moments requiring a decision or judgment call—and their impact on our connections with students and students’ connections with each other. We rarely have time for individual reflection, let alone collaborative analysis of these moments. Let’s explore the discretionary spaces that emerge in a Thinking Classroom and how our responses can foster connection and care. Join us to name, reflect, and reframe these important decisions.

How do we assess the competencies and mathematical practices that matter in mathematics classrooms? Chapter 12 of Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, K-12 (BTC) challenges us to rethink assessment by focusing on what we value. This session explores how co-constructed rubrics, as described in BTC, help foster cultural competencies—such as empathy, perspective-taking, and collaboration—alongside key mathematical practices. These competencies, though difficult to quantify, are essential for making expectations and learning accessible to all students. Join us to share strategies, experiences, and discussion to enhance this practice.

As educators, we want students to work together and think about ways to solve problems. For thinking to take place, students need to communicate their thinking with each other. However, sometimes it can be difficult to motivate students to work with their team. In order to build student thinking we need to build student status. Come learn how to build up the status of your students while building a thinking classroom and see how this will help motivate your students to work together.

In an English classroom where students collaborate in random groups at vertical spaces, the opportunities to build communication skills are endless. From analyzing texts to generating ideas to exploring the writing process, a BTC classroom invites students to share their thoughts, develop their voices, and think critically. In this session, we’ll dive into how the English classroom can be transformed into a Thinking Classroom, and reflect on the powerful impact this approach has on students’ development as writers and readers.

This session will explore how BTC practices can provide a powerful shield against the adverse effects of childhood trauma. Students from marginalized groups, including those with IEPs, English Language Learners, low-socioeconomic backgrounds, and Indigenous heritage, etc., often experience higher rates of ACEs. By implementing a range of BTC practices, teachers can create a positive classroom culture, promote social-emotional learning, and encourage critical thinking, ultimately benefiting all students, including those from marginalized communities and those impacted by ACEs. This session may evoke powerful emotions, resulting in a renewed sense of determination and motivation to embark or reignite your BTC journey.