SIMON BROOKS EDUCATION

Click here for 100 questions to ask your students during class discussion. I’m often asked what I believe to be the defining characteristic that distinguishes ‘cultures of thinking’ classrooms from other classrooms. Of course, the answer to this question is complex and nuanced, and difficult if not impossible to capture in a nutshell. However, having been privileged to spend many years in the classrooms of outstanding teachers, both as a K-12 Director of Teaching and Learning

A couple of weeks ago I was pleased to spend a wonderful day at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. Of the many wonderful works in the gallery, I found that one painting in particular spoke to me that day. It’s a work entitled Mount St Michael, Cornwall, painted by Clarkson Stanfield in 1830. Take a look for yourself, and see what you think. This Blog entry is part four of an eight-part series exploring 7 Big Rocks for Educators keen to build a culture o

Why might highly effective teachers in a culture of thinking make Reasoning with Evidence a BIG ROCK in their schools and classrooms? This Blog entry is part three of an eight-part series exploring 7 Big Rocks for Educators keen to build a culture of thinking in their classrooms. When I reflect on 2016, one of the most thrilling lessons I’ve observed was a Year 10 Science class on Mendelian inheritance and Punnett squares taught by a wonderful Science teacher called Jenny Ste

Have you ever seen the 2011 dystopian science-fiction thriller film, ‘In Time’? If not, I recommend that you invest some time in doing so. The premise of the film is interesting. Set in the context of a bleak, dog-eat-dog futuristic world, the film depicts a society where time has become the universal currency for all human beings. When people turn 25, they stop aging and their clock begins counting down from 1 year. People are not paid in dollars, but in time. Time can

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST Most teachers feel that there just isn't enough time in the school day. This pressure makes it hard for some teachers to allow time for thinking, but making time for students to think actually facilitates faster coverage of the curriculum, since students develop more lasting understanding of content and become more engaged in their learning. How might we become the master of time rather than its victim? Cultures of Thinking is an education