SIMON BROOKS EDUCATION

Teachers! Would you like to work on expanding the range of questions you ask your students during class discussions? Catch and Pass is an interactive strategy used by teachers who seek to put thinking front and central in their classrooms. First, teachers ‘catch’ students’ meaning, by repeating key words, or paraphrasing, or checking that they have heard them correctly. Then, teachers ‘pass’ back to students with a probing question to press their thinking, help them develop u

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

One of the joys of my role is the opportunity to work closely with teachers from many different schools, all interested in how they might build a culture of thinking. At many schools, I work closely with groups of teachers as they identify and interrogate the big questions of education that matter most to them in their classroom practice. One such colleague is Joanne Elmes, a Year 1/2 primary school teacher at Asquith Public School in Sydney. In the story below, Joanne reflec

Why build a culture of thinking in classrooms and schools? As educators, how might we lead lasting change? And how might schools make the move from one-off PD towards longer-term professional learning experiences? Check out my answers to these and other questions in this brand new interview with Colin Klupiec, from The Learning Capacity Podcast. Just click on these words in the image below: '59: Simon Brooks on implementing...' #CultureofThinking #Time #Language #Interaction

Something interesting is happening in classrooms across Australia. Teachers are apologising for knowing things. I’ve seen it happen in a number of lessons of late. It goes something like this: “OK students, settle down, settle down . . . thank you . . . now, I’m going to talk at you for about 10 minutes, sorry about that, and then afterwards you can get on with a learning activity I’ve prepared for you. OK?” It seems that some teachers are feeling the need to position the pa

In 1986 Matthew Broderick starred in the now-iconic American comedy film – anyone, anyone – ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’, in which actor Ben Stein delivers his infamous lecture about the – anyone, anyone – the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act, and – anyone – bored or excited . . . ? – bored students rigid in his attempt to teach them economics. Take a look at this clip and remind yourself of Ben Stein’s inspired parody of ineffective teaching. Perhaps the most interesting thing about th