Making our thinking visible

Dear team,
After a few technical glitches, I have arrived. Thanks for everyone's patience.
Appreciation too to our wonderful team - how awesome to see, hear and even feel the learning that has occurred and is now happening in our classrooms, learning spaces and outdoors. My reflections have been around making thinking visible. This notion is one we have explored with students. We often ask them to make their thinking visible, as it is happening or afterwards in reflective opportunities. My wondering have been around us as professionals. How often do we make our thinking visible to our students and to each other? In a more formal leadership role, a further question is how to help create the conditions for staff to be able to make their thinking visible safely and feel inspired to do so.

I really appreciate how you are making your thinking visible here. In time, we may also feel confident to broaden our audience to include more than our working group. Hats off to Tanya who helped make her thinking visible in our hallway of late:

This is located in our east hallway and helps outline thinking, student learning, our learning and more within the four frames of the FDK program. Never underestimate the power of this type of work to achieve many things, including

- celebrating student and staff work

- documenting learning over time

- connecting the dots for students and staff

- making thinking visible for ourselves and others

Another group impacted is our community. As parents and families walk our hallways they too will see our thinking on our walls which is incredible.

Does such actions pose risk?

Yes.

 I think many of us may have hesitations when we "put ourselves out there". We may wonder "what will people think?", "what if someone disagrees with my thinking?" "will I be judged on my thinking", "what if I have to rethink my thinking"? and in the age of the internet "wow, my thinking is out there for all time to be picked up, examined and recycled".....

I see our group has cast off all those doubts which is inspiring and thank you for taking this risk.

 The reality is all those things may happen, but the risk we are taking is well worth the reward of the rich learning now underway. By making our thinking visible, we impact our learning and the learning of others, So thank you for taking this risk and for teaching me so much.

Greg