Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Tonight - Ron Ritchhart on "Making Thinking Visible"

Join me today, Tuesday, September 25th, for a one-hour live and interactive FutureofEducation.com webinar with Ron Ritchhart on his new book, Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners. Ron has been a researcher at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education since 1994. His research focuses on understanding how to develop, nurture, and sustain thoughtful learning environments for both students and teachers. His interest in “cultures of thinking” has lead him to conduct research in such areas as intellectual character, mindfulness, thinking dispositions,  teaching for understanding, creativity in teaching, and the development of communities of practice. (Bio from Ron's website.)

"How can classrooms become places of intellectual stimulation where learning is viewed not in test scores but in the development of individuals who can think, plan, create, question, and engage independently as learners?

"Making Thinking Visible offers educators research-based solutions for creating just such cultures of thinking. This innovative book unravels the mysteries of thinking and its connection to understanding and engagement. It then takes readers inside diverse learning environments to show how thinking can be made visible at any grade level and across all subject areas through the use of effective questioning, listening, documentation, and facilitative structures called thinking routines. These routines, designed by researchers at Project Zero at Harvard, scaffold and support one's thinking. By applying these processes, thinking becomes visible as learners' ideas are expressed, discussed, and reflected upon." (From the book's back cover.)


Date: Tuesday, September 25th, 2012
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://futureofed.info. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page.
Recordings: The full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-09-25.1344.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and a portable .mp3 recording is at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/makingthinkingvisible.mp3.
Mightybell Space: Resources, videos, links, and conversation about the interview can be found HERE.

Ron Ritchhart's research is classroom and school-based, believing that teaching is a complex art and science that must be understood in context.  A strong theme of learning from best practice runs throughout much of Ron’s work. On many of the projects on which Ron has worked, he has produced videos of best practices related to teaching for understanding, creative and innovative teaching, and the use of thinking routines.

Prior to joining the Project Zero research group, Ron taught for fourteen years.  He began his teaching career in New Zealand teaching 35 six and seven year olds in a state school in Christchurch as part of a teaching internship program.  From there he taught art in Indiana before moving to Denver, Colorado where he taught third and fourth grade.  Frustrated with the way he was teaching mathematics, Ron pursued a mathematics education degree and later taught middle school mathematics. In 1993 he received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Secondary Mathematics Teaching.

Ron earned his Ed.D. degree (2000) in human development and psychology from Harvard University. Ron's research on how teachers create thoughtful learning environments that support the development of students' intellectual character was the basis for his book: Intellectual Character: What it is, Why it matters, How to get it.  His framework for understanding group culture detailed have been influential in shaping education in schools and museums throughout the world.  His new book, Making Thinking Visible, explores how teachers around the world have been using the ideas of Ron and his colleagues at Project Zero to improve students’ learning.

Prior to attending Harvard, he earned an Master or Arts degree (1990) in curriculum and instruction from the University of Colorado at Denver, and a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Indiana University.

No comments:

Post a Comment

I hate having to moderate comments, but have to do so because of spam... :(