In the book Building Thinking Skills in the Math Classroom, Peter Liljedahl incorporatres thinking routines into classroom instruction as a powerful way to enhance students' cognitive skills and foster a deeper understanding of the content. Thinking routines are structured yet flexible strategies that encourage students to process information thoughtfully and critically. Here's how you can implement these routines in your classroom.

Understanding Thinking Routines
Thinking routines are systematic procedures that guide students through the process of thinking about and engaging with new information. They are designed to be used repeatedly, helping students develop a habit of thoughtful consideration and deep processing.

Steps to Teach Thinking Routines

1. Choose the Right Routine: Select routines that align with your learning objectives. For example, use 'See-Think-Wonder' for introducing new topics or 'Think-Pair-Share' for encouraging discussion and peer learning.
   1. See-Think-Wonder and here in more detail.  Video explanation. 
2. Model the Routine: Demonstrate how to use the routine. For instance, if using 'See-Think-Wonder', show students how to observe, reflect, and ask questions about a new concept or idea.
3. Practice Regularly: Integrate thinking routines into daily lessons. Consistent practice helps students internalize the process and apply it independently.
4. Encourage Reflection: After completing a routine, ask students to reflect on their learning process. This step reinforces the value of the routine and encourages metacognition.
5. Adapt and Differentiate: Modify routines to suit diverse learners and varying content areas. Flexibility ensures that all students can engage meaningfully with the routine.

Benefits of Thinking Routines

• Enhances Critical Thinking: Regular use of thinking routines helps develop students' analytical and evaluative skills.
• Promotes Engagement: These routines encourage active participation and deeper engagement with the material.
• Supports Collaboration: Many routines involve group work, fostering teamwork and communication skills.

Implementing thinking routines in your classroom can transform the learning experience, making it more interactive, reflective, and meaningful. By consistently applying these strategies, you can help students develop the habits of mind necessary for lifelong learning.

​Additional Resources

Math classrooms often fall into a routine of passive learning, where students are more spectators than active participants. This method, while widely observed, often stifles curiosity and critical thinking. Inspired by math instruction in Julie Burnside's classroom, I am reading and learning from the book Building Thinking Classrooms in Math by Peter Lijedhal. Drawing insights from Liljedahl's research, I want to explore how we can shift towards an engaging and thought-provoking math learning environment.

In many math classes, the prevalent norm is a one-way flow of information from teacher to student, where students mimic processes rather than engage in deep thinking. (I do, we do, you do.) This can lead to a passive learning environment where students’ roles are limited to absorbing information rather than actively exploring and understanding mathematical concepts. Liljedahl points out that such norms are built on the assumption that students either can't or won't think for themselves, which is a  mindset that classrooms like Julie Burnside's is disrupting. 

Three Starter Steps to Activate Thinking in Math

1. Implement Thinking Tasks: Shift from tasks that promote mere memorization or repetition of demonstrated procedures to those that truly engage students in thinking. Problem-solving should be about exploring unknown paths and finding solutions, not just applying taught methods to new numbers​​. (I wrote a post about Thinking Routines too.)
2. Foster an Active Learning Environment: Encourage activities that require more than passive note-taking. For instance, presenting students with real-world problems that they have to collaboratively solve can stimulate more active engagement and critical thinking​​.
3. Promote a Culture of Inquiry and Exploration: Create a classroom atmosphere where questions are valued as much as answers. Encourage students to ask why and how, to explore multiple solutions, and to learn from their attempts, whether successful or not.

By adopting these strategies, math teachers can transform their classrooms into engaged, active learning environments, where students are not just learning mathematics but are also developing essential life skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration.  

Let's move beyond traditional teaching norms and create math classrooms that inspire and challenge our students.

Additional Resources:
@LearnBitesized created a great resource that walks you through all 14 teaching practices. There is a video to summarize each practice and they do a nice job connecting the practices throughout content areas.