PZ Pittsburgh: Creating a Culture of Thinking has ended

Create Your Own Event

PZ Pittsburgh: Creating a Culture of Thinking

We welcome you into our community of learning and we look forward to co-creating space where thinking is valued, visible and actively promoted.

11:00am EDT

BREAKING Apart to BUILD Deeper Understanding

Limited Capacity seats available

What can we build when we break something down? In this session, we will explore the thinking routine known as Parts, Purposes, and Complexities from Agency by Design and Harvard’s Project Zero to build deeper understanding. First, we will closely examine an object we see every day, but may not notice too closely. After breaking this down, we will circulate and discuss the new understandings we’ve built together. Finally, we will engage in a curricular challenge to apply this routine in a way that impacts our own teaching practice – hopefully one you can take back to school with you tomorrow!

Speakers

Benjamin Laughton

6th Grade Teacher, South Fayette Twp. School District

Language Arts; Songwriting; Writing; Language Arts instruction; baking brownies and banana bread

Karley Rossi

South Fayette Twp. School District

Monday October 14, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
AC203

Breakout Session, Mini-course

11:00am EDT

Connecting Thinking Routines to Instructional Design

Limited Capacity seats available

Instructional design is at the heart of teaching and learning, it's also what makes it complicated and beautiful. We we as teachers design so that all of our students can learn through the content, acquire the necessary skills, and develop understandings of big ideas. Yet at the same time we have increasingly more diverse learners and growing limitations of time and context. A resource to help our students learn in a complicated environment is the integration of thinking routines.

Thinking routines have the ability to make cognition routine so that our learners have additional tools to learn across a complicated educational landscape. In this session you will explore thinking routines and pair types of routines to the type of understanding that you want for your students.

Speakers

Jeff Evancho

Director of Partnerships and Equity, Northgate School District

Jeff Evancho is the Director of Partnerships and Equity for the Northgate School District as well as an active leader within the Remake Learning Network. Jeff has been championing remaking learning for all children for over 2-decades in education. He started by teaching visual arts... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
AC103

Breakout Session, Mini-course

11:00am EDT

Design Thinking for Projects in the Classroom

Limited Capacity full

Taking on a large project in the classroom can be a daunting task, so how can you make this work? Design thinking can be an effective tool for project management, improving student engagement, and assessment.

Please see the included files for resources.

Speakers

Tom Isaac

Teacher, South Fayette High School

Monday October 14, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
AB105

Breakout Session, Mini-course

11:00am EDT

Developing and Engaging Learners with Throughlines

Limited Capacity seats available

In this session, participants will first and foremost be informed of "what is a throughline?" Then participants will actively begin the process of developing throughlines to engage learners in their particular educational environment. Once this process of developing initial throughlines for their particular setting has concluded, participants will be demonstrated with instructional strategies and practices to engage their learners with these throughlines. The remainder of the session will include the continued development of the participants’ initial throughlines as well as formulating instructional strategies and practices to engage their learners with these throughlines within their specific setting.

Speakers

Ryan Kelly

8th Grade American History Teacher, Quaker Valley School District

I teach 8th Grade American History at Quaker Valley Middle School where my instructional focus is not only on the development of engaged and informed citizens but also the maturation of student thinking through lessons that are designed to allow students to explore the past and present... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
AC206

Breakout Session, Mini-course

11:00am EDT

Establishing a Culture of Thinkers and Learners Through Improvisation

Limited Capacity full

Push aside your nerves and come experience a small sampling of exercises that nurture listening, agreement, cooperation, supporting the ideas of others, and interpersonal skills. We'll focus on utilizing the very same thinking moves used to foster a deeper understanding in creating cultures of thinking as they align with any curriculum across grades and subjects. The goal is not to turn students into improvisers or make people funny, although entirely allowed and welcomed! The idea is to use the principles of improvisation in fun, low pressured exercises that can change the culture of a class, develop critical thinking, improve communication, build successful teams, ignite creativity, and spark leadership.

Speakers

Erika Lusky

Special Educator, Instructional Coach, CCoT Online Course Instructor, Rochester Community Schools

Erika is passionate about creating quality relationships to foster agency and identity, specifically in disenfranchised learners. She is an advocate for human connections, understanding, thinking, and student voice. For over 20 years, Erika has worked in Special Education with students... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
AC102

Breakout Session, Mini-course

11:00am EDT

Exploring Project Zero Ideas in the Elementary Classroom

Limited Capacity filling up

The Teaching for Understanding Framework was developed at Project Zero at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. This framework is intended to enhance understanding and what it actually means to do so. It also ensures that these processes are outlined clearly and in a concise manner. We will explore the criteria for the Teaching for Understanding Framework, what it means to teach for understanding, how this can be applied in the K-5 classroom, and how we can continue our learning after the PZ Pittsburgh experience.

Speakers

Emily Bigley

First Grade Teacher, South Fayette School District

Ryan Schoenberger

Teacher, South Fayette Twp. School District

Monday October 14, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
AC201

Breakout Session, Mini-course

11:00am EDT

Making Equity Visible

Limited Capacity full

Good Morning Beautiful People!

This Breakout Session is entitled Making Equity Visible Part 1: Social Identity & Systems. We will co-creating and learning in public as we look at our own identities and systems that we're immersed in on a daily basis. This session will employ embodied and movement-based practices to make meaning. All bodies and spirits are welcome! I will be sharing some techniques from Augosto Boal's Theater of the Oppressed, and we will be practicing together...rehearsing for the revolution.
Looking forward to learning and being in community with you.

Peace and joy,

michelle

Conunundrum to Ponder: What are you willing to unlearn?

Potential Covenants to Start with…

Put Relationships first
Embrace discomfort & dissonance
Allow not-knowing and uncertainty
Use “I” statements (Personal, Immediate, Local)
W.A.I.T.
- Why Am I Talking?
- Why Aren’t I Talking
Confidentiality: Lessons leaves; Stories stay
Own your intentions and your impacts (notice power dynamics)

Speakers

Michelle King

Learning Instigator. Love Activist. Beloved Community-Architect. Transformer. Local Troublemaker., The Learning Instigator

Michelle King is a learning instigator, love activist and beloved community-architect. A true production of US foreign policy, she was born in 1968 to an African American father and an Ethiopian immigrant mother. Her father was a serviceman in the US Army, and she spent half her childhood... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
AC111

Breakout Session, Mini-course

11:00am EDT

Making Learning Visible with Digital Museum Resources

Limited Capacity full

In this hands-on session, you're invited to join a museum educator and teachers as they share their own story of discovery and application using the Smithsonian Learning Lab (learninglab.si.edu). Gain experience in how the Learning Lab can support you in transferring Project Zero ideas into meaningful classroom experiences. Together we will learn how to search for digital museum resources to support thoughtful learning across school subjects, how to choose Project Zero Thinking Routines that align with your teaching goals and selected resource(s), and how to create original activities you can share with your students and colleagues.

Speakers

Amy Taylor

5th grade teacher, Blackhawk School District

I am a 5th grade teacher at Highland Middle School in the Blackhawk School District. My focus is incorporating Project Zero thinking routines and Smithsonian Learning Lab resources in my math classes as a way to spark discussion and healthy argument. Connecting these resources to... Read More →

Ashley Naranjo

Manager of Educator Engagement, Smithsonian

In 2011, Ashley Naranjo joined the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access as a museum educator, specializing in the use of digital museum resources, where she develops and implements professional development opportunities for teachers, librarians and fellow museum educators... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
AC208

Breakout Session, Mini-course

11:00am EDT

Making the Invisible Visible: Bringing Visible Thinking to Life

Limited Capacity full

How do we know what our students are thinking if thinking is invisible? How do we even know if they are thinking? How might we give our students more ownership of their learning? How do we make their thinking visible?

In this session, participants will experience how a secondary teacher helps her students make their thinking visible through several thinking routines. Particpants will explore different perspectives and viewpoints, make thoughtful interpretations, and reason with evidence through close-looking and careful observation. These routines are designed to be used in all subjects, all grades, and in a range of educational settings.

Speakers

Tara Surloff

Teacher, South Fayette Twp. School District

As a Spanish teacher at South Fayette High School, my passion is creating a culture of thinking within my classroom. By implementing thinking routines, I help my students to deepen their understanding via close looking strategies to recognize patterns, solve problems, and consequently... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
AC109

Breakout Session, Mini-course

11:00am EDT

Making Thinking Visible

Limited Capacity full

The use of thinking routines and the idea of making students’ learning and thinking visible originated at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and has captured the interest of schools and teachers worldwide. With such popularity, we sometimes get superficial use of the routines. For example, teachers may use thinking routines as simple activities. However, the real power of thinking routines comes from using them to establish patterns of thinking in the classroom, but how do teachers move beyond the use of routines as good activities to their establishment as patterns of thinking? What do classrooms look like when such patterns take hold?

Speakers

Ron Ritchhart

Researcher, Independent

Ron Ritchhart served a Senior Research Associate at Harvard Project Zero for many years. His work has focused on the development of school and classroom culture as prime vehicles for developing students as powerful thinkers and learners. Ron's research and writings have informed the... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
Studio

Breakout Session, Mini-course

11:00am EDT

Making Thinking Visible in the Maker-centered Classroom

Limited Capacity filling up

How might we help elementary students think deeply about the work they produce? In this hands-on session, participants will take the time to look closely and explore complexities in a variety of both traditional and non-traditional “Maker”-centered projects. After exploring multiple thinking routines in action, participants will work together on a design challenge that can be scaled to various grade levels in order to bring either a piece of art or a story to life and delve deeper into the themes and details of the work. This session will help elementary teachers incorporate thinking routines into their current practices while examining what it means to be a “Maker Centered Classroom”.

Speakers

Melissa Unger

K-2 STEAM Teacher, South Fayette Township School District

Melissa Unger teaches STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) to kindergarten, first, and second grade students. Melissa has transformed her classroom into the Learning Lab—a place where all students, regardless of level, make, build, and experiment. She focuses... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
AC213

Breakout Session, Mini-course

11:00am EDT

Making Understanding Visible

Limited Capacity filling up

Join us as we examine the practical application of learning as a consequence of thinking. Using the 3 Y’s thinking routine, we will examine why thinking might matter to ourselves, our community, and our world. Through a series of creativity challenges and rapid prototyping, we will create opportunities for thinking to utilize in each of our contexts. We hope to see you there!

Speakers

Yerko Sepulveda

Upper School Spanish Teacher / Project Zero TLMCC coach, Hawken School

Mr. Sepulveda is an experienced teacher-trainer, educational consultant and administrator, with a strong background in second language teaching, linguistics and research. He has worked as an ESL/EFL/Bilingual/Spanish teacher. He is the former director of Teaching & Learning at the... Read More →

Julie Rains

Instructional Innovation Program Consultant, Rochester Community Schools

Julie Rains is an Instructional Innovative Program Consultant for Rochester Community Schools. In her role, she invites all learners to expand their view of technology, remixing hands-on making opportunities with cutting edge digital tools. Julie finds true joy co-designing alongside... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
AC108

Breakout Session, Mini-course

11:00am EDT

MetaRubric: Assessment Design for Hands-on Learning

Limited Capacity seats available

Teachers who have adopted hands-on, project-based, maker-centered learning want to find creative and meaningful ways to assess student work. While rubrics can be helpful, creating a good rubric that goes beyond traditional assessment methods can also be challenging. Particularly in the context of maker education, educators tend to be more hesitant about using assessment because they don’t want to limit students’ creativity, exploration, and design processes. In this workshop, we invite educators to experience assessment design in a playful way by playing MetaRubric, a game for learning to develop rubrics.

Speakers

Peter Wardrip

Assistant Professor, C&I, University of Wisconsin

Peter Wardrip is an Assistant Professor of STEAM Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on research-practice partnerships, assessment for learning and designing maker-based learning experiences. Peter earned his PhD in Learning Sciences and Policy from... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
AB209

Breakout Session, Mini-course

1:30pm EDT

A Starting Point for Looking Closely

Limited Capacity seats available

How might we help our youngest learners develop the capacity to "slow down"and document their thinking? Incorporating thinking routines help scaffold learners' disposition and a wonderful result is our students' thoughts and insights become visible. One useful classroom tool to help learners make their thinking visible is through the making process. In this session, participants will utilize the above mentioned approaches to develop their understanding of types of communities, with a focus on rural, suburban, and urban communities. Together we will use routines to look closely, and scaffold our way to making our understanding of communities visible. Finally, we will think about how we might carry these techniques into other content areas across the curriculum.

Speakers

Meghan Greiner

Second Grade Teacher, Avonworth School District

Monday October 14, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
AC102

Breakout Session, Mini-course

1:30pm EDT

Creating a Culture of Thinking in the Elementary Classroom

Limited Capacity full

Building a Culture of Thinking: Explore how thinking routines and rich resources can lead to deeper learning. Teacher groups build bridges as metaphors to represent the legacy of Roberto Clemente. We will look closely at our structures as well as our documented collaborative process. How might this practice of making thinking visible lead to understanding of concepts as we build a Culture of Thinking?

Speakers

Erik Lindemann

Teacher, Quaker Valley School District

Check out the ErikLindemann_ on Twitter

Monday October 14, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
AB214

Breakout Session, Mini-course

1:30pm EDT

Design Thinking for Projects in the Classroom

Limited Capacity full

Taking on a large project in the classroom can be a daunting task, so how can you make this work? Design thinking can be an effective tool for project management, improving student engagement, and assessment.

Speakers

Tom Isaac

Teacher, South Fayette High School

Monday October 14, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
AB105

Breakout Session, Mini-course

1:30pm EDT

Empowering Disenfranchised Learners: A collaborative Approach to Discourse

Limited Capacity filling up

Schools are a principal influence in the development of a child's character. However, the invention of traditional schooling did not stem from the desire to empathetic citizens or innovative thinkers. This contrast is readily apparent in the behavior and mindset of our students. The need to slow down, to converse and interact with creativity and a sense of discovery, rather than fulfilling an agenda, is imperative. Encouraging disenfranchised learners is not an easy task, but it is a worthy endeavor. We invite ALL leaners to explore the development of agency and identity through norms, roles, documentation, and depth of understanding. ALL means ALL. We will model and practice the language of reflective listening and collaborative discourse, demonstrating how students develop and generalize these habits. Participants will document thinking, view classroom videos, and engage in collective, equitable, discussions.

Speakers

Erika Lusky

Special Educator, Instructional Coach, CCoT Online Course Instructor, Rochester Community Schools

Erika is passionate about creating quality relationships to foster agency and identity, specifically in disenfranchised learners. She is an advocate for human connections, understanding, thinking, and student voice. For over 20 years, Erika has worked in Special Education with students... Read More →

Julie Rains

Instructional Innovation Program Consultant, Rochester Community Schools

Julie Rains is an Instructional Innovative Program Consultant for Rochester Community Schools. In her role, she invites all learners to expand their view of technology, remixing hands-on making opportunities with cutting edge digital tools. Julie finds true joy co-designing alongside... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
Library /Media Center LMC 203

Breakout Session, Mini-course

1:30pm EDT

Enhancing Questioning to Deepen Thinking

Limited Capacity filling up

Questioning used in the classroom can elicit critical thought and deepen understanding. What kind of questions are you asking as an instructor? This session will allow participants to analyze footage from real classrooms in order to reshape educators' questions to deepen the thinking required by all learners.

Attendees will engage in meaningful and applicable activities that will help them to build an understanding of what types of questions ignite deeper thinking and how to have collegial conversations about framing questions with the goal of richer teaching and learning.

Speakers

Ken Lockette

Superintendent, South Fayette Township School District

Dr. Kenneth Lockette is the Superintendent for the South Fayette Township School District, McDonald, PA.Dr. Kenneth F. Lockette has worked in the field of education for over 20 years. He taught middle and high school English and drama for 10 years, including stints in Baltimore, Chicago... Read More →

Kristin Deichler

Asst Superintendent, South Fayette Township School District

Monday October 14, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
AC209

Breakout Session, Mini-course

1:30pm EDT

Leveraging Technology for Deeper Learning

Limited Capacity seats available

Speakers

John Balash

Director of Educational Engagement - ETC / Strategic Partnerships & Major Gifts - CTP, Carnegie Mellon University

John Balash serves as the Director of Educational Engagement at the Entertainment Technology Center, a graduate department of Carnegie Mellon University and his Alma Mater. John’s work has led to the creation of numerous student and teacher initiatives incorporating experiences... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
AC203

Breakout Session, Mini-course

1:30pm EDT

Making Equity Visible

Limited Capacity full

Good Afternoon Beautiful People!

This Breakout Session is entitled Making Equity Visible Part 2: Re-Seeing Our Worlds. We will be interrogating a myriad of tools and representations of knowledge and power that work towards or against representation. How might we make visible who and what gets represented as well as who gets to do the representing. We will be following the NPR approach:

Noticing
Playing
Remixing

If you have access to a laptop, please bring it to use (and perhaps share) for parts of this workshop.

Potential Covenants to Start with…

Put Relationships firstI

Embrace discomfort & dissonance
Allow not-knowing and uncertainty
Use “I” statements (Personal, Immediate, Local)
W.A.I.T.
- Why Am I Talking?
- Why Aren’t I Talking
Confidentiality: Lessons leaves; Stories stay
Own your intentions and your impacts (notice power dynamics)

Speakers

Michelle King

Learning Instigator. Love Activist. Beloved Community-Architect. Transformer. Local Troublemaker., The Learning Instigator

Michelle King is a learning instigator, love activist and beloved community-architect. A true production of US foreign policy, she was born in 1968 to an African American father and an Ethiopian immigrant mother. Her father was a serviceman in the US Army, and she spent half her childhood... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
AC111

Breakout Session, Mini-course

1:30pm EDT

Making Learning Visible with Digital Museum Resources

Limited Capacity filling up

In this hands-on session, you're invited to join a museum educator and teachers as they share their own story of discovery and application using the Smithsonian Learning Lab (learninglab.si.edu). Gain experience in how the Learning Lab can support you in transferring Project Zero ideas into meaningful classroom experiences. Together we will learn how to search for digital museum resources to support thoughtful learning across school subjects, how to choose Project Zero Thinking Routines that align with your teaching goals and selected resource(s), and how to create original activities you can share with your students and colleagues.

Speakers

Christina Harris

4th Grade Teacher, Baldwin-Whitehall School District

I am a 4th Grade ELA and Science teacher at Paynter Elementary School. Last school year, I attended trainings focused on using the Smithsonian Learning Lab and Project Zero Thinking Routines.

Rebecca Grubbs

Art Teacher, Duquesne City School District

I am an Art teacher in the Duquesne City School District where I teach Pre K through 6th grade. I was a part of the Project Zero cohort last school year and the Thinking Routines became a real game changer in my classroom and how students viewed art.

Ashley Naranjo

Manager of Educator Engagement, Smithsonian

In 2011, Ashley Naranjo joined the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access as a museum educator, specializing in the use of digital museum resources, where she develops and implements professional development opportunities for teachers, librarians and fellow museum educators... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
AC208

Breakout Session, Mini-course

1:30pm EDT

Making Thinking Visible

Limited Capacity full

The use of thinking routines and the idea of making students’ learning and thinking visible originated at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and has captured the interest of schools and teachers worldwide. With such popularity, we sometimes get superficial use of the routines. For example, teachers may use thinking routines as simple activities. However, the real power of thinking routines comes from using them to establish patterns of thinking in the classroom, but how do teachers move beyond the use of routines as good activities to their establishment as patterns of thinking? What do classrooms look like when such patterns take hold?

Speakers

Ron Ritchhart

Researcher, Independent

Ron Ritchhart served a Senior Research Associate at Harvard Project Zero for many years. His work has focused on the development of school and classroom culture as prime vehicles for developing students as powerful thinkers and learners. Ron's research and writings have informed the... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
Studio

Breakout Session, Mini-course

1:30pm EDT

Making Thinking Visible in the Secondary Classroom

Limited Capacity full

This session will help to answer the question "How can we increase student engagement and understanding using visible thinking routines in the secondary classroom"? We will explore five thinking routines rooted in the Core and Understanding sections of Project Zero's visible thinking website. By the end of the session, we hope to have added these to your toolkit for engaging secondary learners.

Speakers

Gary Smith

Teacher, South Fayette Twp. School District

Marie Piccirilli

Teacher, South Fayette Twp. School District

7th grade Team Leader and Math teacher at SFMS since 2007. Attended first PZ conference at Harvard during the summer of 2019. "Driftwood" from the conference, and emphasis for the year, is a focus on questioning and language within the classroom: teacher-student, student-teacher... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
AC206

Breakout Session, Mini-course

1:30pm EDT

Making Thinking Visible through Play (Elementary)

Limited Capacity seats available

In this session, geared specifically toward early learning educators PK-2, we will explore open ended, creative invitations that connect to and extend the curriculum in a playful, accessible way for early learners. Early learners have a right to play, it is essential to their development. Participants will discover ways of incorporating various playful learning experiences into the day and using those experiences to make thinking visible. Join founder of HATCH and author of Collage Workshop with the Eric Carle Museum for an afternoon of play, creativity, and thinking!

Speakers

Shannon Merenstein

Founder, Hatch

Shannon is a play advocate, educator, and founder of Hatch- once a children's art and play studio and now reimagined as a professional development experience designed to support and prioritize open ended, creative play, agency, and flow. A 1st grader and founding partner named this... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
AC103

Breakout Session, Mini-course

1:30pm EDT

Simple Interactions

Limited Capacity seats available

Finding meaningful ways to think and talk about small and ordinary moments can be encouraging, enriching, and empowering. In this session, we will explore how we can contribute to positive development by thinking about our daily interactions with chidlren and youth. In particular, we will discuss positive developmental interactions as the active ingredient for learning and growing using a research-based observation tool and video-based reflection.

Speakers

Annie White

Research Associate, Fred Rogers Center

Peter Wardrip

Assistant Professor, C&I, University of Wisconsin

Peter Wardrip is an Assistant Professor of STEAM Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on research-practice partnerships, assessment for learning and designing maker-based learning experiences. Peter earned his PhD in Learning Sciences and Policy from... Read More →

Monday October 14, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
AB209

Breakout Session, Mini-course

1:30pm EDT

Visible Thinking: Tools in the Classroom

Limited Capacity full

Speakers

Vicky Hsieh

Associate Director of Technology, Environmental Charter School

Vicky Hsieh is the Associate Director of Technology at the Environmental Charter School at Frick Park in Pittsburgh, PA. Her background in education includes instructional coaching, curriculum & professional development, as well as teaching experience in grades 1-5. She is passionate... Read More →

Melanie Cowherd

Curriculum Director, Environmental Charter School

Chelsea Young

K-5 Thinking Lab, Environmental Charter School

Deirde Keller

K-5 ESY/Discovery Block, Environmental Charter School

Monday October 14, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
AC109

Breakout Session, Mini-course