This lesson is a collaborative thinking task rooted in co-creation, where students work in small, randomly formed groups at VNPS. Each student uses a different coloured marker so contributions remain visible. Each student begins with quick, individual marks to introduce ambiguity and reduce pressure. A curricular theme is then introduced as a guiding question, shifting the task toward purposeful thinking. Through a series of 20-second timed rounds, students build on one another's ideas to transform the marks into a shared visual. In the final phase, they extend their thinking by contributing to a shared written narrative. The focus is on collective thinking, iteration, and meaning-making, where students build knowledge together rather than working in isolation.
Participants will leave the session with practical strategies to integrate data science into Thinking Classrooms. They will understand how Building Thinking Classrooms practices and a data mindset work together to foster critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving. Attendees will gain other ways to incorporate Toolkit #1 and #2 in their classroom.
Are students doing the work—or doing the thinking? This session applies Building Thinking Classrooms practices to writing instruction, helping teachers shift from task-oriented writing to thinking-centered learning. Participants will explore how to reduce answer-getting behaviors, increase discourse, and design tasks that require reasoning, interpretation, and creativity. Using the BTC framework developed by Peter Liljedahl, teachers will leave with actionable strategies to deepen engagement and improve writing outcomes.
In this practical, hands-on session, a picture book will be used as a springboard for a student-centered learning experience that includes cross-curricular connections, student questioning and discussion strategies, and activities that are guided by BTC Toolkit #1. Come and see the power of connecting a picture book with science, math, language arts, and health.
Picture books paired with joyful math problems spark curiosity, foster collaboration, and build a sense of belonging in a Thinking Classroom. Learn how these story-driven learning experiences support your students in developing a growth mindset, perseverance, and a positive math identity. Leave with practical strategies and ready-to-use lessons to help all students see themselves as mathematicians and problem solvers. Most importantly, come experience the joy of connecting an amazing picture book to a great math problem!
Numeracy Lead Teacher, Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools
Alicia Burdess has been a teacher, assistant principal, and math coach with Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools since 2005. She has served as the President of the Math Council of the Alberta Teachers' Association and the Chairperson of the National Council of Teachers of... Read More →
Building true team synergy remains one of the most practical challenges in any collaborative classroom. This session presents an RWS (Reader, Writer, Speaker) adapted workshop designed to bridge the gap between individual contribution and collective success. By using the logic game SET, participants must navigate the "fog of uncertainty" by relying on strictly defined roles. Drawing from 30 years of experience as a math teacher and textbook author in Croatia, the presenter demonstrates how this specific RWS adaptation helps students identify their strengths and actively address their weaknesses. Through a final SWOT analysis, participants will explore how to enhance group agency and ensure that every student finds a functional, empowered space at the whiteboard.
Special Education students in streamed classrooms can be provided with opportunities to engage in rich thinking opportunities, either in the small classroom environment or integrated with grade-level classmates. With supporting documents from Lambert, Karp, and NCTM/NCSM Position Papers, I engaged in pilot opportunities to expose grade-level material to students with IEPs. The use of random groups, learning skill continua, priming (pre-teaching), and access to rich tasks led to an increase of student engagement, student achievement, and teacher confidence. This session will explore some of the supporting research, summarize key takeaways from the experience, lay the groundwork for new inquiry this school year, and build a professional learning community from the attendees.
This practical session will explore the natural alignment between BTC and UDL, with a focus on creating inclusive learning environments where all students can meaningfully participate in critical thinking. Participants will experience firsthand learning activities that incorporate BTC structures and UDL principles. The focus will be on two key areas: 1) Designing the physical classroom environment to support inclusion & thinking routines. 2) Intentional planning for instruction, routines, and learning experiences to ensure all students can access and engage in rich learning tasks.
Participants will leave with concrete, classroom-ready strategies for designing inclusive thinking classrooms that maintain high levels of engagement, collaboration, and cognitive demand for all learners.
Many teachers struggle with confidence in mathematics, which often leads them to rely on rote procedures rather than engaging with students' thinking. Furthermore, a lack of deep conceptual understanding can make it difficult to teach ideas flexibly or address student misconceptions effectively. This session tackles these challenges. By providing sustained, classroom-connected professional learning, teacher confidence and conceptual understanding can be strengthened alongside more dynamic instructional practices. Using the Building Thinking Classrooms framework, curriculum leaders will learn how to engage educators in meaningful collaboration. Specifically, participants will dive into hands-on exploration of additive and multiplicative relationships using Cuisenaire rods.
Do your students struggle to take notes? Are you looking for new ways to help students process their learning? In this session we will explore how to support students in sense-making, cognitive engagement, and meaningful note-making that goes beyond “fill-in-the-blank” or “copy what I write” notes. Participate in the process of collaborative note-making, inspired by the research and ideas presented by Peter Liljedahl in his book Mathematics Tasks for the Thinking Classroom, and walk away with strategies to engage students in the note-making process and solidify their transfer of learning from short-term to long-term memory. This session will explore how the process can be used in all content areas including Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts.
In this interactive session, participants will experience a Building Thinking Classrooms approach to writing instruction. Beginning with Gary Provost's famous poem on sentence variation, educators will work in visibly random groups to uncover how authors use sentence length, word choice, and structure to engage readers.
Using thin-slicing, participants will collaboratively build and revise a story one small piece at a time. Along the way, they will explore how choices in sentence length and word selection can transform ordinary writing into compelling text.
Teachers will leave with a practical, classroom-ready literacy task.
