When students use AI, does the thinking stop, or has it just begun? This session explores how the 14 Practices of Building Thinking Classrooms scaffolded a 7th-grade AI elective and a transdisciplinary 9th-grade project.
Participants trace a curricular journey from how the brain learns to the mechanics and ethics of AI. VNPS and Visibly Random Groups shifted AI from a solitary screen experience into a collaborative, social process, keeping student cognition visible alongside AI outputs.
Highlights include students identifying real-world problems and using AI as a thinking partner, BTC practices ensuring cognition remains visible, and collaborative thinking that turned local problems into service learning with real-world impact
Student self-assessment within the BTC framework is essential. Using technology to do this provides great opportunity, but takes some planning. Come learn how to use several different platforms including Amplify Activity Builder and Padlet to have students check their own understanding, beyond just checking teacher provided solutions. Discuss how this can allow in-class time to be most effective and meaningful with and for your students!
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.
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.
This session invites educators to step into the role of advertisers to explore how propaganda works by first selling the unsellable. Participants begin with a hands-on activity creating an appealing advertisement for a deliberately undesirable property, identifying techniques such as selective truth, emotional appeal, exaggeration, and omission. The session then connects this experience to the Last Best West settlement campaign, examining how government and railway advertising promoted Western Canada while omitting Indigenous presence, environmental realities, and settler experiences. Designed for upper elementary and secondary Social Studies classrooms. Educators leave with ready-to-use lesson structures and discussion prompts to help students question sources and recognize propaganda.
Get a glimpse of a BTC classroom, in rural Alberta, in action. This session will focus on how one grade 8 math outcome has been taught over multiple classes. The first day consists of an opening sequence at the board, random groups made using cards, thin sliced questions using banners and a consolidation task of ranking questions. The second day consists of an opening sequence at the boards, a few more thin sliced questions and then notes made as a class. Participants will get an opportunity to be immersed in the experience, as well as see some videos of me, in my classroom, doing this with my students.
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.
Universal Design for Learning looks at ways to increase access for all students. Come examine the principles of Building Thinking Classrooms through a UDL lens to explore how the practices support all learners. Participants will actively engage in a thinking task before examining how the planning for and facilitation of the task follow the principles of UDL.
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.
Join us as we reflect on one school district’s journey implementing the 14 Practices and explore the steps they are currently taking to strengthen their educational system.
Through shared experiences, participant engagement, and reflective dialogue, we will examine how systems-level change develops over time. The session will highlight conversations, insights, and reflections gathered throughout the district’s implementation process, offering practical perspectives for educators and leaders seeking to foster meaningful, sustainable change.
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.
Peter Liljedahl is a former math teacher and current professor of Mathematics Education known for his significant contributions to the field of mathematics education, particularly in the development of "Building Thinking Classrooms." With a passion for fostering deep mathematical... Read More →
Friday November 6, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am MST Macleod Hall
