Peter Ldjedhal’s Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics. This book is written in a conversational tone that welcomes the reader into classrooms, conversations, and observations about student actions and teacher actions. These actions either spur thinking or stop thinking in a classroom. The reader walks a journey of discovery and epiphany throughout the book gently guided by the author. Student behaviors--what Peter calls, studenting--are key to ascertaining the amount of thinking actually being done by students. Time is a key element of student observations -- time it takes a student to begin working, time the student remains on task, time it takes to complete a task. Observations and discussions with students inform the development of the14 teaching practices designed to help teachers create thinking classrooms of their own. I will not attempt to review the 14 practices here, but I will highlight a couple of practices that will enhance learning in every classroom, even if not all practices are implemented. 

The biggest single change teachers can make is recognizing, understanding, and stopping responses to STOP THINKING QUESTIONS. It is about a level of awareness. Teachers need to stop answering these types of questions. Read the book to get an understanding of this concept. I simply cannot improve upon Peter's prose. 

The book is jammed packed with truth bombs. For example, “Thinking is a necessary precursor to learning, and if students are not thinking, they are not learning.” (page 5). That may seem obvious, but if it is so obvious, why have we been focusing on learning rather than thinking all these years? If students are not thinking, what are they doing? Stalling? Faking? Avoiding? We have all seen these behaviors, but never named them. This book can help teachers become aware of student actions and help teachers get more students involved at a higher cognitive level.

This book is about disrupting the typical student experience and building a new, improved experience that leads to more learning. Students know what classrooms look like and they know what student behaviors in those classrooms look like. It is a recipe that teachers and students have been using for decades if not centuries. If we want students to change behavior, changing the environment, meaning the look and feel of the classroom, will set the stage for changes in behaviors. The way students are grouped and physically positioned for learning must change. Until students are given the chance to learn to think, no real change in learning is going to happen. That is where thinking tasks come in. And before students can learn to think differently about maths, they must first learn to think period. This is accomplished using non-curricular tasks.

Peter explains in detail how to set up, implement, prepare for, adjust, correct, and execute a thinking classroom. This is not an easy process, but it is a worthwhile process. Thinking classrooms require more work on everyone’s part. There are numerous support groups specifically formed to help teachers implement the thinking classroom model. There are also recordings of conversations with Peter Ldjedhal discussing the techniques, addressing teacher questions, and additional insights. The community of teacher building thinking classrooms is ever expanding. If you want to get excited about student thinking and learning, read the book!

Sara Vaughn is a past NCCTM Central Region President and current classroom teacher in Guilford County Schools.