The Friends School of Atlanta

Bringing forward more than 329 years of excellence in Quaker Education

Thinking Caps

This year in fifth grade Bridges class, we used the book Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman to learn about our own learning. The story, which is set in a run-down neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, is told in pieces by 13 different characters. Each character is from a unique background and has a different perspective on the events taking place in the community, all of which center around the creation of a community garden. The garden, the neighborhood, and the people are gradually transformed as the story takes root and the members of the community begin to have more reasons to interact with and care about each other.

As we made our way through each new chapter (and character), we practiced noticing which kinds of thinking we were doing in order to fully understand the story. We began with three Thinking Skills, gradually introducing new ones until we were working with eight specific skills. Over time, students began to notice that they used these kinds of thinking everywhere.

Main Idea: We are separating essential information from extraneous details almost anytime we take in information, even in conversations. We also use it when we share information, when we make decisions about which thoughts or other pieces of information are the most relevant to include.

Visualizing: Very often, we make pictures in our minds as we listen, think, talk, or read. Sometimes, we can try to do this in an intentional way to build stronger associations or memories.

Sequencing: Any time we put events, materials, or information in order or perceive a sequence or order, we are using this type of thinking. Schedules, timelines, math operations, story structure, recipes, instructions, portfolios, and many other situations call on our sequencing skills all the time.

Perspective: At times, it can be difficult to imagine things from a perspective different from our own. It can also be incredibly useful to practice doing this, and to consider what makes our perspectives different. We use this skill when reading, watching movies or TV shows, interpreting history and current events, interacting with others, and in order to better understand ourselves.  

Making Connections: When we notice the ways our experiences and thoughts are connected across different parts of our lives, we are building bridges of understanding. For example, we might hear a news story about a wildfire producing lots of smoke that reminds us of our studies of air quality in Science class. When we notice ourselves making those connections, we can start to look for them in less obvious places, where they may actually be hiding out in abundance!

Figurative Language: We use language in almost all areas of life, and understanding and using that language effectively often requires us to discern (and use) nonliteral (or figurative) language. Noticing when and how we interpret language strengthens our metalinguistic abilities (our awareness and interpretation of how and why we use language) as well as our metacognition, comprehension, and expression skills.

Making Inferences: In order to understand much of what goes on around us, we piece together information and fill in any missing pieces with our own prior knowledge. Much of our real-world and academic knowledge may come to us through inference, rather than relying on every single piece of information to be directly stated in full detail. We also depend on others to make inferences on our behalf, to read our cues. We do it so much that it can be difficult to notice!

Predicting: We make predictions in order to plan ahead. We might also find ourselves predicting the outcome of a choice or behavior, the winner of a game, the ending of a book or movie. Thinking in this way, and noticing ourselves doing it, and doing it on purpose, can help us be more engaged with information and more anticipatory or strategic in our thinking.

Not only did students notice themselves using these skills in multiple settings, they also began to notice that they often use multiple types of thinking simultaneously. This was especially evident when we were reading together from Seedfolks. As each new Thinking Skill was introduced, students made a visual representation of that skill on an index card. As we read the book, they would hold up the cards that represented the Thinking Skills they noticed themselves using throughout the chapter. As you’ll see from the photos, they were using many of them in a constant way, so they got creative with how they displayed them. By the end of the school year, they literally had their thinking caps on!  

We began to document some of the ways we were using our thinking skills both in and out of the classroom, and to keep a tally. This way, we could set challenges to notice the ones that weren’t as easy or as obvious, like making inferences. In doing this with the class, I realized my own metacognitive routines could use some reinforcement, and I am now watching out for my own inferences. I look forward to reporting one back to the class soon!

Which Thinking Skills do you notice yourself using more often? Which ones are the hardest to notice? How do you know when you are making an inference, or using another skill? Even thinking about that question is great metacognitive practice. If you need some pointers on metacognition, let the fifth (soon to be sixth) grade lead the way!

By Kerrie Lynn, Middle School Learning Specialist and general learning enthusiast.

No Popsicle Sticks

When Fiona Thompson came to develop the art program at The Friends School of Atlanta, she did so under one important condition.

“No popsicle sticks on construction paper. I teach the visual arts. Respectfully I don’t teach crafts.”

Fiona told this to Waman French, the head of school, when interviewing for the job 10 years ago. And sure enough, look around the art room today, you’ll see no popsicle sticks, or at least none used in a crafty sort of way, with rows and rows of similar-looking works lining the walls. In Fiona’s classroom, stuffed to the gills with art supplies, you won’t find such conformity. You instead find clay figures next to paintings next to a sculpture put together using pieces from an IKEA furniture box—sans instructions, of course.

There’s nothing wrong with crafts; it just doesn’t have much to do with what Fiona teaches. She doesn’t teach art appreciation. The act of appreciation implies a kind of separation, a proscenium between art and its audience. Fiona’s classes have no proscenium.

“It’s not just about what you see in an art book,” Fiona said. “It’s about the visual thinking strategies behind what you see, how you see, and why you feel like you do when you’re looking at art. It’s a unique moment.”

Fiona grew up in a household where inclusiveness and social service reigned. Her father spent time in India during World War II. Then back home in Derbyshire, after retirement, he worked to help recent Indian immigrants find their way within the U.K. She went to college to study art at Bath Academy of Art, taught art in London, then at 21 decided to leave the U.K. and travel. She landed in Egypt, worked at the Schutz American School in Alexandria, and taught art pro bono at an Egyptian school and within the Egyptian community. She wasn’t a post-grad on holiday; she was in the trenches, working and serving.

Life has since brought her to (among other places) the University of Chicago, the High Museum of Art’s Education Department, and then, at long last, to her home at The Friends School of Atlanta. The school’s Quaker philosophy fit Fiona’s perfectly, about channeling the Light Within—with a paint brush, sculpting clay, even assembling IKEA furniture assembled into a new creation—to make the world better.

She teaches artistic fundamentals that involve sophisticated concepts, including main ideas, visualizing, making inferences, perspective. She also applies what’s known as design thinking to problem-solving. In a nutshell, she gives students the artistic grammar not just to appreciate, but to create, perceive, and connect.

In Fiona’s view, artistic concepts are at the heart of humanity, the essence of which can’t be automated. The sensors on self-driving cars can “see,” but they cannot perceive. You’ll find Fiona and her students collaborating with instructors in the 3D printing Innovation lab. The best scientists, engineers, mathematicians, physicists—although they may not realize it, they’re artists and design thinkers too.

Even yours truly, something Fiona insisted after I told her that, well, no, I just don’t have the artist’s muse. She shook her head and dove into a speech I could tell she had given many times before. “I believe everybody can draw,” Fiona said. “There’s no reason why you can’t; you’ve just not been shown.”

Looking at the amazing creations lying about the Friends School art room, I believe her wholeheartedly.

By Tim Heston

Tim Heston has written for business magazines since 1996. He’s won some awards here and there, but his greatest achievement is being the proud parent of an FSA fourth grader.

Making Learning Visible

By Laura James, Head of Middle School

It’s amazing how much I learn about our students when they aren’t even here. Certainly, it’s when I watch them work and play that I see their spirit and energy and character. When I view NetClassroom, I see their growth and progress. But when I am alone wandering the hallways, there is a different kind of knowing: I see what our kids are thinking. Their learning is visible.

Making Learning Visible is a popular topic among progressive educators today, and my own experiences confirm how powerfully the practice of demonstrating understanding supports a rich culture of thinking. Harvard’s Project Zero has published research about the connections created by shared learning. The idea is that learning is actually a consequence of thinking, and getting our thinking out of our heads and into the world not only offers opportunity for others to learn from our work, it also requires us to attach language to our thoughts, to spend time with our ideas and to revise our work, which ultimately enhances our thinking.

Because the development of thinking skills is truly a social endeavor, it makes sense that displaying understanding deepens the experience of the community. In classrooms, there is a constant dynamic between the individual and the group. Collective learning happens through engagement with each other. Whether it’s in a skit, a poster, a poem, a video, a painting or an edible model of the solar system, the process of making learning visible illustrates the value we place on every person’s thoughts and provides evidence of authentic intellectual work.

While I do love the exciting pace of movement and industry that flows through our hallways, I highly value those times when I can take a moment to absorb the work on the walls. It looks nice because it is pretty and colorful, but at the heart, it is so much more than that.