Using Visible Thinking
Visible Thinking is a tool we use regularly at Emmanuel to think deeply about material we have seen or read. This website will be filled with material for families to reflect on and the Visible Thinking routines are a simple and effective way to do this.
Visible thinking isn’t a new way of thinking, it’s really just making explicit how good thinking happens. It was developed by Harvard Graduate School of Education as they considered how to help children to be curious, creative, enquirers.
The routines are very simple and we have explained eight of them in the videos below. We'll encourage you to use the different routines as you work with the stimulus material we post on the website.
You can write down answers and thoughts on post it notes or on tables and collect them in a book. But the important part is that creative thinking happens because that's how we learn deeply.
Why Story?
Our daily blog posts will guide you through material so you can follow the story. Why do we care so much about story? There are at least four reasons.
Stories help us understand ourselves
Stories help us understand where we have come from and the events and people who have shaped us. There are countless ways where stories from our past break into the present and shape the way we respond now.
Stories help us understand others
If I am a storied person, the same is true for my neighbour. Often we define ourselves and others by facts or statements, and build walls which are too difficult to scale. But our stories are bridges by which we can understand not just the surface of someone but what really makes them tick.
Stories help us understand our place in the world
History is not a loose set of facts and events but a larger story with twists and turns. History teaches us that our lives might also rest on the hinges of history but helps us see that our lives are set in a story much bigger than ourselves.
Stories are shaped by hope
The best stories are those which have a problem which is confronted and resolved. In that way, they echo the greatest story of all: a story full of hope, which has shaped people for centuries. It’s a true story of a God who made us, of a God who though we wanted to have a story without him in it, came into our story and declared his love for us, and called us to walk in a story with him at the centre.
All our stories may have broken pieces but they can be restored and made whole. And walking in this story gives us courage to listen to the stories of others and ask how we might enter into their story in a way which enriches theirs and enlightens ours.
Routines
Here are the eight core thinking routines that will be used throughout this website. Mrs Nesbitt, our Principal, explains how each one works, and how you might use them.
