The MLV framework evolved as a collaboration between Project Zero at Harvard and educators from Reggio Emilia [Italy]. Making Learning Visible is an effort to create and celebrate a culture of learning and democracy within the classroom and school-wide. MLV uses documentation of student work and work-in-progress as the main tool to make evident, shape and record how and what we learn. Documentation done under the MLV framework is distinct from mere display of student work in a few crucial ways: it includes a question about learning, is shared with students, includes teachers' reflections and analysis, involves more than one medium and serves as a tool for further evaluation, reflection and learning.Read More
Authentic Learning Contexts
An authentic context for learning provides a setting where the student can explore an idea and see its impact and relevance in the real world. Authentic learning opportunities are typically constructivist in nature, and actively engage the student in exploration, enquiry, discourse, reflection and collaboration while working on relevant, real-world tasks. Students work on complex, interdisciplinary projects and tasks involving higher-order thinking skills, and the assessments of such projects are also rooted in authentic contexts. Typically, learning undertaken in an authentic context would result in students producing a product that has value on its own and can be shared with a critical audience outside the classroom.Read More
Authentic Learning Contexts
An authentic context for learning provides a setting where the student can explore an idea and see its impact and relevance in the real world. Authentic learning opportunities are typically constructivist in nature, and actively engage the student in exploration, enquiry, discourse, reflection and collaboration while working on relevant, real-world tasks. Students work on complex, interdisciplinary projects and tasks involving higher-order thinking skills, and the assessments of such projects are also rooted in authentic contexts. Typically, learning undertaken in an authentic context would result in students producing a product that has value on its own and can be shared with a critical audience outside the classroom.Read More
Hands-on, Minds-on Learning
Hands-on learning is an educational approach where students are encouraged to learn through doing, or active participation. This is especially important to kinesthetic learners, since it offers them a chance to directly observe, engage in and understand something using more of their senses. This helps students better understand concepts and retain information. Students of all ages benefit from a hands-on and 'minds-on' learning approach that sparks imagination, curiosity and critical thinking. Such learning opportunities give students the chance to see how something works in a real-life scenario, build something, learn a skill, test a hypothesis, observe something in action and fix glitches. It encourages active learning and practical problem solving.Read More
Hands-on, Minds-on Learning
Hands-on learning is an educational approach where students are encouraged to learn through doing, or active participation. This is especially important to kinesthetic learners, since it offers them a chance to directly observe, engage in and understand something using more of their senses. This helps students better understand concepts and retain information. Students of all ages benefit from a hands-on and 'minds-on' learning approach that sparks imagination, curiosity and critical thinking. Such learning opportunities give students the chance to see how something works in a real-life scenario, build something, learn a skill, test a hypothesis, observe something in action and fix glitches. It encourages active learning and practical problem solving.Read More
Thinking Routines
Thinking Routines are a set of learning routines that focus on developing creative and critical thinking skills and dispositions. They were developed as a part of the Visible Thinking initiative under Harvard Project Zero. Visible Thinking offers a flexible framework to explicitly teach specific thinking skills in the classroom through a set of routines and processes. These routines are typically a short set of questions or steps that can be followed to think through to a goal or idea. They are called 'thinking routines' because they are repeatedly and systematically used like any other classroom routine, and eventually become a part of the classroom culture and they way students instinctively think through problems.Read More
Thinking Routines
Thinking Routines are a set of learning routines that focus on developing creative and critical thinking skills and dispositions. They were developed as a part of the Visible Thinking initiative under Harvard Project Zero. Visible Thinking offers a flexible framework to explicitly teach specific thinking skills in the classroom through a set of routines and processes. These routines are typically a short set of questions or steps that can be followed to think through to a goal or idea. They are called 'thinking routines' because they are repeatedly and systematically used like any other classroom routine, and eventually become a part of the classroom culture and they way students instinctively think through problems.Read More
Conglom (Circle Time)
Conglom Time is a loosely structured community time usually held in the first slot of the school day. It provides as safe atmosphere to discuss ideas, opinions and personal experiences. The focus is mainly on developing in students a knowledge of self and a knowledge of others, through social interaction and dialogue. The conglom time in higher grades is teacher-led in the first term and in the second term it is more student-led where students choose an idea or experience to share with their peers [TED talks, games, debates, sports, facts, current affairs]. Typical conglom activities include listening attentively to others, sharing one's opinions and feelings clearly, collectively looking for solutions to common class problems, resolving conflicts creatively, fostering cooperation and building self-esteem and self-direction.Read More
Thinking Routines
Thinking Routines are a set of learning routines that focus on developing creative and critical thinking skills and dispositions. They were developed as a part of the Visible Thinking initiative under Harvard Project Zero. Visible Thinking offers a flexible framework to explicitly teach specific thinking skills in the classroom through a set of routines and processes. These routines are typically a short set of questions or steps that can be followed to think through to a goal or idea. They are called 'thinking routines' because they are repeatedly and systematically used like any other classroom routine, and eventually become a part of the classroom culture and they way students instinctively think through problems.Read More
Conglom (Circle Time)
Circle Time is the day's first interaction between teachers and students. It is an informally structured community time which is used as an opportunity to foster democracy and build social skills like speaking, listening, debate and reflection. During Circle Time, children share experiences, discuss ideas, engage in conflict resolution, set the agenda for the day or just have fun. A typical session might have the teacher read aloud from a book or a newspaper, have a sing-along, invite opinions on a community happening or just encourage students to share how their weekend was.Read More
