One of the first statements Dr. Peter Liljedahl made in his opening keynote at the 2024 Annual BTC Conference was, “I have spent the last year in over 160 classrooms adding to this research”. As the crowd of over 900 educators in the scorching Phoenix heat waited in anticipation to hear more, I thought, I am so glad I traveled out west to hear phase 2 of the BTC story.

Whether you are an avid follower of the BTC research and movement, or thinking about reading the ‘orange book’ to see what all the fuss is, these 5 takeaways are worth the exploration. In the last 3 years since the BTC research was published the ‘less than traditional’ teaching practices have absolutely swept the world! There were educators from across the US, Canada, and abroad at this conference and it was an absolute pleasure to have the opportunity to learn from them.

5 Key Takeaways

#1 

Visibly Random Groups and Non-Permanent Vertical Spaces

Peter Liljedahl (Peter) said the one practice teachers give up on after trying it for a few weeks is visibly random groups. In my experience supporting K-12 teachers, this is true.  Older students push back on the fact they aren’t able to select their group, while other students simply don’t want to be bothered with thinking with others.  Teachers give in to the ‘fight’ after a period of time.  Here is what Peter suggested after another year of evidence gathering.

• Stick with playing cards as your method of creating random groups of 2 (grades K-2) and 3 (grades 3-12).  The fancy methods such as Flippity or Class Dojo can add to the argument students make.  Peter says, “Keep it simple.”
• Teachers need to stay the course as consistently as possible as it is critically important.  Students should be in random groups every day and if teachers consistently create a culture and expectation of this norm, students will respond.  However, it takes some time depending on the students’ ‘studenting’ behaviors and past experiences.

Non-permanent vertical spaces are catching on and this is making all the difference in promoting student thinking. Peter tells us to continually and consistently implement vertical spaces.  

• Peter says teachers need to transition students to vertical spaces within 5 minutes of the class period/math block.  Lengthy explanations by teachers of a task or skill lead to a significant loss of student engagement and interest.  We need to jump right into a thinking task in a vertical space.  It is better to give quick instructions, get the students vertical, and then put out fires around the room as needed.
• Don’t spend too much time in vertical spaces, which can lead to losing student interest and engagement.  Consolidation is a major part of a math lesson as well as note-taking (see below for notes on these practices).
• It is ALL ABOUT STUDENTS STANDING! Peter’s work this past year was focused on testing out the practice of the vertical space. He has confirmed it makes all the difference in student engagement and thinking.  Horizontal workspaces do not work anywhere near as effectively.

#2 

Homework and Student Practice

This is a question I get asked often in my work with K-12 teachers, “What about homework and when do students practice?”.  Peter and the session leaders spent a great deal of time addressing this issue.  Peter said, 

• “Homework is a complete waste of time.”  This is about equity, homework help (or no help), apps and Google that do the work for students, incorrect practice, and the ongoing fight we have with some students to do the homework.  Peter says “Stop assigning homework”.
• Use Mild, Medium, and Spicy practice during the class/block.  Students respond positively to choice.  If we offer leveled practice for 10-12 minutes of the math class the students will often strive to mastery.
  • Allocate a certain about of time after the students have spent some time in the vertical spaces working together.  Usually, 10-12 minutes is ample time for students to work through enough leveled practice to help consolidate their learning for themselves.
  • Students are given Mild, Medium, and Spicy problems (no more than 5 of each) to select and work through ‘individually but together’.  Students are responsible for their practice, however they are invited to work together on any problems.  Answers are provided at the front of the room for students to check their solutions (not worked examples!).  Students are asked to work for the entire 10-12 minutes on practice.  This is your formative assessment to determine which level of practice students were successful with individually.  DO NOT GRADE this practice as it is designed to be practice.

#3 

Consolidation is critical!

Peter mentioned consolidation several times during his keynote address, as did several breakout session presenters.  Here is what was shared:

• Consolidation is essential for students to ‘own’ their learning.  Consolidation should occur after vertical spaces with thinking tasks have taken place.
• Peter said the ‘gallery walk’ consolidation described in the BTC book is not what most teachers are using and is less effective than first thought.  He suggested using more of a direct instruction approach to consolidation.  The teacher would take about 10 minutes to ask students to share what they have done in the vertical spaces while the teacher becomes a scribe to the students’ thoughts.  
• Consolidation should happen most days in the classroom around curricular thinking tasks.  Consolidation should happen while the students are standing in their groups, followed by students developing notes in their groups in the vertical spaces.

#4 

Notetaking has been solidified by additional research

The practice of note-taking has shifted into a more solid practice than described in the BTC book.  Peter has all but abandoned all other graphic organizers, rather he has reinforced the idea of using the Four Quadrants model.

• Quadrant 1 (upper left) should include a fill-in-the-blank example that has not been used during the class period.
• Quadrant 2 (upper right) is a worked example from the vertical spaces.  Students, working in their groups, determine which example they want to use in quadrant 2 to best understand the content.  They can select strategies from any group’s vertical space to write their notes.
• Quadrant 3 (lower left) is an example each group creates themselves based on that day’s lesson.  By creating an example students are again solidifying their understanding of the content.
• Quadrant 4 (lower right) is a box where they are adding ‘Notes to my future forgetful self (NFF)’.  This is a group discussion to create a list.
• Process for notetaking: 
  • Consolidation should take place as a whole group (see above description).
  • Students remain in their vertical spaces to create the 4 quadrants together.
  • Students return to their seats to record the 4 quadrants individually while encompassing the work of all of the groups. This helps to support individual accountability to solidify their learning.
  • Students should be allowed to use their notes on any assessment.
• See the example from a breakout session by Annette Holloway and Wendy Atkins.

#5 

Building Thinking Classrooms is appropriate for all content areas.

BTC is a set of 14 practices that absolutely supports instruction in all content areas.  Peter reinforced this in his keynote addresses as well as in demonstrations by several other presenters.  There were ELA, Social Studies, Art, and Science examples used throughout the conference.  If you are not currently following the BTC Facebook groups, I would recommend you join the groups that best fit your teaching assignments.  

If you are a beginner to Building Thinking Classrooms I would recommend you start by reading the ‘orange book’ and working your way through the first three chapters and begin trying some things in your classroom.  Keep in mind the BTC work is not an all-or-nothing implementation.  You can start slow with the first three practices then add layers as you move through the work.  Additionally, Peter has released his new book including additional chapters that outline some of what he shared at the conference.  I purchased the K-5 book (the secondary book is on its way) and it is worth the purchase.  I recommend all teachers get on this train, it is a fantastic set of instructional practices that work with students in an unbelievable way.  I am a true believer as I have seen it and experienced it myself.  It works!