Thinking Gears is the term used at the Think Tank to help students better connect with the idea of thinking dispositions. Thinking Gears provide a concrete way for students and teachers to talk about and assess thinking while working through lessons and activities on a day to day basis. The term Thinking Gears seems to capture that spirit, and the image provides a clear mental model for students. Thinking Gears makes thinking move. The term Thinking Gears is full of metaphorical possibilities.
Gears are tangible for young students.
For example, to concretize the notion of thinking gears, we encourage kids to apply the concept as they work with actual gear projects at the lab, including grade-level curriculum on simple machines. We encourage kids to explore and think about gears in bicycles, building sets, and clocks. During lab sessions, thinking dispositions are primarily presented to students in the form of questions. Creative questioning helps students take ownership for their thoughts and insights. The lab specifically frames dispositions in the TfU format of Throughlines .