Transcript 'Thinking skills are most effectively taught if they are

Six hats
The thinking method we
are going to use in class is
called the
'Six Hats'.
This will not be
used in every
lesson – only
when I want you
to think
for yourselves.
When we ARE ASKED TO ‘THINK’ WE FIND THERE ARE
THREE PROMBLEMS:
• Our Emotions. We often
don’t think at all but to go
for the instant gut feeling
without thinking the
problem through carefully.
• Helplessness. We may think:
' I don't know how to think
about this. I don't know
what to do next.
• Confusion. We try to keep
everything in mind at
once, with a mess as a
result.
The six hats method is a simple and practical way of overcoming all
three difficulties.
Confusion comes
when we try to
do too much at
once. Often when
we try to think
about something
our minds go off
in several
different
directions at the
sane time, or
worse still,
completely blank!
The six hats
method allows us
to deal with one
thing at a time.
Helplessness is when we do not
see what is to be done. The six
hats method gives you a series of
steps that can be taken that will
help you sort your thinking out.
Emotions are an
important part of
thinking but
emotions at the
wrong place can be
disastrous! When
everybody argues or
gets upset – nothing
is decided. The six
hats method allows
us to use emotions
and feelings at the
right time.
Here are the six hats that will help us sort our thinking
out
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Red Hat---- Emotions, intuition,
feelings and hunches. No need to back
it up. How do I feel about this right
now?
Yellow Hat--- Benefits. Why is this
worth doing? What are the benefits?
Why can it be done? Why will it work?
Black Hat---Caution. Judgement.
Assessment. Is this true? Will it work?
What are the weaknesses? What is
wrong with this?
Green Hat--- Creativity. Different
ideas. New ideas. Suggestions and
proposals. What are some possible
solutions and courses of action? What
are the alternatives?
White Hat--- Information. Questions.
What information do we have? What
information do we need to get?
Blue hat---Organisation of thinking.
Thinking about thinking. How far have
we come? What steps do we take
next?
Very often,
mine’s the
blue hat…but
not always!
Why hats?
Hats are easy:
• You can take them on and off
• You can change the order
• Everyone can see what type of
thinking you are doing
Here is a good example
Some children
were talking
whilst I was
teaching…
Using the Six
Hats allowed
my class to look
at the problem
from different
angles.
This does
not
happen
very
often…
1) White Hat: state the facts
No, it’s not
great…you are
not listening to
me!!!
• some of you are talking when I am
talking
• there is noise so that others are
distracted or can't hear
• some of you don't know what to do
after I have given directions
• many of you get silly or just stop
working
2) Red Hat: states the emotions
• I am getting angry and upset because
you are not listening to something
important.
• some of you are annoyed because you
can't hear directions
• those talking enjoy joking around and
showing off
This is what I
am feeling
like inside…
3) Black Hat: negative aspects
• time is
wasted
• learning has
stopped
• the situation
could get
worse
• chaos in the
classroom
4) Yellow Hat: positives of the situation are
examined
• everyone gets to say
what is on their
mind
• it can be fun
• you don't have to
wait until you speak
and therefore don't
forget what you
what to say
• not just the "smart"
kids get to speak
Listen to
me…I have
something
important to
say
5) Green Hat: creative ideas that come with seeing the
problem in a new light
•
•
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•
•
•
I will be more aware of the
amount of time that I “talk”
In future, I will try to give more
opportunity for group and
paired discussion
you will resist the temptation to
say out loud everything that
comes your heads
you will ask yourselves if this is
“on topic" and if this needs to
be shared right away
there will need to be further
discussion on "how" we would
work on this problem
you will think about whether
your chatter will interfere with
other children's learning
Do you feel
that might
work? RED
HATS again!
6) Blue Hat: Sum up what is learned
•
•
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•
I learned I need to limit the
amount of time I use
"Talking" as a form of
teaching
"think time" would be a good
idea to prepare before you
are ready to discuss your
ideas
you realize that just to "get
the laugh", you are
interfering with other
people's learning
you have learned that
speaking whenever you want
to shows a lack of selfdiscipline and that not
everything that goes through
your minds is worth sharing
An example of
a mind map
used with 6
hat thinking