Debriefing Hexagonal Thinking Discussion Strategy

In our most recent PLG time, our ELA department engaged in a discussion strategy in small groups through Google Meet. Hexagonal Thinking is a discussion strategy from Spark Creativity's Betsy Potash that I first came across after talking with a friend and colleague who had listened to the Cult of Pedagogy podcast. 

While there are many practices we'll have to reexamine to see if they still have place and purpose in our remote classrooms, giving students opportunities to engage in open-ended tasks that encourage critical thinking and discussion is something we should continue to prioritize. 

Here is a recap of some points from our Hexagonal Thinking Discussion debrief.

• This seems like a good strategy for visual/spatial learners
• It would be beneficial to build  in some independent think time before discussing in groups.
  
• Groups may need some direction about how to decided how/who will move the terms. decide  Will one person be responsible for all the dragging or will everyone pitch in? I thought about this afterward, but I remember Potash discussing in the podcast that it interesting to see which natural roles students might fall into in this kind of work. I do actually like her point of valuing all types of contributions, but I can also see that especially in this new and strange remote classroom, assigning roles may be a helpful way to avoid additional awkward encounters. 
  
• The first choice felt the hardest and like such an important one. Maybe explicitly calling this out for students would be helpful.
  
  • Perhaps pointing out parts of speech of words and let students start grouping in that way would help students  get started.
    
• This activity could be done in a few ways.
  
  • As independent (asynchronous) pre-work (preview terms and make a few connections to bring to class). In live lesson group students into breakout rooms for placement & explanation & then share out whole group.
    
  • Semi-sync: Explain, provide think time (semi-sync) and then move into breakout rooms. Come back and share out
• Other scaffolds/considerations:
  
• Start with fewer terms and fewer hexagons
  
• Include images and words in hexagons
  
• Ask groups to place terms and then ADD __ (number) of terms themselves
  
• Ask students to generate the list of terms related to recent study. Use their​ list for the hexagon webs. 

One thing I didn't do in PLG was explicitly model, through Think Aloud, how I might connect a couple of terms and why. I excluded that in the interest of time with adult learners, but would most certainly begin with that modeling, as well as short burst of time in small groups. 

Here are the hexagon webs and connection explanation from our work. 

Hexagonal Thinking is a strategy that has great appeal across disciplines. In fact, my colleague who turned me onto the podcast teaches science and was excited to think how this could be used with her content. It's worth noting the cross-content value of this strategy, especially in a time when we are trying to use familiar strategies and with routines in order to minimize confusion and maximize clarity and learning.

For those interested in obtaining their own copy of the Hexagonal Thinking templates, visit Spark Creativity here and request a copy for your own use.  This resource includes templates where students can move hexagons and ones where they can move the terms.

Looking forward to how some of you may incorporate this, or variations of this, strategy into your classrooms with students!