Visible thinking routines can help adult literacy educators create reflective, engaging learning environments by making learners’ ideas, questions and reasoning easier to see and support. In March, AlphaPlus hosted a well-attended and dynamic workshop series on visible thinking routines, and now we’re sharing the topic with those who were unable to attend.

In this Q&A, AlphaPlus team member Tracey Mollins explains what visible thinking routines are, why they matter and how educators can use them to give learners more space to think — during a time when AI tools are making the learning process less visible.

Helping to make learners’ thinking visible: Q&A with Tracey Mollins

Q: What are visible thinking routines?

A: Project Zero (at Harvard) defines a thinking routine as a set of questions or a brief sequence of steps used to scaffold and support student thinking. Thinking routines are designed to deepen students’ thinking and to help make that thinking “visible.” 

Q: What do visible thinking routines look like in action?

A: Visible thinking refers to any observable representation that documents and supports the development of a learner’s ongoing thoughts, questions, reasons and reflections. Examples include mind maps, charts, lists, diagrams, worksheets — anything that reveals learners’ unfolding ideas as they think through an issue, problem or topic.

Q: What led you to feature this topic in the workshop series?

A: Exploring visible thinking routines was a nice balance to tech-heavy topics and a return to other parts of blended learning, such as reflection and critical thinking. This topic gave workshop participants a chance to think about the fun parts of their practice.

Q: How do visible thinking routines help educators?

A: Educators can experiment with visible thinking routines to teach new material and to see how individuals and groups tackle learning. Adding visible thinking routines to our practice reminds us, as teachers, to address the duality of teaching and learning. Sometimes we can focus on the acquisition of skills, which is essential, and lose sight of the equally essential exploratory elements of good learning.

Q: How do visible thinking routines help learners?

A: Visible thinking routines build time for reflection into the formal learning process instead of leaving it to people to do on their own. Rather than coming up with the “correct” answer right away, these routines give learners space to think, ask questions and ponder, What if? what if not? how else could this be done? or what’s the other side of the case?

These routines help learners stay curious and open-minded, and see learning as a process of exploration and experimentation, not just as a path to a prescribed outcome.

Q: How can visible thinking routines help now that learners are increasingly using AI?

A: Some of the benefits of AI (personalized assistance, quick feedback) might be drawbacks for teachers. When learners use AI to help plan their work and find answers, their thinking becomes less visible to the learning community as a whole and to the teacher in particular. Visible thinking routines help preserve parts of the learning process that AI can obscure.

Furthermore, the promise of AI is a life without friction, but this so-called friction is where learning happens. As Sonja Drimmer says, “Learning is the result of human grappling with the parts of the world that resist us and our capacity to understand.” Visible thinking routines can help teachers and learners take the “frictiony” parts of learning and break them down into manageable chunks. 

Q: What technologies can instructors use to apply these strategies?

A: During the sessions, we discussed several technologies that can make thinking routines visible, such as Padlet, Book Creator and Figma. However, it’s important to remember that you can also do this work using common apps learners may encounter at school or work, such as Canva, Word, PowerPoint and the Google Workspace versions of these tools.

Q: What participant insights stood out to you from the workshop?

A: One thing that stood out for me is the idea of wonder. Often, adult learners come to school feeling they have to have the right answers, but visible thinking routines help them consider possibilities.

Also, visible thinking routines help us return to tried-and-true practices for figuring out what learners want to learn and how they’ll learn it, so that as teachers, we can properly personalize their learning and keep them engaged and motivated. These routines help us see how learners’ thinking is evolving and engage them in conversations that help them continue to evolve. Though some people want efficiency, many desire breadth and enjoy the detours.

Did you miss our last session on visible thinking routines? Check out the session slides and contact Tracey with any questions.

With all the events we organize and host, it might be hard to keep up with the various dates and the email announcements/reminders we send out. 

To make things easier, we have added an Events menu to our website.

We have also organized the events into three colour-coded categories, allowing you to quickly identify different types of activities and find the events most relevant to you.

We used Google Calendar for AlphaPlus Events because it’s easy to share on a website and gives you an option to add it directly to your own Google Calendar (simply click on Add to Google Calendar in the lower left corner). When added, you will see all upcoming AlphaPlus events alongside your other calendars.

We hope this new tool will help improve visibility, sharing and participation in our events.

Please take a moment to explore the Events menu and feel free to send us feedback and/or share it with your networks.

Express yourself creatively

This June, join us for an exploration of how to keep creativity flowing in the literacy classroom. We are going to take a dive into resources, tools and approaches that support creative writing instruction. 

What to expect

In 3 Zoom sessions (90 minutes each), we will:

• Explore lesson plans that encourage creative expression, reading and writing.
• Tap into your own creativity.
• Expand your list of Open Education Resources. 
• Experiment with digital tools that can support writing skills and the development of digital competencies. 

Start the summer inspired

• Hearing what other instructors are doing in their classroom, how they are innovating, will help you see your work with fresh eyes and validate your experiences. 
• Having an opportunity to play and create is a powerful way to renew your energy, purpose, and excitement about your work.  
• After the workshops, take the summer to reflect upon what inspires you creatively and what might similarly inspire the learners in your program.

This training series is three workshops:  Wednesday June  10, 17 and 24, 2026 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

See what happened

See what other workshop series are coming up: Workshops at AlphaPlus

Or you may be interested in a quick update at a Lunch and Learn.

And to see what colleagues around the province are achieving with the help of educational technology, join us for a Virtual Showcase.

Lunch and Learn sessions are back this spring.

Get ready to level up your digital skills with two more Tips and Tricks sessions coming up in April and May 2026! Whether you’re looking to streamline your workflow, explore new tools, or stay ahead of tech trends, these quick 30-minute sessions are packed with practical insights and hands-on tips.

Here’s what’s coming up:

Don’t miss out! These sessions are perfect for anyone looking to stay sharp, save time, and make the most of today’s tech tools.

Learn more and see recordings from past sessions at https://alphaplus.ca/our-services/lunch-learn. 

Join us for a new workshop series: Create an Online Learning Site

In this three-workshop series, you will learn how to create an online space in Google sites to communicate and collaborate with learners.  

Why do I need an online learning site?

Here are some reasons we have been discussing at AlphaPlus and why we think you might enjoy these workshops.

• Meet learner expectations
  An online learning site can help meet learner’s expectations to find information easily online and lets learners connect to learning materials from anywhere at any time.

• Develop lifelong learning skills
  Your site can provide a centralized platform for sharing information, resources, and interactive learning experiences and promotes lifelong learning by modelling the ways we can stay updated with the latest knowledge in online environments.

• Streamline classroom communications
  You can cut down on the number of handouts and emails you need to share and the strategies you use to remember with whom you shared them.

• Tailor your site to your specific needs
  You can develop your site to meet your specific communication and collaboration needs and the needs of learners who attend your program. You can use the site as a simple communication space and post announcements, events, and calendars as well as course outlines and learning pathways with links to assignments, study materials and resources. Or you can create mini-courses with embedded reading materials, interactive slides and quizzes.

Come with your own ideas or join us to be inspired

Of course, you may arrive at the workshops with your own reasons for creating a site. Whether you come with ideas or are joining to be inspired, you will have an opportunity to develop a plan.

The training series is three workshops on Wednesday, April 15, 22, 29, 2026 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

In 3 Zoom sessions (90 minutes each), we will:

• Enhance your understanding of what learners need in an online learning space (we will discuss the different ways teachers are using online spaces)
• Create a Google site that you can adapt to your needs and the needs of the learners (we will guide you through the process of setting up a site and adding elements — you can build alongside the facilitators or watch the demonstrations and build later)
• Expand your list of teaching resources (we will encourage participants to share resources that learners love to populate the sites we build)

Note: This is a repeat of a workshop series we did last October. You are welcome to register again if you were unable to attend last time or if you’d like a refresher.

See what other workshop series are coming up in the next few months: Workshops at AlphaPlus

Or you may be interested in a quick update at a Lunch and Learn.

And to see what colleagues around the province are achieving with the help of educational technology, join us for a Virtual Showcase.

In this three-workshop series, facilitated by Tom Driscoll, learn about a powerful and practical set of strategies known as “visible thinking routines” that can help enhance literacy instruction. 

Making lessons more engaging

You can apply these routines to existing instructional materials to enhance learners’ ability to activate prior knowledge, make connections and predictions, retain information, think critically, and more!  

In 3 Zoom sessions (90 minutes each), we will discuss:

• Workshop 1 Theme:  What are visible thinking routines, how do they help learners, and what do they look like in action?
• Workshop 2 Theme: How can educational technologies enhance visible thinking strategies?
• Workshop 3 Theme:  How can I utilize visible thinking strategies with my existing resources?

The training series is three workshops:

• Wednesday March 4, 11, 18, 2026 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

If you’re interested, secure your spot. And don’t forget to invite tutors working in your programs.

Note: This is a repeat of a workshop series we did last May. You are welcome to register again if you were unable to attend last time or if you’d like a refresher.

See what other workshop series are coming up in the next few months: Workshops at AlphaPlus

Or you may be interested in a quick update at a Lunch and Learn.

And to see what colleagues around the province are achieving with the help of educational technology, join us for a Virtual Showcase.

This February, join us for a four-workshop series about different approaches to helping learners understand the presence of artificial intelligence in their daily lives.

February 5, 12, 19, and 26 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Our daily life and AI

Artificial intelligence is now widespread, and more people are using it regularly at work and in their personal lives. The changes brought about by this technology require us to develop critical thinking skills to remain informed citizens and stay in control of our digital environment.

Explore resources with teachers

We have been researching learning resources that can help learners understand the presence of artificial intelligence in their daily lives. We  are inviting you to explore them with us and curate your own collection.

We will take a look at learning resources that: 

• Enhance our knowledge of how AI works and how to evaluate its outputs
• Expand our capacity to detect images and content produced by AI
• Encourage learners to reflect on the use of AI in their learning journey

These resources include teacher-facing guides, instructions, objectives and/or teaching tips and support instructors to:

• Cover a topic comprehensively.
• Build a series of lessons that flow together. 
• Co-learn rather than feel pressure to be the expert.

Become part of a cohort of creative teachers in a facilitated, collaborative environment

• Engage with peers in rich conversations about the practice of teaching.
• Explore examples of resources that support teaching and learning in adult literacy programs.
• Curate a selection of co-learning resources to use with learners.

Attendance policy 😊

We hope that you will find all the workshops relevant to your work and will want to attend the complete series. We think it will be beneficial to the group to have a cohort that develops a discussion over four weeks but we also know that people are busy and have to make choices. We will share an outline so that you will have the information you need to make the choices that work for you.

To learn more, contact Tracey and Guylaine directly.

Join us February 5, 12, 19 and 26 between 11:30 p.m. and 1:00 p.m.

See what happened

See what other workshop series are coming up in the next few months: Workshops at AlphaPlus

Or you may be interested in a quick update at a Lunch and Learn.