This article presents the practical implementation of the Thinking Room concept in my school. I created this space to support student-centered learning, focused on developing critical thinking, cooperation, and communication skills through tailored activities and strategies.
The main goal of the language learning process is to understand and communicate. The teacher’s main task is to direct and facilitate that process. The learner is an active participant, not merely a passive receiver of rules to be memorized. All these mistakes were analysed during a special lesson. After receiving the tests, the teacher answered all the students’ questions and reshaped the exercises for a new session of assessment. The students were asked to write down more examples for the situations discussed together and then another test was delivered and this time they got better marks. Students at this level are often not able to rightly use present simple and present continuous, therefore the main goal of the given test is to make sure all students have the ability of correctly using both present tense and present continuous.
Experiments with Critical Thinking Activities
Three groups were formed from mixed ability classes (elementary, intermediate, upper-intermediate) and they experienced 10 thinking lessons in the Thinking Room. Most of the students are active members of the class and are willing to offer personal opinions on subjects. They show interest in class activities and are generally cooperative with each other in class, especially when they are highly motivated to talk about an attractive topic.
The Thinking Room was designed as a natural conclusion after working one year in this school, as I felt the urge to provide students a suitable place where, properly guided, they can observe, compare, contrast, predict, sequence and use evidence to support their
points of view on modern topics. They need to learn to differentiate between fact and opinion and to internalise their thought processes through language, examining relationships and drawing conclusions about observed behaviour and Thinking Room offered them both the proper environment and necessary tools.
Here, the teacher uses methods that shift the focus of activity from the teacher to the learners. These methods include active learning where students solve problems, answer questions, formulate questions of their own, discuss, explain, debate, or brainstorm during class; cooperative learning, in which students work in teams on problems and projects under conditions that assure both positive interdependence and individual accountability; and inductive teaching and learning, in which students are first presented with challenges (questions or problems) and learn the course material in the context of addressing the challenges. Inductive methods include inquiry-based learning, case-based instruction, problem-based learning, project-based learning, discovery learning, andjust-in-time teaching.
Student-centered methods have repeatedly been shown to be superior to the traditional teacher-centered approach to instruction, a conclusion that applies whether the assessed outcome is short-term mastery, long-term retention, or depth of understanding of course material, acquisition of critical thinking or creative problem-solving skills, formation of positive attitudes toward the subject being taught, or level of confidence in knowledge or skills. A series of short writing activities at various points throughout the class period can help students clarify what they know or do not know about the subject, can help students understand what they had just done or been shown, and help students transfer newly acquired information into real life situations.
Cooperative learning produces greater student achievement than traditional learning methodologies. Low achieving students tend to work harder when grouped with higher achieving students. There is competition among groups in cooperative learning. Some forms of group competition promote cohesiveness among group members and group spirit.
Stănișoara (1999:34) suggests that ”cooperative learning might be an alternative to the traditional way of learning, encouraging competitive and individualistic experience all in order to ensure a healthy balance of learning”.
I have applied all these methods in the Thinking room with excellent results in the communication field and language rules as well. Besides solid knowledge on both grammar and vocabulary, they gradually increased their ability to coherently and fluently develop ideas together with the ability to use argumentation when expressing personal opinion.
References
Gardner, H. (1983). *Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences*. Basic Books.
Stănișoara, C. (1999). *Strategii de învățare centrate pe elev*. Editura Didactică și Pedagogică.
Felder, R.M., & Brent, R. (2005). *Understanding Student Differences*. *Journal of Engineering Education*.
Teaching reflections and classroom implementation – Thinking Room, [Your School Name], Romania.