Tips for Using the Six Thinking Hats Technique in Your Curriculum
- Encourage everyone to contribute: It's important to ensure that each participant engages with all six perspectives. Don’t categorize people based on their natural tendencies—everyone can and should use every hat during the process.
- Flexibility in hat use: One or more hats can be used at any time during a discussion. They serve as tools to guide or shift the thinking process as needed. For example, you can say, “Let’s try some black hat thinking now…” to direct the focus.
- Use simple sequences: You can combine two or three hats in a particular order for specific purposes. For instance:
- The yellow hat followed by the black hat is great for evaluating an idea.
- The black hat followed by the green hat can help refine or improve a design.
- Handling conflicting views: While the Six Thinking Hats helps bring out diverse perspectives, it doesn’t always provide clear guidance on how to resolve disagreements between hats. In some cases, the group may naturally align on one solution as the discussion progresses. If not, you may need to employ a different framework to address the conflicting views and reach a resolution.
Resources for the GATE Classroom
GATE Programs offers literacy kits available for check-out. These kits are ideal for read-alouds, independent reading, and project-based learning. Each kit includes a teacher binder with project and activity ideas.
Please note:
- Check the availability of literacy kits in advance, as not all kits are available every quarter.
- Contact Alzira Duncan in the GATE Programs Office to schedule a pick-up.
- Allow 48 hours to confirm availability and arrange pick-up.
Additionally, GATE Programs Office has a variety of games and resource books available for check-out, including Interact Simulations. To borrow any items, please contact the GATE Programs Office at a alzira.duncan@tusd1.org
