My name is Michael Medvinsky and I am an educator, an educator whose lens is Music. I teach general music in three schools in Brandon School District, MI ranging from elementary to high school. My practices are rooted in a constructivist frame of the learner’s experience. I am a life-long learner who realizes that the musicians who come to the music room have a shared understanding of learners being on a continuum of experiences. Everyone’s voice is honored and prior experiences are valued in the process of becoming an independent musician and toward musical understanding.

In the summer of 2012, I read Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners by Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church, and Karen Morrison. My understanding was deepened when I  attended a Cultures of Thinking conference where Ron Ritchheart spoke about thinking routines and the value of illuminating the process of thinking rather than focusing on an answer driven environment. This moment sparked a shift in my thinking about the learner experience in my classrooms.

This blog is intended to be a reflection in practice as we focus more on the process of thinking with thinking routines in the music room.