Thinking Routines / I Used to Think, Now I Think
I Used to Think, Now I Think
Catch what a class believes on the first day of a topic, keep it, and put it beside what they believe at the end. Seeing their own thinking move is the whole point.
Opens on the whiteboard to model with the class · free to start · printing is optional
The sheet it prints (optional)
What is the I Used to Think, Now I Think routine?
I Used to Think, Now I Think is a reflection routine. At the start of a topic the class records what they believe about it. At the end they say what they believe now, and then what changed their mind. It makes the learning visible to the children themselves, not just to you.
How do you run I Used to Think, Now I Think with a class?
On the first lesson, ask the big question and take honest answers quickly, without correcting any of them. Put them on the board and leave it. On the last lesson, open the same board, and for each old idea ask what they think now. Then ask what changed it. Ten minutes at each end.
Why keep the first answers?
Because children rewrite their own history. Ask a class at the end of a unit what they thought at the start and most will tell you they always knew. A written record stops that. The board keeps it on your computer, dated, with each new idea sitting next to the old one it grew out of.
The first time I ran this, I corrected a misconception on day one without thinking about it, and lost the best row on the board. Now I bite my tongue. ‘Heavy things fall faster’ goes up exactly as it was said, and I say nothing. Six weeks later the same child reads it out, laughs, and explains why it is wrong, which is worth far more than me telling them in week one. Year 4 treat the old answers like a time capsule, and they will remind you to open it.
Which subjects does I Used to Think, Now I Think suit?
Anywhere children arrive with ideas that the unit is going to change.
- Science: forces, materials, living things, where the misconceptions are strong.
- History: what they think life was like before they study it.
- Geography: what they believe about a country or a place they have never seen.
- PSHE and RE: an opinion that may shift once they have heard other views.
What usually goes wrong with it?
Two things. The first answers get tidied up, by you or by the children, and the change disappears. And the end of the unit arrives with no time left, so the second half never happens. Put it in the plan for the last lesson now, or it will not get done.
Which year groups is I Used to Think, Now I Think for?
It works from Year 2 upwards, which is grade 1 in the US. Younger children need their first answers read back to them word for word. From Year 4 they can write their own, and by Year 6 the ‘what changed my mind’ column is where the real reflection happens.
What do you do with it afterwards?
Photograph the board or print it for the class book. It is some of the best evidence of progress you will have, because it is in the children’s own words and it shows the change rather than claiming it.
| Year group | US grade | What to change | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years 2–3 | Grades 1–2 | One question. You scribe, and read the old answers back. | 5 min each end |
| Years 4–5 | Grades 3–4 | Every child gives one idea. Ask what changed it. | 10 min each end |
| Year 6 and up | Grade 5+ | Ask what they are still unsure about now. | 15 min each end |
I Used to Think compared with 3-2-1 Bridge
Both capture thinking before a topic and again after it. 3-2-1 Bridge asks for words, questions and an analogy each time, which suits a short unit. I Used to Think is plainer and quicker, and suits a longer one where the change is in one or two big ideas.
Free to try · free to start · printing is optional
Where this routine comes from: the I Used to Think, Now I Think thinking routine was developed by Project Zero, a research center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Sage Teachers is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Harvard University or Project Zero. The prompts, the wording and the printed sheet on this page are our own.