A THINKING ROUTINE FROM PROJECT ZERO, HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
See, Think, Me, We
A routine for connecting to the bigger picture.
1. SEE: Look closely at the 2. THINK: What thoughts do
work. what do you notice? you have about the work?
Make lots of observations.
Bridge:
Explain how your new responses connect to your initial response?
3. ME: What connections can 4. WE: How might the work be
you make between you and the connected to bigger stories—
work? about the world and our place
in it?
Share your experience with this thinking routine on social media using the hashtags #PZThinkingRoutines and #SeeThinkMeWe.
This thinking routine was developed as part of the Arts as Civic Commons
project at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education with generous
support from Independent Schools Victoria.
HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Explore more Thinking Routines at [Link]/thinking-routines
© 2019 President and Fellows of Harvard College and Project Zero. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND). This license allows users to share this work
with others, but it cannot be used commercially. To reference this work, please use the following: The See, Think, Me, We thinking routine was developed by Project Zero, a research center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
A THINKING ROUTINE FROM PROJECT ZERO, HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
See, Think, Me, We, cont’d
A routine for connecting to the bigger picture.
Before you begin
Choose an artwork or image. This routine works well with a wide variety of works, so feel free to be
experimental or adventurous in your choice. If you typically use classrooms norms for respectful discussion,
you may want to refer to them before you begin: The routine invites learners to make personal connections,
so it’s especially important to establish an atmosphere of trust and care.
Facilitating the routine
The SEE step encourages close looking. Ask learners to fully describe what they see, and to hold off making
interpretations or giving opinions until the THINK step. If you like, deepen the SEE step by using a strategy
or two from the Viewing Moves.
The THINK step encourages learners to share thoughts about the work. All thoughts are welcome, but you
can give some direction to the step by asking questions such as: What’s going on in the work? What might it
mean? What makes you say that?
The ME step asks learners to make personal connections, so it’s a moment when a safe and trusting
atmosphere is especially important. You may want to model this step by sharing your own personal response
first. If you’re working with a large group, it can be helpful to do this step in pairs or trios. You can also add
support to the discussion by using strategies from the Dialogue Moves, such as NAME or STORYTELLING.
By asking for ‘bigger stories,’ the WE step invites learners to reach for connections beyond themselves. One
way to help them do this is to ask them to consider how the personal connections they identified in the ME
step might connect to larger themes of human experience. This step can be challenging for students. As with
the ME step, it can be helpful for you, the facilitator, to model a response by sharing your own reflections.
Share your experience with this thinking routine on social media using the hashtags #PZThinkingRoutines and #SeeThinkMeWe.
This thinking routine was developed as part of the Arts as Civic Commons
project at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education with generous
support from Independent Schools Victoria.
HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Explore more Thinking Routines at [Link]/thinking-routines
© 2019 President and Fellows of Harvard College and Project Zero. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND). This license allows users to share this work
with others, but it cannot be used commercially. To reference this work, please use the following: The See, Think, Me, We thinking routine was developed by Project Zero, a research center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
