PRIMARY SCHOOL (EGB)

PRIMARY SCHOOL (EGB) (From 1^st grade to 9th
CoRT 1	1^st grade	Since July: PMI, CAF and RULES
	2^nd and 3^rd grades	PMI, CAF, RULES, OPV, C&S, FIP, APC, AGO.
	4^th, 5^th and 6^th grades	ALL THE LESSONS.
	7^th, 8^th and 9^th grades.	PMI and CAF.

CoRT 2	1^st grade	RECOGNISE AND COMPARE.
	2^ndand 3^rd grades	RECOGNISE, COMPARE, ANALISE.
	4^th, 5^th and 6^th grades.	ALL THE LESSONS.

CoRT 4	2^nd and 3^rd grades	STEPPING STONE- YES, NO AND PO. (They are working with this CoRT now)
	4^th to 6^th grades	STEPPING STONES-YES, NO AND PO. (They are working with Creativity now. We think until the end of the school term)

NOTES:

The lessons take place once a week, 35 to 40 minutes each lesson, three days each lesson.
The class is divided in groups of five or six students. The groups change members frequently.
We had two 3^rd. grades with 36 students each. The first times we must divide the group in halves because it was difficult to work with them. Now they work altogether. They listen to the teacher, they listen to each other, they respect the time stipulated by the teacher and they do not waste the 35 minutes. One of the difficult things is listening to all the responses and taking note of all of them. Sometimes we need more than three classes for each lesson.
All the teachers had difficult in keeping the time discipline at first.
Most of the teachers mentioned that it was hard for them at first not to make corrections on the answers and avoid judging them when the answers were not the ones expected by the teacher.
The teacher's enthusiasm grew at the same time as the student's.
The teachers agree that in the 1^st , 2^nd and 3^rd grades it not easy for the children the process-discussion time of the lesson.
The students show themselves very interested in attending the CoRt lessons. They have achieved gradually to work with discipline.
They are able to use the thinking tools and they state they can use them more easily each time.
Some parents say their children use the tolls in daily things. Example:

" The mother with the door fridge open: -Matías, what would like for dessert an orange or some créme caramel? (Matías, six years old, does not answer)

-Please, Matías. I have the fridge door open. Make up your mind!

-Wait Mummy, I am doing a PMI!

All the teachers point out the changes shown in the cases of those students who generally do not take part in the class, who do not speak to the teacher or to their peers, who never ask when they do not understand anything. A girl, Joanna, 8 years old, has got all these characteristics. The teacher usually finds very hard to assess her, since she nearly had heard her voice. Gradually, she started to participate during the CoRT lessons. Two weeks ago, the class was filmed and Joanna, faced the camera in three occasions to give her answers loudly, without being asked by her teacher, who was really pleased and surprise.
Most of the students belonging to the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grades use, without being asked by the teacher, some thinking tools they have already practised during the "thinking workshop" to solve some exercises of other subjects. For example:

"Subject:_ Science:The 3^rd grade students and the teacher will grow a vegetable garden . When the teacher proposed the activity, the students suggested, spontaneously, to do a CAF and a PMI before they started."

When the 6^th grade students started with the Creativity CoRT, it was shown not only a great enthusiasm, but a great amount of responses too. Initially, they thought this CoRT was not sensible, but after the process-discussion they could "loosen themselves" and their production was incredible.
A teacher who was not applying the CoRT lessons, but remained in the classroom while another one took her class during the "thinking workshop" said she was amazed about the way her students use the thinking tools and about their answers and specially about their behaviour.. This was one of the groups with discipline problem.
As a conclusion, the teachers think it was a rich experience, not only for their students, but also for them; the students do not like missing the "thinking workshop"; the CoRt lessons can widen the way of thinking in those students who have no special conflicts, but are very useful with those students who have conflicts that interfere in her learning or in their own lives development as they feel they are able to participate with self-confidence. Some of the teachers did not feel very sure when they started these lessons, but their confidence in themselves and in the CoRT lessons grew as they see how these lessons work. They read everything that is in the CD, but they were encouraged by the practice.

Comments by Peter de Bono

A very interesting and revealing report that shows how both the students and the teachers are changing their perceptions. It is particularly relevant that the teachers are now accepting answers other than those they had expected.

The example of Matias and the open fridge is lovely - rather like Edward's example of the young girl advising against doing a P.M.I. in the middle of the road.

The mention of Joanna is an important example we meet time and again - the flower blossoms.