Metacognition: Thinking About Thinking

I really studied my hardest my freshman year in college. I went to the library daily and read over my notes. I was actually really proud of my efforts. But when it came to tests and especially midterms I bombed. It boggled my mind when I received my report card and I had a horrible GPA. I went and spoke to my professors and pleaded my case about all of the hard work and studying I did all semester long. My English Professor spoke to me about how I studied. He was convinced I did so poorly was I didn't know how to study. He was right. Once I got some help on how to study it was smooth sailing.

That is my goal with my students when it comes to tests and pretty much everything....teach them how to teach themselves.

Students should be aware of what they are learning, what their goal is and what they all ready know. They need to plan on how they will reach their goals. What kind of materials will they need, how much time, will they need assistance. Finally students should reflect on their work. What part of the learning process was positive or negative. What can they do differently next time to improve their learning.

Teaching students to think about their thinking is an important concept. As a teacher I need to know and understand how my students learn. I am constantly differentiating, using multiple intelligence and modeling how to learn. Students need to understand about how they learn best. My goal is to present the information in a myriad of ways and hopeful one way will stick in the child’s long term memory. Using analogies and assessing prior knowledge is a must in the classroom. This is a constant challenge because the student’s knowledge base is very limited. So how can I get them to think about thinking?

I constantly tell the students to find a technique that works for them. Mnemonics, Acronyms, visualization, singing, rhyming, drawing pictures, coping, rereading, rewriting, saying the information over and over again. Anything. They just really need to understand what works best for them.

One thing I use is the class, which seems to work with my students who usually are hands on learners…is drawing. One concept we learn in science is Taxonomy Classification (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Species). The students make a sentence using each letter and then draw a picture…..For example: King Phillip Can Order Five Giant Sundaes. They can make up any sentence they want and draw a picture. The students do have a choice though on how to learn the order of the organization of living things, however most of them think this technique helps them remember it. I do have students from last year that remember this information and the project they did. They thought it was fun.Mmmmm they remembered something they thought was fun...what a concept. Make learning fun....and ....teach the students to have fun when they learn....could work.

Students are also taught to use of a plethora of graphic organizers, the 4 Square Writing Technique and 6+1 Writing. The students are taught different strategies to write and it is up to them on which one to use. The students “think about” what works best for them and have a choice of their technique.

Group work is very prevalent in my class. In the beginning of the year students are paired up and we experiment with different combinations. Students then get a chance to choose whom they think they work best with. When I first started teaching I would have never done that. I thought students would just want to work with their friends. However, I have found that this does work. They think about whom they work well with and take ownership over their choices. It is surprising on the choices they make and they really choose the right people to work with.

In theory self regulation would be optimal for a student who is intrinsically motivated to learn. Self-regulation, or systematic efforts to direct thoughts, feelings, and actions, toward the attainment of one's goals (Zimmerman, 2000). It is important for students to identify their goals and have a plan on how to reach them. As a teacher it is just as important to guide the students and model effective strategies they may use to succeed. However, in practice this can be challenging.

I teach a 7th grade self-contained special education class. Most of these students are on a first grade reading level and have very poor comprehension. Inference and making connections is very difficult for them. Since they are in a public school I am required to teach them the New York State 7th grade curriculum. This is very challenging. By the time these students get to me they are not motivated to learn anything that is challenging, are quick to give up and expect the teaching assistant to spoon feed the information to them. Self-fulfilling prophecy…they are so used to failing. It is easier not to set a goal. Then you can fail if you don’t try. It is my goal at the beginning of each year to motivate the students and challenge them to become more independent. Yeah....also make learning fun...well at least enjoyable....

My mantra in my class is, “Everyone gets treated differently because you are all different.” This is difficult in the beginning of the year because the students expect to all be treated the same.....but they are not…equal but not the same. They all have different learning styles, different levels (socially, emotionally and academically) and all need different approaches. Some students need to be pat on the back or just looked at where another student needs to be spoken to sternly…Differentiate learning…differentiated teaching and classroom management. One of the strategies I use is the students are given logs. They are to right in them everyday of what work they accomplished and what they need to continue to work on. This gives the students some ownership on their learning. I also use checklists where the students can cross off an assignment after they are done. They are monitoring their own learning. I use Studywiz and put many of their assignments online. This way the students can work at their own pace and go back when they need review. Again- ownership of their own learning.

Technology is very important. We use the computers daily in the class. We watch movies, listen to podcasts, type information, research or go into interactive websites about information we are learning in class.

I agree with Dale , H. Schunk that students should set goals for themselves. However, I think it is imperetive to teach the students to set small goals for themselves. Once they understand the concept of “baby steps” they become more motivated and get excited to cross things off of their lists. They also feel a sense of accomplishment. Within the self-contained classroom I am able to allow the students to become more responsible for their learning, however I just need to assist them in how to organize and give some guidance. Once they have that , it is amazing on how they check each other and work together towards their goals. They realize what works for them and what doesn't.