Posts Tagged ‘Metacognition’

Purposeful Teaching: What Does it Look Like?

0
March 12, 2012 |  by Tammy Jones  |  Balanced Literacy, Comprehension Strategies, Literacy Mini-Lessons  |  No Comments  |  Share

As educators we sit through endless sessions where presenters tell us what to expect in a high-quality literacy classroom.  We hear how as teachers we need to recognize that each student in our room develops on an individual time line and we must structure our day so that it is well-planned and executed to support students’ differences.  Of course this goal is to differentiate instruction.  We hear how we must move through the literacy block with modeling and thinking aloud to coaching students as they read and write.  We hear a lot of “talk” about what we need to do, but what we really want is someone to tell us what this looks like!   The best part of my job as an educational consultant is that I see high-quality literacy classrooms all the time.  I can’t tell you how many outstanding teachers I run into on a weekly basis!

Just recently, I was coaching in a school and I observed a teacher who was very purposeful in her teaching.  Her lessons were focused and explicit.  Her students were engaged.  I was so excited about the wonderful things going on in her classroom, I wanted to share a glimpse of what it “looked like.”  Below is an example of what went on during a particular day’s whole-group mini-lesson during Reading Workshop in a third grade classroom.

Reading Workshop Mini-Lesson

Candice knows that making inferences has been very difficult for some of her students.  She has decided to focus her attention with explicit instruction around this comprehension strategy.  To begin the lesson, Candice asks the students just to listen and see if they can figure out what has happened.  Candice then says, “Robins have built a nest in a tree beside Harrison’s window, and the mother has been sitting on the nest for weeks.  This morning, when Harrison left for school, he heard little chirping noises coming from the nest in the tree.”  Candice then asks,  What could you infer, or figure out, about what happened?  She asks students to turn to a partner and share their inferences.  After a few students have shared their inferences, Candice explains that when you make an inference, you use one or two clues or pieces of evidence to state a fact.

Next, to guide practice, Candice displays on her smartboard, a picture of a boy standing in front of some spring flowers and blossoming bushes holding a tissue looking like he is about to sneeze. Candice then asks her class to make an inference about the picture.  She asks them to tell what kinds of information in the photo helped them make an inference about why the boy is sneezing.

Now, that the students have the concept of what an inference is, Candice moves the strategy to text.  She displays a text and a picture. on her smartboard.  They read the passage together. Candice encourages them to make inferences about the traits, feelings, and relationships of the characters in the passage, and to identify the clues that support the inferences.  As they work through the passage together, they use the highlighter tools and other resources to annotate the text.  As the lesson concludes, Candice reminds the students to find places in the texts that they are reading and mark the inferences that they are making with a sticky note.

Reading Workshop Debriefing

As Candice reconvenes the whole-group meeting, the students bring reading logs and share the evidence of independent work.  Candice uses this setting to assess the students’ learning.

Even though her mini-lesson did not last very long, the students left with a deeper knowledge of making inferences.  Many times we believe the longer the lesson the more students will learn, but in reality it is a balance of modeling (mini-lesson) and time for students to transfer this information during their instructional (small group) and independent reading time.  The real power lies in what students are able to take away from the lesson and use on their own!

Reflect on This

0
May 31, 2011 |  by Benchmark  |  Uncategorized  |  No Comments  |  Share

Earlier this month, we spoke about metacognition (thinking about thinking) among students, BUT this kind of reflection has invaluable benefits for teachers too (even when done by the students themselves).

In a February article in Principal Leadership entitled “Reflective Assessment,” John Bond, Laurynn Evans, and Arthur Ellis assert that teachers have not only a key role in but also a lot to gain from the metacognitive processes of their students.

As students assess their learning, teachers receive consistent and constructive feedback on what’s working (and, most importantly, what’s not) in the classroom.

As an example, after each lesson or unit, try the following strategies or develop some of your own:

  • “I Learned” Statements: In the last few minutes of class, ask each child to reflect on and complete the sentence “Today I learned…”
  • Clear and Unclear Windows: In two columns, have each student describe what was clear in the lessons from the day (defined as anything that is understood well enough for the student to teach to another class) and, by contrast, what was unclear.
  • The Week in Review: Invite students to work independently or in small groups to summarize the key take-aways of a specified time period or unit.

From our perspective, the time spent on this feedback is well worth the countless benefits including 1) more effective teaching practices; 2) improved student achievement; and 3) collaborative ownership of the learning process by both students and teachers.

How regularly do you assess what goes on in your classroom?  Weekly? Daily? After the completion of a unit? Never? What stands in your way?

Click here for a downloadable version of the article discussed above.

Big Thinking

0
April 11, 2011 |  by admin  |  Uncategorized  |  No Comments  |  Share

Metacognition literally means “thinking about thinking.” It has been linked to intelligence and correlated with success in school.  Therefore, it’s impossible to discount, both for students and teachers.

There is a knowledge component, i.e., assessing how a task should be done, monitoring your understanding of the task, and evaluating your progress on how well it’s going.  And there is a strategic component, i.e., deciding how to allocate resources and time and determining how deeply to commit to the project as a whole and to each step along the way.

All of the following are metacognitive moments that may occur for our children:

  • What should my notes look like for this class?
  • Should I write a plan before I tackle the project, and if so, how detailed should it be?
  • Am I on track on this assignment?
  • Does my essay answer the questions?
  • Should I work in the library or in my own bedroom?
  • Should I listen to music while I work?
  • Should I answer the multiple-choice questions first on this test or the essay?

All of these questions show some degree of critical thinking about one’s thinking.

And unfortunately, no standardized test can accurately reflect the critical thinking that goes on behind the scenes.  It’s a particularly vexing dilemma because though multiple choice cannot capture the complexity of someone’s thoughts or strategy, there’s no doubt that being equipped with well developed and effective metacognitive strategies is paramount to academic success.

Here at Benchmark Education, we have dedicated our resources to helping students become “big thinkers” and active, strategic readers.  Our Anchor Comprehension Workshop units provide the resources to teach comprehension and metacognitive strategies effectively in Grades K–8+.  The curriculum guides help not only with thinking about reading, but also in training kids with the skills—like critically viewing text and making inferences—that are required to master multiple-choice questions on the high-stakes tests.  For more information, or to order a sample, click here.

It used to be enough just to think . . . now we literally have to think about what we (and our children) are thinking.  Do you believe the classroom should spend time focusing on this “big thinking” or do the ends (i.e., getting the right answer on a test) justify the means?  If the former, what have you found to be successful?  How can we evaluate someone’s metacognitive abilities?  Should we?