![]() Explicit modeling in the classroom during learning can provide a bridge for students to awareness of steps in the learning process that are implicit, that is, often assumed to be known and understood by all. ![]() These steps are central in FA and are often shared in student-friendly language, such as, “Where am I going?” “Where am I now?” and “How will I get there?” Articulating this metacognitive process can be a first step in promoting an independent continuous improvement cycle for students, which, for some, may be a turning point from disengagement to empowerment. When teachers give voice to steps in the process of learning-planning, monitoring, and continuous improvement-and invite students to co-own them, students can see how the game is played, so to speak, and better understand their role in it. It’s our job to change that.Ī key benefit for these students, early or even later in the educational journey, may exist within the transparency that is inherently a part of the FA cycle. ![]() As a former middle school teacher, I can attest to the fact that when such students see themselves “losing” that game repeatedly, they frequently declare it stupid and irrelevant, and opt out entirely. For students whose backgrounds have not included modeling patterns and structures that are foundational to the learning process, FA can add transparency to what might seem to them like a game with hidden rules. This is especially true for students who begin at the lowest levels of achievement. Across content domains, FA techniques in the classroom are associated with some of the highest achievement gains for students among teaching strategies. When we give our attention to otherwise automatic functions, we have a chance to notice what’s not working so well, and also to embrace and amplify the things that are helping us to meet our goals.Īll of this is well supported by research on improving learning outcomes. ![]() When those habits are embedded in the routines of teaching and learning in the classroom, the classroom culture is changed. When educators develop and implement FA, they build awareness in their own practice and demonstrate for students the habits of mind that are conducive to learning. One of the best ways to bring metacognition to the classroom is through the practice of formative assessment (FA). When we give our attention to otherwise automatic functions, we have a chance to notice what’s not working so well, and also to embrace and amplify the things that are helping us to meet our goals. Enter metacognition: thinking about our thinking, about what we notice, how we react, where we go next. But the bad news about unexamined automaticity is that we may not recognize our opportunities to change for the better. Except when it’s not.įor teachers and students, many of their daily behaviors in the classroom fall into the category of automatic activity. Big difference, right? We develop automaticity as a means to free up energy and attention for other things. Now try to recall your first time behind the wheel, the amount of energy and attention that you gave to backing out of a parking space, making a left turn, changing lanes. Think about the steps you take when you get behind the wheel of a car and drive. Metacognitive practices offer us ways to refine and expand on our range of skills, especially those in our areas of automaticity, which comprise a lot of what goes on in our brains on any given day. Metacognition is a way of noticing our thinking that can lead to improving upon it. It is a step further than simple awareness of thought processes, incorporating the ability to alter thoughts and behaviours.” In a June 2018 BOLD blog post, Annie Brookman-Byrne describes metacognition this way: “etacognition is ‘thinking about thinking,’ but metacognition also encompasses the regulation of these thoughts-the ability to change them. ![]()
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