1. Metacognition to Motivate Learning
DMHS PD Symposium
November 3, 2015

2. Metacognition Roadmap
Where are we going?
Explain the end goal –
culminating assignment(s)
How will we get there?
Show the Inquiry Map
Describe some of the knowledge, skills, and strategies to be learned
Provide regular opportunities to reflect
What’s in it for me?
Discuss purpose, relevance, & real world applications
First of all, metacognition works best when the learner has a roadmap. (read)

3. Our Roadmap
Goal: To add a metacognitive dimension to our instruction so that students may develop the habits of mind necessary to be independent learners.
Agenda:
The Roadmap & Inquiry Model
Definition & purpose of metacognition
Metacognitive Toolbox of Strategies
Metacognitive Process
Evaluation – A Metacognitive Rubric
Purpose, Relevance, and Application:
Metacognitive Process: Plan, Monitor, Evaluate
Here is our roadmap for today. (read) This last part is where you will be given opportunities throughout the presentation to consider your personal needs in relation to metacognition. Since teaching & learning is a two-way street, it’s important that you get a chance plan, monitor, and evaluate your learning. I know that many of us really just want to be passive observers, so this part may be annoying, but I’m hoping the effort will be worthwhile. I’ve provided a handout for you to take notes if you like.

4. Inquiry Model Focus on Literacy, 2004.
Ideally we want all our students to become independent learners. But how do we teach independent learning? This inquiry model shows the kind of thinking processes that you and I go through when researching anything from vacation travel to teaching. In fact, everything we do as teachers follows this same cycle. And everything I’ve done to prepare this presentation follows this cycle. And what’s at the center of it all? Reflection…metacognition. Over the next 20 minutes, I’m going to try and convince you that teaching your students metacognitive strategies is easy and extremely valuable, especially for struggling students. We’ll begin with planning. Obviously I’ve taken time to plan this lesson and retrieve information for you.
Focus on Literacy, 2004.

5. *Planning your inquiry with Guiding Questions
What are the characteristics of struggling learners?
What skills and knowledge might struggling students need in order to become successful learners?
What is your goal in learning about metacognition? What do you want to take away?
But often we begin our planning with questions. Take a moment to share your responses to these guiding questions. Please divide your white boards into 3 sections and brainstorm ideas for each. (share out)

6. Struggling Students Metacognition
Prioritize completing task vs. learning
Prioritizes learning vs. completing tasks
Are unclear about the purpose of a task
Emphasizes purpose
Cannot explain why they are stuck
Provides strategies for solving problems
Are unmotivated
Provides motivation
Give up easily
Provides strategies to develop perseverance
I tried to anticipate what you might say about questions #1 & 2. But how exactly might metacognition help struggling students?

7. What is metacognition? Metacognition is one’s ability to:
use prior knowledge to plan a strategy for approaching a learning task
take necessary steps to problem solve, reflect on and evaluate results, and modify one’s approach as needed.
First…a definition of metacognition. (read) Metacognition helps students to build the habits of mind needed to be successful life-long learners.
Just Write Guide. 2012

8. Why is it important to learning?
Learners “construct knowledge” using cognitive strategies, and they guide, regulate, and evaluate their learning using metacognitive strategies. It is through this “thinking about thinking” that real learning occurs.
(read) As students become more skilled at using metacognitive strategies, they gain confidence and become more independent as learners.
Just Write Guide. 2012

9. Why is it important to learning?
Individuals with well-developed metacognitive skills can think through a problem or approach a learning task, select appropriate strategies, and make decisions about a course of action to resolve the problem or successfully perform the task. (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 1995).
(read) Research demonstrates that students need explicit instruction on how to learn to do this!
Just Write Guide. 2012

10. Inquiry Model Focus on Literacy, 2004.
Back to our model. I’ve done the planning and retrieving, and now we’re all processing this information. But I’d like you to take a moment to reflect before we continue to process.
Focus on Literacy, 2004.

11. *Monitor your learning
How does this information compare to what you already know?
What information or idea is most relevant to your needs?
What questions might you have?
As we process information, independent learners like you and I constantly monitor our learning. Take a moment to discuss your responses to these questions with a partner. (share out)

12. Metacognition: Areas of Explicit Instruction
Metacognitive Toolbox of Strategies
Metacognitive Process
Planning
Monitoring
Evaluating
Now we’ll look at HOW to teach metacognition (and you’ll probably notice that you already do some of this). The key is to be explicit about why we teach these strategies and how it fits in with the overall cycle of inquiry learning. Here you see two areas of explicit instruction about metacognition – strategies and process. And you’ll notice that we already practiced two steps in the process.
Just Write Guide. 2012

13. Metacognitive Toolbox
Students need explicit instruction on strategies they can use to successfully accomplish a task. EXAMPLE – Knowing how to activate prior knowledge before reading a technical article.
Just Write Guide. 2012
Let’s first look at the toolbox. (read) Prior knowledge…we did this at the beginning of our inquiry (see white boards). In the next few slides, I’ll note some of the strategies you probably already use. Again, the key is to make students aware of how they can use these strategies at any time, not just in your class.

14. Toolbox of Strategies for Reading
Preview headings, sub-headings, images
Ask questions before reading
Highlight main ideas
Annotate questions, connections, main ideas, etc.
Look up unfamiliar words
Re-read if necessary
How many of you use the first strategy? The second? Questions readers may ask: Is this a main idea or a detail? Why is this a key phrase to highlight? Why am I not highlighting this? What is the purpose of this paragraph, section, or chapter?

15. Toolbox of Strategies for Writing & Creating
Brainstorm ideas – list, bubble map, free write
Organize ideas – outline, tree map, Venn diagram, cause & effect organizer, etc.
Acronyms – to remember the elements of a paragraph, for example:
Topic Sentence
Evidence
Analysis
Link to thesis
How many of you use at least one of these strategies?

16. Toolbox of Strategies for Processing Information
KWL Chart
Anticipation Guides
Venn Diagram
Concept Charts
Cause & Effect
Problem & Solution
Data Analysis: Evidence, Patterns & Trends, Inferences, Conclusions
Which of these strategies do you use? When might students use data analysis (or any of these other strategies) outside of school?

17. Toolbox of Strategies for Problem Solving
Use mnemonics to recall steps in a process, such as the order of mathematical operations.
Model your thought processes in solving problems—for example, “This is a lot of information; where should I start? Now that I know____, is there something else I know?”
Mnemonics and modeling are also common teacher strategies. When might it be useful to use mnemonics to remember something in the real world?
Just Write Guide. 2012

18. Evaluate Toolbox Strategies
Students give the teacher feedback on strategies used in class.
Purpose
Teachers learn which strategies work best for students
Teachers make explicit the teaching & learning process
Students take ownership of useful strategies
Methods
Thumb Survey
Exit Survey or Reflection
Personal Learning Journal
Again, the key is to encourage students to consider ways they might use these strategies in other classes or even outside of class. In addition, I often find it useful to ask students for feedback on strategies. It helps me to determine which ones are most helpful to my students. And it encourages students to take ownership of useful strategies. Here are some methods for getting feedback. I’ll show you the thumb survey in a moment.

19. *Monitor your learning
How might this information compare to your current practice?
How might this impact your current practice?
How might any of this impact struggling students?
What questions might you have?
Now, let’s take another moment to monitor our learning. Share your thoughts with a partner. (share out)
To what extent do you find these opportunities for reflection useful? (thumb survey)

20. Metacognitive Process
To be successful thinkers, students must learn how to do the following:
Plan how to approach a learning task.
Monitor understanding and use “fix-it” strategies when meaning breaks down.
Evaluate thinking after completing the task.
Students may write reflections or maintain a journal to keep track of their learning.
Now that we’ve reviewed some of the toolbox strategies that you probably already use, let’s look at the metacognitive process. (read) As you can see, we’ve been doing some of this throughout the presentation. You have a handout that lists some of the questions you could ask at each stage of the inquiry process.
Just Write Guide. 2012

21. Planning Phase Questions
What is my goal in learning about metacognition?
What am I hoping to learn?
What prior knowledge do I have?
What questions could I ask?
Here are some of the questions that might be asked during the planning phase of a unit. How might these questions affect struggling students? (share out)

22. Monitoring Phase Questions
How am I doing? Am I on the right track?
How should I proceed?
What information is important to remember?
Should I move in a different direction?
Should I adjust the pace because of the difficulty?
Why am I stuck?
What can I do if I do not understand?
Here are some of the monitoring phase questions you could ask. How might such questions impact our struggling students?

23. Monitoring: Four Key Questions
What are you trying to accomplish?
What strategies are you using?
How well are the strategies working?
What else could you do?
Anderson ppt
Here are a few quick reflection assignments you could share with your students during the monitoring phase. These are also in your handouts.

24. Monitoring: The Minute Paper
Please answer each question in one or two sentences:
What is the most useful, meaningful, or intriguing thing you learned from today's class discussion?
What questions do you have about today's discussion that you would like answered before we move on?
Anderson ppt

25. Monitoring: 3-2-1 Summary
What are three ideas that have captured your attention from today's class?
What are two questions that you are still thinking about related to these topics?
What is one thing that you will remember long after this class is over?
Anderson ppt

26. Evaluation Phase Questions
What did I learn?
How well did I do?
What could I have done differently?
How can I apply this way of thinking to other problems or situations?
Is there anything I don’t understand?
What could I do to improve my skill or understanding?
And evaluation questions. Why might these be useful for struggling students?

27. Inquiry Model Focus on Literacy, 2004.
Now we’ve done everything but evaluate our learning.
Focus on Literacy, 2004.

28. Metacognitive Rubric A B C D/F
Reflections reveal a strong awareness of your learning and thinking process, as well as your ability to plan, address problems, evaluate progress, and consider ways to improve.
Reflections reveal an awareness of your learning and some awareness of your thinking process (HOW you learned or addressed a problem).
Reflections reveal some awareness of your learning, but little or no awareness of your thinking process (HOW you learned or addressed a problem).
Reflections reveal little about your learning or thinking process.
How do we grade reflections? This year I gave my students the metacognitive rubric in your handouts. I’ve had to show them samples of my own reflections and read exemplary student reflections to point out ways other students could elaborate to improve their reflections. It’s an ongoing process, but with enough feedback, their reflections do improve.
Thumb survey – To what extent do you find this rubric useful for your students?

29. Struggling Students Metacognition
Prioritize completing task vs. learning
Prioritizes learning vs. completing tasks
Are unclear about the purpose of a task
Emphasizes purpose
Cannot explain why they are stuck
Provides strategies for solving problems
Are unmotivated
Provides motivation
Give up easily
Provides strategies to develop perseverance
So back to where we started. How might metacognition support the academic needs of our struggling students? Take a moment to consider - HOW does metacognition accomplish each of these tasks?
What questions might you have?

30. *Evaluation Reflection
To what extent did this presentation fulfill your personal learning goal and answer your questions?
What information was most useful?
How might you apply these strategies?
What support might you need?
What questions, concerns, and/or suggestions might you have?
Please take a moment to complete an Evaluation Reflection. Your responses are much appreciated.

31. Our Roadmap
Goal: To add a metacognitive dimension to our instruction so that students may develop the habits of mind necessary to be independent learners.
Agenda:
Inquiry Model
Definition & purpose of metacognition
Metacognitive Toolbox of Strategies
Metacognitive Process
Evaluation – A Metacognitive Rubric
Purpose, Relevance, and Application:
Metacognitive Process: Plan, Monitor, Evaluate
You may refer to our roadmap as you evaluate the effectiveness of this presentation and your learning.

32. Works Cited
Just Write Guide. Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy )TEAL) Center. February p
Focus on Inquiry: A Teacher’s Guide to Implementing Inquiry-based Learning. Alberta, Canada: Alberta Learning, Learning and Teaching Resources Branch
Anderson, Neil J., Ph.D. Metacognitive Learning Strategies: Helping Learners Know What to Do, When They Don’t Know What to Do. (ppt)