Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour. Roll up - and that's an invitation (The Beatles)

Photo by Redd on Unsplash

Over the years, I've heard quite a lot of rhetoric around metacognition and the 'Learning To Learn' phrase.

Sometimes the detail is missing from that rhetoric. And sometimes metacognition is made to sound more complicated than it really is.

Basically, we are talking about a skill that considers how you know what you know.

There are some simple questions you can ask yourself:

• Do I really get this idea? 
• Could I explain it to a friend? 
• What are my goals? 
• Do I need more background knowledge? 
• Do I need more practice?

Students come unstuck when they don’t stop to ask themselves if they really get a skill or concept. 

I know I was particularly bereft of this skill as a student - particularly in mathematics and chemistry - subjects I definitely did not 'get'. Instead of asking those questions and slowing down my processes I moved on quickly to the next thing I didn't get. Teachers need to shoulder some blame here as well - rather than assist in the process, they are often keen to move on to the next piece of content, leaving some behind to flounder.

The good news? Everyone can ask those questions and change their thinking. As teachers, thinking about thinking is something we can model and teach. And move away from a content driven approach.

Baby, you've been on my mind (Linda Ronstadt)

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

Meta cognition, a.k.a. learning to learn, has been on my mind this week. 

Incidentally, it's our school motto and features on our gate. So I see it every morning as I arrive at school. That constant reinforcement is pretty cool.

Why is it our motto? Well, because when students are aware of their thoughts and actions it makes them move in a positive and focused direction.

My students have set their own learning goals which they own. I check their commitment to them and they ditch them if they are not totally committed.

From then on it's a pathway to success through hard work and persistent effort coupled with thinking about what they are doing. That in turn feeds the belief that they can succeed.

The real trick I am keen to see develop more is students maintaining their focus in the learning centre when other students go off task. Because of the learning centre lay out with its variety of study locations, it does happen more and more that meta cognitive students realise they have no control of that other student but they can maintain their own focus.

I had an interesting conversation with a student yesterday who was wanting to know how he could gain enrichment (a great scheme by which self-directed learners can work from home one day a week). I explained that he needed to do just as I've outlined above - divorce himself from a tight group of other boys who distract him and focus on his own learning.

He listened carefully and nodded his understanding. Now I need to see him do it. If he does, and I think he will, he will have grown as a self-directed learner and be able to pursue a more positive path.

We live in a wheel where everyone steals but when we rise it's like strawberry fields (Bush)

I read this from the Mind/Shift (How we will learn) blog, punched the air and uttered a triumphant 'YES'!!  

Are we empowering ourselves as teachers? In this day and age, change is peer-driven and crowd-sourced. Teachers need to see themselves as the leaders of change, not the tools of Superintendents or Departments of Education. This requires disruption on two levels. Conversations among teachers must range far beyond ordering new textbooks, deciding on a curriculum, or reviewing the tardy policy. Traditional structures, such as department meetings and grade-level teams, encourage this limited agenda. Professional Learning Networks offer a great structure, but must be energized by conversations oriented toward a meta-cognitive view of the organization rather than rearranging deck chairs. And, to make the collaboration deep and meaningful, the conversation must become more personal. Every teacher should be willing to share hopes and fears, examine biases, and reveal attitudes. This is the kind of ‘open space’ that develops the necessary momentum for shifting systems by linking people emotionally to a common mission.

Wow. This is bang on and I love it.

Disruption on two levels - ditch the hard focus on the mundane and traditional structures; shift to core business discussions. 

At the moment, for us, that is how to better use Schoology, BYOD, SAMR, to explore inquiry methods for the students. 

It also means continue our vertical push away from grade level teams.

Yeah baby! Awesome potential for great change (and change that is great)!!

The whole article can be found here: http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/09/reinventing-school-new-learning-environment-ecosystems-for-inquiry-learning/