In "Developing Metacognition" by Elaine Blakey and Sheila Spence talk about three basic metacognitive strategies. The first involves making connections between old knowledge and new knowledge. The second is the ability to select the right strategy when approaching a problem or situation. The third is being able to plan, monitor, and evaluate the thinking process. Then they present six strategies for utilizing metacognition. The first is to make a list of what you know and what you would like to find out at the onset of a particular research question. The second is having a discussion about the process of thinking. The third is to write about your thinking. The fourth is to give students the training necessary to help them plan and self regulate their learning exploration. The authors break out steps five and six into distinctive categories. Step five is debriefing and step six is self evaluation. Personally I think those two steps fall into the same category of evaluating how the process went. Nothing earth shattering in this article.
The next article was "High Tech Reflection strategies Make Learning Stick" by Suzie Boss. The article begins with a nice story of how blogging can be used as a tool for reflection and the positive impact it had on two students. Great idea I thought, but what were the details in its implementation. I don't know how that teacher used it in the classroom, so I don't really know how effective it might be in my classroom. Another idea mentioned in the article was to create a video confessional corner, like they have in reality tv, for students to use to record their thoughts on the how the learning process was going. I liked this idea, but had concerns about how some students might treat it. The article also mentioned some of the pitfalls of reflection, urging readers to stay away from rote responses and predictability. The article encouraged teachers to use thought provoking questions and to model reflection to the students. Overall, I liked how this article encouraged reflection and the added value that technology can bring to the process.
The third article was titled, "Students Thrive on Cooperation and Problem Solving" and it was written by Bob Pearlman. Bob starts this article off on the right foot by going right after NCLB and the idea that unlimited funding can help education in of themselves. He then moves on to say that problem based learning or PBL can help develop the skills necessary for students to succeed in the 21st century. For those of you unfamiliar with PBL it requires that students work together to answer complex questions about real world items. It also requires that students create something to show off what they learned in engaging the problem. I really like how this article mentions eight key standards to include in every project. These eight standards have students
1. work in teams to learn how to collaborate
2. take on critical problems to learn critical thinking
3. present what they find to learn oral communication
4. write to learn written communication
5. use technology to learn how to use technology
6. address global and real world issues to learn citizenship skills
7. do internships to learn about careers
8. research through the process of all of the above to learn content
Then the article channels some of my former professors ideas of multi-disciplinary projects. Then they talk about the need to do a better job of grading. Moving beyond the simple letter grade to reports that actually show how students are doing with various skills. I am encouraged to read that this form of learning is challenging to implement from a teaching stand point, but that it is necessary because the rest of the world is working hard to catch up to us.
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