Metacognition and Owning

the Learning Process

ESL Faculty Discussion
November 6, 2014
Karen Kyger

What is metacognition?

Metacognition
Thinking about thinking..

Active learners are constantly thinking

about the way they are thinking/ how
they are learning.

Why is metacognition
important?

Common Core
When students have strong
metacognitive skills, they can analyze,
they can communicate, they can control
their own approach to learning and they
can monitor themselves. Its the
difference between just showing up for
class, and actually owning your
educational process. (Common Core
Focus: Metacognition Next Generation
Leaders, March 2014)

 Journey to Excellence Dylan Wiliam

(Emeritus Professor of Educational
Assessment, Institute of Education,
University of London)

Basic Definition
Thinking about thinking
Knowing what we know and knowing
what we dont know

Basic Strategies
1. Connecting new information to
former knowledge
2. Selecting thinking strategies
deliberately
3. Planning, Monitoring and Evaluating
thinking processes
Blakey, E., Spence, S. Developing Metacognition Educational
Resource Information Center (U.S. Department of Education).

How increase metacognitive

conversations in the classroom?

Quick Start: Owning the Learning

Process
Questions to Encourage Your Students To Ask:
Planning Question: How have I prepared for
class today?
Monitoring Question: What questions do I have?
Evaluating Question: Why did I miss those exam
questions?
(Weimer, M. 2012)

Concept Map Connecting new to

old
Prompt students to
think about what they
already know about a
key concept or a
theme
Strate
g
Conn y #1:
ec
inform ting new
a
forme tion to
r
know
ledge

K-W-L Chart- Connecting New to Old

Prompt students to
think about what they
already know about an
key concept
Strate
g
Conn y #1:
ec
inform ting new
a
forme tion to
r
know
ledge

Traditionally used for reading, but have students use for writing or
presentations to increase the focus on discovering something new
about their topic through research.

Reading Strategies

Strate
g
Delib y #2:
er
Choos ately
in
Strate g
gi e s

Think Alouds
Talk to the Text
Reading Strategies List
Metacognitive Reading Logs
Metacognitive Reading Log Rubric
Metacognitive Reading Blog

Metacognitive Reading Blog

After students have been explicitly
taught metacognitive reading
strategies, they can provide evidence
of mastery by keeping blogs of their
progress to both their instructor and
their classmates, providing the
classroom with a sense of intellectual
(Pacello, J. 2012)
community.
y #2:
g
e
t
a
r
t
S
oosing
y Ch
l
e
t
a
r
e
Delib
ies
Strateg

Example of a Reader Blog

Task
1. Review the list of reading strategies
and skills we have covered
throughout the semester. Keep the
list with you when you begin to read
your self-selected article from The
New York Times or a reading from
one of your other courses. (Pacello, J. 2012)

Example of a Reader Blog

Task
2. As you are reading, keep a notebook
nearby so that you can write down
some of the skills and strategies
that you notice yourself using as
you read and write. Write down
some of your observations about
your reading and writing process.
OBSERVE YOURSELF CAREFULLY.
Also write down some comments
(Pacello,
J. 2012)
about the environment where
you

A Student Blog Example

I chose the article Does the US Really Have
a Fiscal Crisis. At first I didnt have a clue
why I was drawn to this piece of writing. I
reluctantly started reading and I predicted
that it was about our current budget crisis
and the Government really trying to solve
the problem. As I continued to read along, I
immediately connected the reading to
the world. On Sunday on 60 Minutes they
had discussed a similar issue.

(Pacello, J. 2012)

Blame, Cynthia, Thinking about Metacognition Center for

Teaching. Vanderbilt University.
http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2013/01/thinking-about-metacognition/

Planning
Ask students to write where and
when will work on the assignment.
Questions: Essential Questions
and/or Student-Generated Questions
Other??

Monitoring
Encourage students to express
confusion in the classroom
What questions do I have?
Checklist for the reading process
Checklist for the writing process
Other??

Evaluating
Reflection letter on the writing
process
Incorporating reflection into graded
course work. Which homework
problem was the most difficult? Why
was it difficult?
Other??

Other Resources

Teaching Metacognition to Improve S
tudent Learning
(Faculty Focus)

Three Ways to Help Students become
Metacognitively Aware (Faculty
Focus)
Reading Skills for ENGL-121 (Water

References
Fleming, Stephen M. "The Power of Reflection."Scientific
American Mind. Oct. 2014: 31-37.
Holschuh, Jodi P., and Paulson J. Eric. "The Terrain of College
Developmental Reading."The College Reading & Learning
Association(2013).
Pacello, James. Reader Blogs: A Tool for Thinking. NADE
Conference. February 2012. Presentation
Schoenbach, Ruth, Cynthia Greenleaf, and Lynn Murphy. Reading
for Understanding: How Reading Apprenticeship Improves
Disciplinary Learning in Secondary and College Classrooms. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Imprint, 2012.

Weimer, Maryellen. "Teaching Metacognition to Improve

Student Learning." Faculty Focus, 31 Oct. 2012. Web. 07
Nov. 2014.