Metacognition


METACOGNITION OVERVIEW
Metacognition, or thinking about thinking, is “our ability to plan a strategy for producing what information is needed, to be conscious of our own steps and strategies during the act of problem solving, and to reflect on and evaluate the productiveness of our own thinking” (Costa & Kallick, 2000). I chose metacognition, because I wanted to encourage more strategic and reflective mathematical practices in my classroom. This year, my students are solving difficult problems inside and outside of my classroom. In my classroom, students are preparing for the ACT exam and for some, Algebra II will be the highest level of mathematics they complete in high school. Metacognitive habits and mindsets such as creating a plan, recognizing mathematical skills, and implementing strategies help my students succeed in the classroom. Outside my classroom, students face high levels of stress and responsibility. Metacognitive habits and mindsets such as coping with stress, and understanding their brain chemistry help my students succeed outside the classroom.

Please scroll down or click on the table of contents below to learn more about how metacognition is explicitly taught and reinforced in my classroom each day.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACT Activity Vision
ACT Activity Concept Map
ACT Activity Student Reflection
Classroom Metacognition Tracker
Metacognitive Learning Web
Stress Activity Student Work
TedEd Metacognition Videos
​Teacher Reflection

ACT Activity Vision
My 11th grader students need to practice metacognition in order to be more strategic and successful on the ACT college entrance exam. I teach metacognition through an ACT challenge activity every week, in which students practice mapping, analyzing, and reflecting on their thinking on a 700-level ACT problem. 700-level problems are the most rigorous ACT problems and prepare my students to achieve the highest ACT scores. Through the habit of metacognition, my students develop the mindset that they are capable of solving 700-level problems if they think through their mathematical skills and strategies. Before beginning our weekly ACT metacognition activity, I created a vision document of what students and I should be doing during each part of the activity. The vision document allows me to practice metacognition, as I think through how I want my students to be thinking and learning.

ACT Activity Concept Map
For our ACT challenge activity, students aim to solve a 700-level ACT algebra problem. First, students have three minutes to independently read the ACT problem and determine what the questions are asking. The silent, independent work time provides space for students to think about their thinking. Then, we discuss the problem as a whole class, as students share about what they think the ACT problem is asking. Next, I have students do a think-pair-share to determine the mathematical skills and test strategies. I call on each desk group of students for relevant information and one strategy to share with the whole class. I document student thinking on the concept map on the front board, while students fill out each of their concept maps in their activity packets.  

By creating a concept map, students learn to write down what the problem asks, what mathematical skills are necessary to solve the problem, and which test-taking strategies they should use to solve the problem efficiently. My students have grown in the habit and mindset of metacognition, as they “search for information and meaning, develop mental maps or plans of action, and mentally rehearse prior to performance” (Costa & Kallick, 2000).

ACT Activity Student Reflection
After completing the concept map, students solve the ACT challenge problem and complete an error analysis. Students work silently and independently as they solve the problem, so that they can better focus and track their thinking. My students work silently and independently for five minutes to solve the ACT challenge problem. Afterwards, we come back as a whole group, and I call on student volunteers to lead the class in solving the problem. Students who did not solve the problem correctly are instructed not to erase their original work, but to use the specified bottom portion of the page to write an error analysis. Then, we hold another think-pair-share in which students share with their partners any mistakes or misconceptions made when solving the problem. Finally, students complete silent and individual reflections on the ACT challenge activity. I created a one-page reflection space in which students go through a guided reflection on what they did correctly and incorrectly when they solved the problem. Students have five minutes to complete the reflection. Then, as a whole class, we discuss the successes and challenges of solving 700-level ACT questions.

Each week, students further develop their metacognition skills, as they have learned that when facing a challenging problem they should "plan a strategy for producing what information is needed, to be conscious of steps and strategies during the act of problem solving, and reflect on and evaluate the productiveness of thinking" (Costa & Kallick, 2000). Through our ACT activity, students regularly practice skills such as strategic thinking, error analysis, reflective thinking, all which are components of metacognition. 

Classroom Metacognition Tracker
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One of the most popular parts of the daily lesson schedule is the white board You Try problems. Students enjoy showcasing their learning on mini white boards and in front of the whole class. Students also enjoy explaining and critiquing the work of others. In order for my students to strengthen their metacognition habits, they need to learn to solve problems using a variety of methods.

On the right is my "What Good Mathematicians Do" poster. Everyday, I use it to track the variety of methods students use to solve the You Try problems. Each class period has an assigned post-it color, and while one student is explaining and critiquing the work shown on the board, another student will place a post-it next to strategies used for the You Try. I challenge my students to use at least three different strategies in each lesson, and they often use many more. The tracker helps my students be aware of how they are thinking, what strategies they commonly use, and which new strategies they should try. Over the course of the year, my students have noticed patterns in their strategies, and can self-reflect on their need to practice strategies that they seldom use.

Metacognitive Learning Web
At the start of the school year, I survey and discuss with students how they learn best. Then, I use data collected from the surveys and discussions to create lessons that are catered towards how my students learn. However, I also want my students to be self-aware of how they learn best and advocate for their preferred learning methods. Therefore, I created a mini activity where students reflect on how they learn through metacognitive learning webs. Students keep their learning web in their binders, which they bring to class each day. Below are samples of their metacognitive learning webs.

When my students are struggling with learning, they refer to their learning webs to think about how else they can learn the material, and what classroom resources they can use to help them learn better. My students are now able to self-advocate on how a lesson could be differentiated to best fit their learning needs. For example, one of my students knows that he needs to highlight and annotate word problems to gain a better understanding, therefore he asks for markers and colored pencils so that he can organize his annotations by color. 

Stress Activity Student Work
As an 11th grade teacher, I make it a priority to also explicitly teach soft skills that are relevant to my students. Many of my students communicate to me that they face a high level of mental stress. Bad stress is detrimental to my students' health, academics, and relationships. In order to help my students think through how to detect stress and cope with it, I created a mini lesson on stress. I used School-Connect as a resource, which has many lessons on self-awareness. From this lesson, students learned about the effect of stress on brain chemistry, how to detect their body's response to stress, and how to relax. Students reflected on what causes their stress, and practiced relaxation techniques, which I encouraged them to continue to use on their own. Our lesson on stress provided the mental space for students to develop "mental maps" of what causes their stress [and] "plans of action" to cope with stress (Costa & Kallick, 2000). Now before each summative assessment, we name our stressors and practice relaxation techniques as a whole class. Students have reflected that these relaxation techniques will be particularly helpful for the ACT exam and plan to use these techniques to keep calm during the test.

TedEd Metacognition Videos
 Each day, I show my students a TedEd video that is part of their video series called “Mind Matters”. These videos are four to six minutes long, which is perfect for a classroom extension. There are also currently 49 videos as part of the series, with new videos added regularly. Like all of TedTalk’s videos, these videos are well-made and perfect for a high school classroom. TedTalk also provides full lesson plans for each of its videos (Bosler & Greene, 2017). Through the Mind Matters video series, I frame the importance of learning about the brain in its effect on my students’ success inside and outside of my classroom. From viewing these videos, students have grown in their understanding of how their brains work and how to care for their cognitive development. 

Teacher Reflection
Metacognition is an integral part of my students' academic and socio-emotional development. As my students have developed metacognition skills over the course of the year, they often ask themselves the question "why?", and have a strong understanding of self. In an academic setting, my students' habits of metacognition look like higher order thinking, strategic planning, and problem solving. In a personal setting, my students' habits of metacognition look like self-care, self-advocacy, and reflection. Students who think about thinking “gain a level of awareness above the subject matter, and think about the tasks and contexts of different learning situations and themselves as learners in these different contexts” (Tanner, n.d., p.113). Through regular practice of metacognition, my students are more likely to be engaged and retain what they learn because they understand it deeply and can apply their learning to new and different situations. 
REFERENCES
Bosler, A., & Greene, D. (2017). How to practice effectively...for just about anything. Retrieved February 16, 2018, from https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-practice-effectively-for-just-about-anything-annie-bosler-and-don-greene
Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (2000). Describing 16 Habits of Mind. Retrieved from http://www.habitsofmind.org/sites/default/files/16HOM2.pdf
Tanner, K. D. (n.d.). Promoting Student Metacognition. Retrieved February, 2018, from http://www.lifescied.org/content/11/2/113.full