In class, it was said that meaning and understanding are constructed by the learner and not directly derived from the environment. This statement would influence my instructional activities; in that, I would frequently encourage my students to make their own connections with the things they learn and not just take the ones I suggest. I might ask my students to share a personal connection they might have or a connection they see between different concepts. This might get the rest of the class thinking of connections they can make to a concept.
Meta-cognition is an aspect of the memory process that would impact my instructional activities as well. I think modeling and talking about my own thinking in a read-aloud would be a great example of this. I might say, "When I read this sentence, it makes me predict this will happen." And then I could talk about what a prediction is, and ask the students to make predictions. I might also go back and reread something that the students didn't grasp. This helps them to think about their own thinking and understanding as they read, and it provides them with strategies to help them when they get stuck.
Here's an example of a teacher using meta-cognition in her classroom.
I love that the students in this video understand and utilize metacognitive strategies in their reading. So cool! What a great example! I really like that you included a reading example and discussed how to conduct Read-Alouds.
ReplyDeleteIn subjects other than reading, teachers can conduct Think-Alouds in which they verbalize their thought processes while approaching/completing a problem. (I'm sure you already know what a Think-Aloud is I just wanted to explain for clarification purposes).
Really insightful post and wonderful example of meta-cognition.
Allison, this was a great post! I think it's really important to let students bring their prior knowledge and experiences to the class, not just feed them what we think they need to know.
ReplyDeleteI really like what you have to say about meta-cognition! I think your activity would work especially well with younger students, they seem to always be thinking aloud!