Metacognition - What is that? And why should I care?

According to Merriam-Webster, metacognition is the "awareness or analysis of one's own learning or thinking processes." It is really something many adults do without thinking about it! However, it is something we have to teach kids how to do.

It is important for all of us to be able to solve difficult problems and to persevere in situations when we want to give up.

So how do we train ourselves (and our brains) not to give up? It takes hard work and practice. And that is why I have my 6th grade TAG students "Learning About Learning" in our current unit. After a discussion about what helps or hinders learning today, I am excited to see what else these bright young minds come up with!

I didn't record the discussion, but a few of the great ideas shared:

Learning happens when having some fun. We learn more about what we are interested in.
Someone else added that fun can be a distraction as well - so we put it on both sides.
We are all individuals - we each have to learn what we need and want out of our learning environment.
Clear directions and expectations being helpful was something almost everyone agreed with.

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