Why this class is important and other thoughts on metacogntion



MC Escher: Metacognition
andrew.cmu.edu



  Quick vocab lesson to start: "metacognition."  Metacognition means to think about thinking.  Sounds like a very academic, stupid term.  I know the many times that I've heard it used by teachers/smart people, it's one of those cliches that mean nothing and make you seem observant.



  So why start with metacognition?  Because I am constantly thinking about your (my students, you young powerful learners) learning, your thinking.  And I think about my thinking about your thinking.  That's a lot of meta, a lot of cognition.

  I don't always come to the right conclusions.  I've had lots of bad ideas, missteps, poor lines of reasoning.  But I am thinking.  I think at home, I think at work, I think while I should probably be doing other things.  There are some drawbacks to that.  My classroom is not safe.  It's not as stable as some others.

  But I think the basic premise that teachers should be engaged in constant metacognition, constant evaluation of their classroom, of their teaching style, of their tools, their rapport with their kids, their curriculum, the books they teach, everything they do, is THE MOST CRITICAL trait in good teaching.



Evolution?
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   Look at other competitive fields.  In business, innovation is critical.  In coaching, teams are constantly trying to find the new best way.  In medicine, research is constantly being performed.  Animals evolve.  Things change.  

 



   Wherever you are in your life, whether you are a student, a teacher, a businessman, an entrepeneur, you better surround yourself with people who are constantly evaluating what they do.  You better be around people who are searching for new, ideas.  You better be hard on yourself.  You better question everything.  You better be willing to try 4 new things and be ok with 3 of them don't work.  Because that's progress.  That's learning. 

  That's what blogging is.  It can be trivial.  It can be informal.  It is not a 5 paragraph essay.  But blogging allows you to "teach yourself what to think."  It allows you to understand yourself, your mind, through writing.  Metacognition...dude...think about it.