Metacognition TIPR

1. One example I have observed of metacognition in the classroom was in observing a seventh grade English class. The teacher definitely was lacking in teaching all the aspects of this, but she did have some good examples of metacognition. The students were given a worksheet with various examples of passages on it. The students were instructed to use their reading comprehension strategies to determine what kind of essay they should write, and what elements should be included in writing that particular essay. The students were able to use their declarative metacognitive knowledge to determine their strengths and weaknesses in this area. The teacher wanted the students to determine what they knew before they walked into the SAGE test, so she could further evaluate what to teach them, as well as the students being able to understand what they had to improve on before they went to the test. This also helps the students evaluate their own knowledge. Secondly, the students were then faced with the procedural metacognitive knowledge. If they already knew their strengths and weaknesses, they now have to figure out which tool to employ. This stage takes planning to make sure it is done effectively. Finally, the students get to employ their self-regulatory metacognitive knowledge as they have to decide which reading strategy they should use, and then understand which type of writing they will need to complete. This whole exercise was pretty much an exercise in metacognition. The students needed to think about how they thought in stressful situations, like the SAGE. After class, I talked to the teacher, and she said that she is going to use the assignment as a formative assessment to guide her teaching for what comes next. This step is similar to the monitoring step. The teacher can see how the students are doing,what is going well, and what's not going well. After using this monitoring, she can evaluate the student's strengths and weaknesses as a whole.

2. I think the student's needs in this area mostly lie in self-efficacy, and consciously realizing that they are going through these steps. I got the idea that the students were so worried about completing the assignment, that they didn't always make the connections between monitoring and evaluating. The  teacher had great ambitions in creating this assignment, and it has a lot of metacognitive pieces, but the students didn't learn for themselves as well as they could have regarding planning, monitoring, and evaluating. I think that student's realizing these pieces in their own learning would create more connections, and deeper metacognition.

3. In my own lesson, I could combat this by showing student's what it means to be a metacognitive  learner, and how that can help them. If they learn the strategies consciously, they will be able to use these effectively once they leave the classroom. I can expose the students to more strategies, and then teach them about how those strategies can be used. I want to help the students realize the planning strategies are so helpful. I think that this section in particular can lead to deeper learning, and and the students will remember more of the information. If a student knows what they are supposed to learn, and how to learn it, then they will be more effective learners.

Constructivism TIPR

1. In one of the seventh grade literature classes I have been observing, they have been working on one project for about a month and a half. On the first day of the teacher introducing the new project, she held up a lot of different books, while giving one sentence summaries of the literature. She then passed the books around the class, and asked the students to pick which one they might want to read. This is an example of cultivating curiosity in the classroom because she didn't give away every piece of the book. The students will have to explore the books themselves. As the project went on, the students explored the readings themselves, and as a group. This cultivates the collaborative community of the classroom and the learning. The students are constantly being asked to reflect on the reading that they do through various assignments, mini lessons, and group sharing. As the unit progresses, the students ask questions of the novel, and of themselves. They are able to look at questions such as "how does setting work in my book? How does my knowledge of conflict help me understand why the characters are acting the way they are?" and others. Because the students got to pick their own books, and create/film their own book trailer at the end of the unit, there is also a component of autonomy as well as another reflective  piece of how they understand the book in the context. Another piece that I loved for this unit, is the spiral curriculum. The teacher used mini lessons to reinforce learning of previous concepts such as conflict and setting, to go more in depth of the bigger concepts of their own individual books. She also is using the summative assessment of the book trailer to go back to the text and understand what they discussed. This is an example of spiral curriculum.  Finally, the teacher herself was a great example of a facilitator. She taught the mini lessons, and then gave the students time to work on their own, providing them with the materials needed to complete the task.
2. I think the students could stand to have more real world application in their learning. Maybe pick novels all with one specific theme, so they can discuss a current issue that they could relate to. This might help the students explore more into their reading. Another thing that the students could benefit from is more active learning.  The only active piece was really just the book trailer filming. Maybe implementing the mini lessons into a more active  environment, and with more discovery, the whole project will be more meaningful.
3. I can address these needs when I teach my mini lesson through giving more active  work. While still allowing them to have the autonomy  that comes with doing book groups, I think more collaborative and discovery could benefit the students a lot more. Perhaps I could have them share what they are learning regularly with the groups around them.