PME 811- Blog Post #5

Hopefully after my last post you have a better idea of what a virtual classroom looks like! I am still on the hunt to discover, “How can I create a virtual student-centered classroom that will engage all learners?” I do feel as though I am understanding more about what it takes to create this environment, what it looks like virtually, and how I need to improve my practice.

With the theme of class being innovation, I truly feel as though I am getting a hands on experience of being an innovator. I am taking the idea of a student-centered classroom and using ideas and my own understanding of them to make it work for my own situation. I get to challenge what learning looks like, try new processes, and provoke new thinking. I am seeing new opportunities and possibilities in my classroom and trying them out. 

The next attribute of a student-centered classroom was a bit confusing to me. 

Metacognition

The National Research Council (2000) defines metacognition as, “The ability to monitor (i.e. reflect on) one‘s current level of understanding, decide whether it is adequate, and seek out and develop new approaches to understanding.” This means, a student who is successfully utilizing metacognition answers a math problem wrong, then they will realize their mistake, think about how they failed, and consider alternate strategies and try the problem again. A student who does not utilize metacognition gets frustrated and gives up. 

But how does metacognition help create a student-centered classroom? 

In Maryellen Weimer’s book, “Five Characteristics of Learner-Centered Teaching,” she suggested that teachers need to teach much more than just content. Teachers have to “teach students how to think, solve problems, evaluate evidence, analyze arguments, generate hypotheses – all those learning skills essential to mastering material in the discipline.” If I want students to lead my classroom and discover on their own, they have to be able to think, solve problems, collaborate, ect. without me holding their hand. 

From John Spencer’s article “Five Ways to Boost Metacognition In The Classroom,” I have gathered: 

• Students who struggle to use metacognition need support from the teacher. This means, the teacher will guide the student to think of different ways to approach the problem. 

• If teachers model their own thinking for students, it will help them be more aware of their thinking and processing. Essentially, making their thinking visible. Since I can not see students, how can I evaluate that they are doing this on their own?

• Integrating self-assessment: This could be reflection questions, rubrics, checklists, etc. But self-reflection helps identify their strengths and weaknesses and shows them where they need to grow. 

• Have students visualize what they will accomplish. Would this be reviewing the lesson goals? How can I implement this more into my classroom? 

• Incorporate project management because it allows students to learn how to break apart taks and monitor their own progress. 

• Give students permission to make mistakes!

I plan to implement and work on this new understanding of metacognition in my classroom. I will keep you updated on how it goes! 

Thanks for following along! 

Sources:

Literature Review: Student-Centered Classrooms, Iowa Core, Pages 1-12 http://web1.gwaea.org/iowacorecurriculum/docs/StudCentClass_LitReview.pdf

National Research Council. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Spencer, John. “Five Ways to Boost Metacognition In the Classroom.” John Spencer: Professional. Author. Maker., 13 Aug. 2018, www.spencerauthor.com/metacognition/.

Weimer, M. (2012). “Five characteristics of learner-centered teaching.” Faculty Focus. [Web log]. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/five-characteristics-of-learner-centered-teaching/.