• Metacognition -- Thinking about Thinking

     
    What is it? – Thinking about your own thinking. Knowing what you know and what you don’t know. Self evaluation.

    Sounds like – “Right now I’m wondering….”. “My strategy is….”, “I know this, but I don’t know this”. “Because I know this…I’m going to try this…..”

    Looks like – Attending. Staying on focus. Asking questions. Analyzing. Reflecting. Trying new ways.

    Feels like – “Ah-ha!” “I know that”. “I don’t know that.” “I know, I’ll try this.”

    Occurring in the neocortex, metacognition, or thinking about thinking, is our ability to plan a strategy for producing what information is needed, to be conscience or our own steps and strategies during the act of problem solving. The major components of metacognition are developing a plan of action, maintaining that plan in mind over a period of time, and then reflection on and evaluating the plan upon its completion. Intelligent people plan for, reflect on, and evaluate the quality of their own thinking skills and strategies. We want students to perform well on complex cognitive tasks. We want students to connect their learning to what they know and what they do not know. This inner awareness and the strategy of, thinking about your thinking, helps students solve complex tasks.

    “When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself.” Plato

    Information on Habits of Mind are taken from the book Habits of Mind by Costa and Kallick.