Module Response
Metacognition & Self-Regulation
As a teacher my goal is to develop metacognition and self-regulation skills in my students. Kindergarten and first grade students have a hard time completing tasks. This is when their metacognitive abilities begin to develop. They need to learn how to execute basic operations using systematic procedures and how to set goals. We need to teach them the different strategies and resources they will need to perform a task and how to use them. Then they will need to learn the conditions on when and why to use each.
The three stages in metacognition are planning, monitoring, and evaluating. For the planning stage I review with the students how much time they have for each task and what they need to do to complete it. In my library the students have about 10 minutes to select a book to check out. In the beginning of the year I explain the different ways they could choose a book they would enjoy. They could browse the displays, look on the visual OPAC (online catalog) for ideas, or choose a favorite author or subject. Before a student can use the computer they have to tell me their goal. They need to tell me what their purpose is for using the catalog.
At this age many just use the displays but some choose to use the computers. I work with all the students through the year on mastering this skill. This requires monitoring so they can complete the task within the time frame they have. I will remind them of the remaining time often while they are looking so they can ask questions if they aren’t sure what to do. If they run out of time they have to just pick something quickly and re-evaluate a better plan for the following week.
In the evaluating stage I plan to ask the students who weren’t successful “what did you learn that you can do better next week?” For the students who were successful I can ask “what did you learn about finding a good book?” This could help the student store this process in his/her long-term memory.
This process will help teach the students to be self-regulated learners, by guiding them to self-evaluate, analyze, recognize successes, and identify the problems and needed solutions. In small groups I have some students work together to compare their outcomes.
To help my students improve their memories I teach them some of the mnemonics. I use the “First Letter Association Technique” when I teach them about fiction and non-fiction (Fiction – Fake and Non-Fiction – Not Fake). Many of the books that I read teach the “Rhyming Technique.” The Shelf Elf Helps Out by Jackie Mims Hopkins is a good example for them to learn this technique. The students learn rhyming statements to remember where to find different subjects in the non-fiction section of the library. Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet by David McLimans teaches the students to use the “Peg-type mnemonics” to learn the alphabet.
In my most recent project I am working on the student’s evaluation skills. I am reading them books that they need to evaluate. They will be voting on their favorite children’s book for the Charlotte Award. After reading and discussing each book they need to rate it on a scale of 1 to 5 and record it on their evaluation chart. This helps them to organize their thoughts for future reference. Then at the end they will review their notes and the books to choose only one as their favorite and then vote for it.
Next time I could use technology to help them analyze each book better and organize their thoughts. I could use Survey Monkey to develop a survey for each book to help them decide why they liked the book and to rate it. I could also use a blog for them to discuss their favorite book. I have also sent a notice home to inform the parents about this project and I plan to post the results on my e-board. Especially at this age level getting the families involved can help the students to become self regulators. I believe that by posting some of the student’s statements on the school website I can help motivate the students toward becoming expert learners by having them evaluate their comprehension of the books.