Debriefing the Thinking Process

At our next Divisional Meetings, we will go through the student-led 'night' in preparation for the Term 1 Report Cards.  Basically, the 'How to' of Student-led (i.e. the script).  We already have a big 'piece of the puzzle' complete with all students having a Portfolio.  The next 'piece of the puzzle' is metacognition (thinking about their thinking).

The students just completed one form of metacognition activity with the student reflection on the Progress Reports.  Why wait for the next reporting period for the students to show their thinking.  Let's practice, practice & practice.  The article 'linked' to metacognition outlines 6 strategies for developing students 'thinking about their thinking'.  There are many good and practical ideas to help us teach our students the 'how to' of  'learning about your learning'.

As educators, we all have an innate ability to demonstrate metacognitive strategies.  Modeling these strategies with our students on a consistent basis is the key to success.  Students need to be able to not only describe the learning goals (i.e. the target(s) they are aiming for) but also how they plan to achieve the goals (i.e. the co-created success criteria).  Afterwards, the learning needs to be 'debriefed' so the students can internalize the learning.  It's not about the 'grade/mark' (i.e. once we put a grade on the page, then learning stops) but the learning that took place achieving that mark/grade that matters.  This is apart of a bigger conversation around Assessment FOR, AS & OF learning (future blog topic).

By modelling and 'debriefing the thinking process' we will instill true 21st century skills in our students. Check out the 2 resources below (located in the bookroom) for some good starting ideas.

Great ready made resources...or get an idea & create your own.