So I saved an educator’s life today while talking to her after lunch. We were walking back from Panera to the afternoon session of the UCI Writer’s Project and we were engrossed in a discussion about using metacognitive strategies in the classroom to teach how to think. My partner in theoretical crime then stepped off the curb with no other thought in her head other than thought, and I pulled her back from the brink of death from the blow of a charging black SUV.
So my question today is this: is there such a thing as too much thought awareness?
Today we covered everything from Think Alouds as a way to model metacognitive awareness, to activities that encourage and develop the metacognitive muscle. But in our attempt at looking in, is it possible to loose sight of the big picture, the big idea, and the outside realm?
Clearly we did.
(For a related post, see “An Honors Student Does Not a Critical-Thinker Necessarily Make“)
If there is, I have not gotten that far with my students yet! Of course there is a danger of distractions when crossing a busy street…
I would be interested to hear of some of your strategies. I use exit slips, writing responses, quick stop and process, a learning log, reflection essay on the writing process…