Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Instructional Strategy- Modeling & Metacognition by Kayla Stanek

What is Modeling?

Modeling is a straightforward, seven step technique that's very effective for teaching procedures and routines (Wilson, 2012). 

 The Seven Steps for Modeling: 
  1. Say what you will model and why.
  2. Model the behavior. 
  3. Ask students what they notice. 
  4. Invite one or more students to model. 
  5. Again, ask students what they notice. 
  6. Have all students practice. 
  7. Provide feedback (Dention & Kriete, 2000). 

What is Metacognition? 

Metacognition, otherwise known as "thinking about thinking,"refers to people's abilities to predict their performances on various tasks and to monitor their current levels of mastery and understanding (National Research Council, 2000).

The Three Steps for Teaching Metacognition: 

  1. Model your own thinking. 
  2. Scaffold the thinking. 
  3. Facilitate and provide opportunities to notice thinking (Taylor, 2012). 

Why am I using this instructional strategy? 

In modeling, students... 

  • are shown exactly what teachers expect them to do 
  • learn why the skill or routine is important
  • create a mental image of what's expected
  • do the noticing
  • have a chance to practice and gain expertise 
  • receive immediate feedback (Dention & Kriete, 2000).

In metacognition, students...


  • become aware of their strengths 
  • recognize what areas they need improvement in
  • become aware of strategies that are useful to their own learning (Taylor, 2012). 


Modeling a Geography Activity

Making a Topographic Map of a Friend's Face (Rhatigan & Smith, 2002)

  1. Tell the students that they are going to become cartographers and make a topographic map of their partner's face to show their elevation and contour lines. (Say what you will model and why)
  2. Show the students how to mix the ingredients together in a bowl and then paint a student volunteer's face. Explain to the students that they will mark the highest points on their partners' faces with a dot to represent elevation and a circle around the dots to represent contour lines.  (Model the behavior)
  3. Ask the students what they notice. Clarify that you are gently painting and marking the highest points (elevation) with dots and circles (contour lines) around them. (Ask students what they notice)
  4. Invite one or two students to help you model the activity. Have one student paint the rest of the features. Have another student carefully lay a piece of tissue paper over the student's face and help press it against his or her skin so it sticks to all the contours. (Invite one or more students to model)
  5. Ask the students again what they notice about the students modeling. (Again, ask students what they notice)
  6. In one swift motion, peel the paper off the face and lay it flat on a table to dry. Show the topographic map to the students and inform them that it is their turn to be cartographers. (Have all students practice)
  7. Walk around while the students are painting one another's faces and give them feedback. (Provide feedback)

Using Think-Pair-Share to Stimulate Metacognition

Discussion on Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges 

  1. Announce a discussion topic or problem to solve. (How do you feel on your first day of school? Compare or contrast it to Ruby's first day at an all white school.) 
  2. Give students time to think about their answer. 
  3. Have the students pair with their 12 o'clock buddies to discuss their ideas (Jones, 2000). 
  4. Have a few students share their ideas with the class (Instructional Strategies Online, 2014) 

Modeling & Metacognition in Technology

ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard 


  • This app offers basic audio and screen recording features, which allows students to "think about thinking" out loud. For instance, students can a receive real-world math problem and solve it orally and visually by using this app. They can post their response to the teacher's page on the app's website (set to private). Then, the teacher can assess the students and send their responses to classmates to view, evaluate, and respond (Magiera, 2011). 
  • Teachers can also use this app to show the modeling process so students can play it at a later time. 

ScreenChomp

  • This app allows students to capture their interactions and audio instructions on a plain background or an image from their iPad camera roll. They can sketch out their ideas and talk through the "how" and "why" of it all, which is part of metacognition. Students can also stop and share their video "snack" to ScreenChomp.com to generate a simple web link they can paste anywhere. 
  • Teachers can also use this app to record the modeling process so students can play it at a later time. 


Resources 





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