What is Metacognition?
Have you noticed a student who struggles with monitoring their progress when completing tasks? You may see these students struggle with self-reflection and utilizing problem-solving skills to complete challenging assignments or tests. All of these are examples of metacognition skills. The good news is school psychs can support students and their metacognition skills. Let’s find out how!
Metacognition Within the Classroom Environment
How can school psychs support teachers in providing support for students who struggle with metacognition skills? During a consultation with teachers, school psychs can suggest using a rubric for graded assignments or asking students to grade their own assignments and explain why they feel they deserve their grades. Embedding questions into daily classroom instruction is also beneficial. Examples include asking students how they solved a problem or encouraging them to think of other ways to solve it.
How Can Metacognition be Taught to Students?
According to research, the best procedure for teaching children to use their metacognitive skills is similar to teaching any of the executive skills:
- Defining the skill(s) to be learned
- Listing the steps the student goes through in using the skill(s)
- Practicing the skill(s) in a more controlled setting
- Cueing the child to use the skill(s) in their natural environment
- Reinforcing the student for using the skill(s) either verbally or through the use of an incentive system and, finally, fading the cues and reinforcement
If you’re a school psychologist navigating the world of executive functioning, consider joining the Prepared School Psychologist community. For a limited time, we’re offering a free two-week trial where you can explore our executive functioning mini-courses. These courses provide in-depth strategies and tools for effectively supporting students and their executive functioning needs. Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your practice. Sign up and start your trial today using the code “BLOG.”
