Who would spend a cool, gray, May morning thinking about metacognition? I don’t know either but here I am, thinking about thinking. I try to visualize just about everything. If I cannot put it in a visual context then I work at a disadvantage, leaning heavily on metaphors and models. Some models are detailed, miniature replicas of the real thing while others are abstract facsimiles, like a stick man sketched on a napkin. It just needs to be enough to bridge a path between ideas. Real cars are too big to fit in your pocket and real people have facial features, knees & elbows but the bridge is there and it works. We do the same thing with metaphors, “That guy is just a barking dog.” we can presume that he is a person but the message is, he makes a lot of noise, not unlike a barking dog.
We want students not only to solve problems but also to learn how to solve problems, learn how to learn. That is what “Thinking about thinking.” is all about. There is a big fly buzzing on the window. I have a flyswatter but I don’t know where. I do have a news paper at hand. So I take two bits of unrelated imagery, information and put them together in a new or different way. People think about what other people think. “I wonder if he remembered my birthday.” We think we are the only animals that can do that. Dolphins and whales may come close but we don’t know enough to be sure. If you get creative, memory + imagination (what if. . .) what’s to keep you from changing poker rules so so instead of winners taking the other’s money, the losers have to take their clothes off?
‘Creative’, it goes well with ‘Imagination’. But likewise, I think, a lot of it has to do with native curiosity. “Why after all, and how does that work? I just want to know.” That’s hard to teach if it comes late or out of order; much like motor skills that develop in a particular order. Babies sit first then crawl, stand and walk in that order. There is a ‘Right’ time and if you get out of sync, things get more difficult. Little kids tend to mimic their adult role models. Nearly all nature enthusiasts can pinpoint a childhood experience with a trusted adult that fosters awe and wonder for nature and things natural.
I can’t say I remember a pivotal moment but my mother would have been that adult. Once in the garden she took a lady bug from a plant and transferred it to my hand. “Point your finger straight up,” she said “and hold still.” So I did, holding it close up in front of my face. The tiny beetle started climbing, up to the tip of my finger. For a split second it perched there. Red with black spots, no bigger than my fingernail, her wing covers (Elytra) they swung open like gull wing doors on a Mercedes Benz, delicate little wings unfolded and she flew so quick I almost missed it. She was gone and we were delighted.
I never missed a chance to pick up a salamander or a ring-neck snake or a grub, take it to show her. When I did she always made time for me. Like wow! Salamanders don’t have claws. I didn’t have to be told to let it go, put it back where I found it. Why? “Because God created them and gave them a purpose.” How does that work? “Nature depends on a balance between all living things and the salamander is important even if we don’t know exactly what makes it so.” Metacognition, how did I get this way? My mom, maybe untrained but certainly a source of wonder and awe for the natural world. She might not be the reason but we were together in the right place when that light was lit.
Reading this piece doesn’t satisfy any real need but the process, the writing wasn’t bad. Metacognition, sort of like scratching an itch, it just seems to happen. It can show up uninvited and go away as easily, or yield to something else that had been lost for the moment. Why is that? How does that work?
We want students not only to solve problems but also to learn how to solve problems, learn how to learn. That is what “Thinking about thinking.” is all about. There is a big fly buzzing on the window. I have a flyswatter but I don’t know where. I do have a news paper at hand. So I take two bits of unrelated imagery, information and put them together in a new or different way. People think about what other people think. “I wonder if he remembered my birthday.” We think we are the only animals that can do that. Dolphins and whales may come close but we don’t know enough to be sure. If you get creative, memory + imagination (what if. . .) what’s to keep you from changing poker rules so so instead of winners taking the other’s money, the losers have to take their clothes off?
‘Creative’, it goes well with ‘Imagination’. But likewise, I think, a lot of it has to do with native curiosity. “Why after all, and how does that work? I just want to know.” That’s hard to teach if it comes late or out of order; much like motor skills that develop in a particular order. Babies sit first then crawl, stand and walk in that order. There is a ‘Right’ time and if you get out of sync, things get more difficult. Little kids tend to mimic their adult role models. Nearly all nature enthusiasts can pinpoint a childhood experience with a trusted adult that fosters awe and wonder for nature and things natural.
I can’t say I remember a pivotal moment but my mother would have been that adult. Once in the garden she took a lady bug from a plant and transferred it to my hand. “Point your finger straight up,” she said “and hold still.” So I did, holding it close up in front of my face. The tiny beetle started climbing, up to the tip of my finger. For a split second it perched there. Red with black spots, no bigger than my fingernail, her wing covers (Elytra) they swung open like gull wing doors on a Mercedes Benz, delicate little wings unfolded and she flew so quick I almost missed it. She was gone and we were delighted.
I never missed a chance to pick up a salamander or a ring-neck snake or a grub, take it to show her. When I did she always made time for me. Like wow! Salamanders don’t have claws. I didn’t have to be told to let it go, put it back where I found it. Why? “Because God created them and gave them a purpose.” How does that work? “Nature depends on a balance between all living things and the salamander is important even if we don’t know exactly what makes it so.” Metacognition, how did I get this way? My mom, maybe untrained but certainly a source of wonder and awe for the natural world. She might not be the reason but we were together in the right place when that light was lit.
Reading this piece doesn’t satisfy any real need but the process, the writing wasn’t bad. Metacognition, sort of like scratching an itch, it just seems to happen. It can show up uninvited and go away as easily, or yield to something else that had been lost for the moment. Why is that? How does that work?
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