Encoding, retrieval, metacognition...oh my!

I've been really thinking about 'best practices' recently. These 'best practices' are defined in Merriam Webster as 'a procedure that has been shown by research and experience to produce optimal results'.  It's hard not to think about 'best practices' when you are a teacher.  You want students to 'get it' and incorporating different strategies to meet the needs of every learner in my classroom takes a bunch of different approaches to help information 'stick'.   One way I'm working to incorporate best practices this year is by using ideas I've read about in the book called, Powerful Teaching by Patrice Bain and Pooja Agarwal.  These authors have taken research done in the area of cognitive science and have broken it down to be used in the classroom.   By understanding how the brain processes new information (encoding), and how it recalls information (retrieval) is necessary in helping students learn.

So, I've been using the vocabulary of the cognitive scientists in my classroom.  Yes, I've been getting a few funny faces from the students when I use these words.   Last week I explained metacognition to them with hopes they will understand as learners that it is important for them to be able to assess where they are at learning something.  Basically, are they thinking about what they know and what they don't know? This is why I have incorporated some form of self-quizzing every day.  We use several 'game' apps that incorporate metacognition skill into their school day, like Quizlet, Quizziz, and Kahoot.  I also assign a daily warm-up (DWU) every day through Google Classroom that either reviews or introduces concepts.  I purposely give the same/similar questions several times a week with the hope they will learn the skill of self-correcting their mistakes to improve their scores.  Teaching students the skill of memory retrieval, and helping them understand that we should be actively working on 'retrieval' practices to help our memory which will help us to learn. 
 
This week, we will have our first test on the concepts we have learned so far in geography.  All of the links for review are found in the students' Google Classroom.  Links for Kahoot review, Quizlet vocabulary links, and Quizziz have all been posted so the students can review.  We have also kept some hard-copy binder notes stored in the geo/history section of their white binders.  We will be reviewing in class on Monday and Tuesday by meeting with 'study groups' and reviewing information.  I look forward to seeing their growth so far.  

Don't forget to come out and meet me and the other teachers on Wednesday, September 25.  The Open House schedule begins with parents meeting the Specialist/Elective teachers for the first 15 minutes.  Then, they go through a sample day in their core subjects up in the classrooms.  

 See you there!