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Attainable.

When it comes to goal setting, you want your student’s goals to be attainable. You want your students to know how and what they will do to accomplish their goals. This requires that your students are aware of their own knowledge and cognitive abilities. This is known as metacognition.

 

Metacognition is the ability to use prior knowledge to plan a strategy for approaching a learning task. It helps to organize the necessary steps to solve a problem, reflect on and evaluate results: and modify one’s approach as needed. In order for your students to successfully set goals that they can attain, they must:

 

  • Determine the necessary steps needed to meet their goals 

  • Assess their personal strengths and weaknesses

  •  Recognize which strategies will be effective in helping them reach their goals


 

 

 

 

Tips for increasing metacognition in your classroom:

 

  • Encourage a “thinking-awareness” environment. Invite students to use new things and use various strategies.

  • Use a Problem Based Learning model in your lessons. This enables your students to use metacognitive strategies to effectively solve problems.

  • Ask your students to “Pre-Assess” themselves before tackling a new project. This allows the student to determine what they know and do not know about a subject. It will help your students target their learning and aid them in attaining their goals.

  • Allow time for your students to reflect on their learning. This could be in the form of a daily journal. By writing their thoughts and progress, the student can regulate and monitor their learning.

  • Use post-assessments to allow students to assess their overall progress and recognize their cognitive processes. This will help students to reflect on the new knowledge they’ve developed and what strategies they used.

For more information on metacognition:
For more on Problem Based Learning
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