MyRead: strategies for reaching reading in the middle years

Self and Peer Assessment

Two Pluses and a Wish

Metacognition

Two Pluses and a Wish

Students need to be constantly engaged in developing ways of making group work more effective. By having students collaboratively give each member two positive comments about their involvement and one area where they may be able to improve (ie two pluses and a wish) students can reflect on their own effectiveness as a group member.

The roles, eg encourager, storekeeper, expert, are related to the Learning Role Cards.

*Feedback*
Name:	Name:	Name:	Name:
Encourager Storekeeper Cop Scribe Spy	Encourager Storekeeper Cop Scribe Spy	Encourager Storekeeper Cop Scribe Spy	Encourager Storekeeper Cop Scribe Spy
Expert Code Breaker Investigator User	Expert Code Breaker Investigator User	Expert Code Breaker Investigator User	Expert Code Breaker Investigator User
Plus	Plus	Plus	Plus
Plus	Plus	Plus	Plus
Wish	Wish	Wish	Wish

Metacognition

An important aspect of assessment is self-assessment.

Self assessment requires metacognition. Metacognition refers to knowledge about, awareness of and control over one’s own mind and thinking (Swartz and Perkins, 1989). Costa (1985) refers to this as ‘thinking about thinking’.

	Metacognition

Planning	Monitoring	Evaluating

Articulating what we are trying to do	Consciously knowing how it ‘hooks’ together and using our ‘radar’ to check our progress	Looking back at how we have done

What am I doing? What am I expected to do? What resources will be most useful? Who might help me?	How is my organisation going? Provide an example of ..................... What questions do I have? What is helping me most – teacher, reading, talking?	What did I find hard to do? What did other people think of my idea/s? What did I find most interesting? If I had to do this again, what would I do differently?

Student reflection is generally written in a journal or think book or diary. For underperforming students consider other forms such as recording student reflections on video, audio or computers. Dance and drawing are also useful ways of representing learning and reflections about learning.

Cooperative learning strategies such as a PMI also support metacognitive processes. A completed PMI could be added to the journal at any stage of the metacognitive process.

References

Bellanca, J. & Fogarty, R. (1994). Blueprints for Thinking in the Cooperative Classroom. Australia: Hawker Brownlow Education.

Costa, A. L. (ed.). (1985). Developing Minds. Alexandria, Vancouver: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Swartz, R.J. & Perkins, D.N. (1989). Teaching Thinking: Issues and Approaches. Pacific Grove, CA: Midwest Publications (republished by Hawker Brownlow Education).

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