Metacognition & Problem Solving
April 8, 2019
Successful learners use metacognition to facilitate their problem solving. This is one of the key findings of the National Academy of Sciences’ synthesis of decades of research on the science of learning explained in How People Learn: Mind, Brain, Experience and School Below we explain metacognition and provide the vocabulary to teach it. In part two of this series we will focus on strategy selection. If you’d like to try our full metacognition approach, please contact us here. Start with Cognition Cognition is how you learn. Depending on the topic, the context, personal experiences and genetics, each of us relies on different proportions of cognitive skills to understand and remember what we read, see or hear. We begin learning the moment we are born and we never stop…. Read More
Are Your Students Prepared for the WEF’s “4th Industrial Revolution”?
January 28, 2016
Read and learn how you can make sure your kids are prepared for a lifetime of success. Experts from the World Economic Forum believe that over 1/3 of the most important workplace skills will change over the next five years. That’s an incredible rate of change. While schools are focused on meeting these needs, there’s a lot parents can do to strengthen the skills that will be critical to their child’s lifelong success. Top 10 Ways to Nurture the World Economic Forum Top 10 Skills: Know your child’s stronger and weaker skills. Keep in mind that these skills develop at different rates, and you should expect a child to be stronger in some areas and weaker in others.* Focus on retention. A strong general knowledge base remains essential for critical thinking…. Read More
7 Reasons for Test Anxiety and What To Do About It
January 11, 2016
There are a variety of reasons for test anxiety. The best news is that a little bit of test anxiety is good thing. It provides an adrenaline rush to work efficiently. But too much stress produces a full rush of hormones that interferes with the ability to think clearly and rememberwhat you know. If test anxiety is a problem, read on for the seven most common reasons for test anxiety and what to do about it. The very first step is to recognize that the reasons for test anxiety are different for every student. The trick is to figure out which one is the reason for your child’s test anxiety. Subject-Specific Anxiety Sometimes kids develop test anxiety around one subject but not another, similar to how they might have anxiety around… Read More
Abstract Reasoning: The Key to Complex Problem Solving
December 9, 2014
Note: This is one of a 10 blog series on learning traits. Read about all 10 learning traits here. Abstract reasoning is the skill at the core of all critical thinking and problem solving. While abstract reasoning is probably most important in math and science class, it’s also key to understanding complicated reading passages in English and History. You might hear it referred to as complex reasoning, visual reasoning, or critical thinking. What is Abstract Reasoning? It is your ability to make sense of non-language-based information, including numbers, shapes, patterns and formulas. In other words, it is your ability to understand what you are looking at or reading without a detailed description. Why is Abstract Reasoning Important? Realistically, elementary students aren’t expected to use abstraction skills very much. Usually teachers give clear directions and concepts are concrete. However, as students enter… Read More