1. Beth yw metawybyddiaeth?
Why develop thinking skills and assessment for learning in the classroom?
Beth yw metawybyddiaeth?
ACCAC
Pecyn UDRh 2009

2. Beth allwn i ei ddefnyddio yma?
Pam gwnes i ei ddefnyddio
o’r blaen?
Beth sy’n rhaid i mi
ei wneud?
Sut rydw i’n gwybod?
Why develop thinking skills and assessment for learning in the classroom?
Ble’r ydw i wedi defnyddio
hyn o’r blaen?
Sut rydw i’n gwybod?
Sut cyrhaeddais i yma?
Beth sydd ei angen nesaf?
Diagram to summarise the nature of metacognition. It is the central crucial process in developing thinking. Learners must reflect on their learning and intentionally apply the results of their reflection to further their learning. Metacognition needs to be an ongoing process of internal and external feedback to inform next steps. It needs to be across several areas within a task, such as:
Making sense of the task knowledge of the strategies and methods and how and when to use them knowledge and understanding of thinking process and principles
Monitoring and evaluating, learning from the success (or otherwise) of chosen strategies or methods making connections across contexts
It is important to appreciate that the elements of metacognition as described are not mutually exclusive but interconnect. In this case, each element informs and supports another in taking the learning forward.
Teaching metacognition is arguably the most difficult aspect of developing thinking but undoubtedly the most important for learners to consolidate and link learning. Later slides deal with how a teacher may model metacognition through questions and language.
ACCAC
Beth weithiodd yn dda?
Sut bydd yn helpu nesaf?
Pecyn UDRh 2009

3. Metacognition Metawybyddiaeth Who Pwy How What Beth Sut When Why Pryd
Pam
Working in pairs or threes, colleagues observe a single (or possibly more according to preference) video clips of lessons (without learning and teaching points included) from DVD ‘aiming for excellence: developing thinking). Clips 4, 6, 7, 11 may be useful for this. They use the ‘who, what, when, why, where, how’ template to scaffold and identify the metacognitive elements described in slide 2 and the strategies used by the teacher and learners in addressing these elements. Jigsaw groups and take feedback of ideas.
Key features to tease out include:
There is no specific timing or ‘lesson part’ for metacognitive focus – it happens throughout lesson. Chunking metacognition in this manner allows learners to reflect on processes or methods used relevant at the time. They can reflect on their usefulness (or what may be required as amendments) to allow learners to use that information to take learning forward immediately. End-loading metacognition can be ineffective as the time period for action may have passed or a variety of things may have happened in the meantime. Learners’ reflection may become very confused as they are likely to have used a wide range of strategies, tools, principles and methods of working all within an activity. The result can be that the reflection lacks focus and therefore does not serve the purpose of helping a learner in their next steps.
Metacognitive questions are most frequently used by teacher to model the process and language. As learners become more confident and skilled, they peer mediate metacognition, culminating in self-mediating metacognition. This takes time and support.
Learners need to understand the purpose of metacognition and how to communicate their methods and ideas using common vocabulary. It is especially valuable to display and use metacognitive language to describe thinking and learning. Ideas for this are shown on later slides.
Where
Ble
Pecyn UDRh 2009

4. Rheoli metawybyddiaeth
NID mewn sesiwn grynhoi yn unig – dylai ddigwydd ym mhob cam o’r broses ddysgu!
Mae angen modelu ar y cychwyn – fel arall bydd dysgwyr yn
ddryslyd a’r atebion ar lefel isel iawn a/neu yn amherthnasol
Mae angen pwrpas i’r broses
Ar y cychwyn, mae angen gweithio ar y cyd
Gellir canolbwyntio ar y prosesau a ddefnyddir (mwy cynhwysol)
ac ar werthuso i ba raddau y cyflawnwyd y meini prawf llwyddiant
Bydd yn cymryd amser ac ymarfer!
Summary of key features from lesson observations from the previous slide..
Pecyn UDRh 2009

5. Offerynnau a strategaethau poblogaidd ar gyfer rheoli metawybyddiaeth
Uwchradd
Cynradd
Iaith meddwl a dysgu
Myfyrio Mr Llyffant
Lindys metawybyddol
Triongl myfyrio
Diagram PMI
Symudyn myfyrio
Iaith meddwl a dysgu
Triongl myfyrio
Diagram PMI
Cwestiynau mewn fframwaith
Lindys metawybyddol
(wedi’i addasu!)
Some popular tools and strategies. You may wish to take an audit of colleagues’ experience of using these strategies – possibly as a ‘think-pair-share’ followed by ‘Just a minute’ for colleagues to describe the strategy and its use! Examples follow in the next few slides and details of others are given in the ‘How’ booklet.
KS4 introductory statements
level descriptions don’t apply (In PE, many find them useful)
reduced level of prescription
science and current revised GCSE criteria
RE and local agreements and GCSE
Pecyn UDRh 2009

6. Myfyrio mewn Fframwaith
Y peth wnaeth fy helpu
fwyaf heddiw oedd……
Roeddwn i’n deall
yn well pan…….
Digwyddodd un peth
heddiw a wnaeth
i mi sylweddoli….
Ar ôl darllen, mi….
I wella, gallwn i…..
Gallwn i ddefnyddio’r
strategaeth hon pan…..
Y tro nesaf,
gallwn i….
Questions to elicit reflections and response
Teachers have a role to play in developing student skills of self-assessment. Often students simply do not know what questions to ask of their work, and so, in discussing students’ work, teachers can model the kind of questioning that leads to analysis and reflection.
These questions should:
explore alternatives
seek explanations
clarify meaning and
hypothesise.
Ar ôl siarad â….
Un syniad/peth nad ydw i’n
ei ddeall o hyd ydy….
Y peth oedd fwyaf
anodd i mi oedd….
Pecyn UDRh 2009

7. Symudyn myfyrio - enghreifftiau
Beth rydw i’n ei wybod
am hyn?
Beth wnes i gyntaf?
Pam gwnes i wneud y
penderfyniad hwn?
Sut rydw i’n
gwybod hyn?
Beth arall allwn i
ei ddarganfod?
Sut gwnaeth fy syniadau
gwreiddiol newid?
Reflection mobiles are growing increasingly popular, especially in Primary classrooms. They model typical metacognitive question sequences which are used by teachers and learners. Learners can use the individually (when confident in using them in a collaborative or peer group) to frame metacognitive thinking. Later derivations of mobiles have included questions which have been suggested by learners to ‘follow a path of thinking about what we did’. These show how well learners understand the process in order to be able to transfer and translate it to another context to support their peers.
A oes yna ffyrdd gwahanol
o edrych ar hyn?
Sut y gwnaf i
hyn?
Pam dylwn i
wneud hyn?
Pa welliannau y galla i eu gwneud?
Pecyn UDRh 2009

8. Iaith Dysgu Meddwl/ Gweithio ar eich pen eich hun Gofyn cwestiynau
Gweithio mewn
grŵp
Darllen/
Ymchwilio
Rhannu
syniadau
Ysgrifennu/
Cofnodi
Some language to describe learning. Many commercial packages look to encourage learners to verbalise ‘how they learned/worked’. The vocabulary described above allows learners to focus on this aspect. However, without probing further to find the reasons for working in this method or what was specifically discussed, or how a learner ‘read’ (eg by deconstruction strategies such as skimming and scanning and their purposes), learners are unlikely to delve deep enough into metacognition to aid substantial transfer of ideas and thinking processes. At this surface level, reflecting on the language of learning impacts on cultivating positive attitudes and values towards learning. Without deeper and more substantial metacognitive questioning however, it will not encourage learners to unpick their thinking principles or processes.
Trafod
Gwrando
Arsylwi
Pecyn UDRh 2009

9. Iaith Meddwl Chwilio am batrymau Cymharu a Chyferbynnu Gwneud Trefnu
penderfyniadau
Trefnu
Rhoi
barn
Dosbarthu
Rhagweld
Creu
cysylltiadau
Some examples of language of thinking. This is not an exhaustive list and just exemplifies some principles and ideas. Deeper metacognitive questioning into the language of learning should move learners towards using the language of thinking to justify their ideas, processes and principles used.
Modelu
Gofyn
cwestiynau
Gwerthuso
Adolygu
Dychmygu
Pecyn UDRh 2009

10. Myfyrio Sut byddan nhw’n eich helpu i ddatrys problemau?
Beth yw fy nghamau
nesaf?
Pa mor ddefnyddiol
oedden nhw i’ch helpu
i ddatrys y broblem?
Sut cyrhaeddais
i yma?
Reflection triangle. A flexible graphic organiser which, with the language of learning and thinking, can be used to scaffold learning throughout an activity.
Pam?
Ble rydw i?

11. Dirgelwch y Ffotograff
Mystery Photograph
Dirgelwch y Ffotograff
Which is the odd one
out? Why?
Pa un sy’n
wahanol? Pam?
This is an activity you could use at any point in the proceedings. You may wish to use it to exemplify how difficult metacognition can be for learners (and teachers alike!) in terms of how to take a peer through a thought process or tracking back over actions over a period of time. It is useful to allow practioners to experience first-hand what is being expected of learners. You could invite colleagues to use a particular form of scaffolding for metacognition that has been introduced (eg reflection triangles, caterpillars etc) to see how it allows learners to deconstruct the learning. You may also choose to model how to guide and scaffold metacognition through questioning using the activity practically (this also links into the next slide on ‘what makes a good question?’).
Suggested format for activity – invite colleagues to work in threes. Do not tell colleagues what they have to do – just show slide and ask them to ‘think-pair-share’ what they may have to do (this models metacognition related to making sense of the task). Deconstruct with colleagues how they arrived at their decision of ‘what they have to do’. Focus in on strategies used such as locating key words, linking pictures to text, use of headings, use of questions (how do you know it is a question?) etc. The task actually calls for colleagues to work out which picture does not fit the story. Allow colleagues time to decide how they will do this (do not guide towards sequencing – let them devise their own method and ask them to justify). By stopping and asking colleagues to reflect on possible methods of working as they go along, you will be modelling ‘strong’ metacognition (you may wish to simulate the difficulty of leaving metacognition to the end of the task if you wish and ask learners to reflect over everything done during the task! This is likely to cause much confusion regarding ‘what’ they are reflecting on, with complaints that they can’t remember some steps in the process they may have used! This is a very powerful way of showing the problems of end-loading metacognition).
Pecyn UDRh 2009

12. Beth sy’n gwneud cwestiwn da?
What makes a good question?
Beth fyddai eich meini prawf llwyddiant ar gyfer cwestiwn ‘da’?
Questioning is the driving force of developing thinking and assessment for learning in the classroom. Whether it is the teacher or learners who pose the questions, they should be open-ended wherever possible and invite discussion and interaction.
For effective responses, learners and teachers must both understand the cognitive demands of the questions asked. Often the purpose of asking questions can hold a ‘hidden agendas’ for many learners. If they don’t understand what is being asked, learners are likely to respond with at best, inappropriate responses and at worst, a breakdown in the learning cycle.
This slide could be introduced with and used with the ‘mystery photograph’ activity if desired as a means of deconstructing the purposes of questioning. As a snowball challenge, colleagues could generate questions that could be asked of the resource sheet or that might occur through the activity. The accompanying word document ‘ Question types’ may be useful to clarify the purpose of questions. Colleagues could swap generated questions with another group and try to deconstruct the purpose of the question using the ‘Question types’ document.
In pairs, colleagues could then be asked to generate success criteria for a ‘good question’ (and diamond rank or prioritise if wished). Pairs could be jigsawed to groups of 4 to share outcomes which could then be reviewed and discussed as a full group.
If you wish, you could ‘test’ the success criteria on a selection of questions given in the accompanying Word document ‘Rate the question’, also repeated on the following slide. Colleagues could refine their success criteria in light of feedback. You may wish to ask colleagues to actively work with these in the classroom over the course of the next week/share with colleagues and report back observed outcomes at a later session.

13. ‘Rate the question.com’
Ydy dŵr yn rhewi ar 900C neu 1000C?
Pwy waeth ddyfeisio Bwni’r Pasg, yn eich barn chi? Pam rydych
chi’n meddwl hynny?
Beth, yn eich barn chi, sy’n cael y dylanwad mwyaf ar y ffordd y mae
personoliaeth yn datblygu – yr hyn rydych chi’n ei etifeddu, neu’r
amgylchedd?
Sut mae naws y paragraffau hyn yn cyferbynnu â’r pump neu chwech
blaenorol?
Ym mha ffyrdd eraill y gallech chi ymosod ar adeilad tŵr crwn?
Ydy anifeiliaid yn meddwl?
Os yw llongau’n cael eu gwneud o fetel, pam nad ydyn nhw’n suddo?
Allech chi roi’r gorau i sgwrsio, a gwrando?
Pwy all ddweud wrtha’ i beth yw ffotosynthesis ?
In pairs or 4’s, colleagues could use their success criteria and provide feedback on these questions in the form of 2 stars and a wish. You may wish to challenge colleagues to rewrite questions for improvement after formative feedback.