Teaching Python

We're two middle school teachers learning and teaching Python

The Metacognitive Process of Learning: An Intro to a Three Part Series

“Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, teachers.”

― Richard Bach

Introduction

One of the things that I realized as I was beginning to learn Python is that my strength as a teacher would come in very handy. A teacher’s “tool belt” is earned through years of grit, dedication, and intention. Teachers often don’t realize all the tools they have accumulated until there is a need. But we call upon these skills, not only for our students but also for self-guided/independent learning. My tools helped me identify and guide my Python learning journey. And being able to locate quality resources would prove to be critical to part of my success with coding.

In this three-part blog series, we will investigate three phases in a learning process, develop your metacognitive studying techniques, and focus our attention on improving your learning strategies. Whether it is your first day of coding or learning another skill for your career, using these processes can help you assess your learning journey and improve your coding knowledge.

Before We Begin: The Importance of Resources

Using different resources help you to decipher complex topics and then construct a new picture in mind. Teachers know that finding resources is only half of the battle. An adept learner has to sift through the resources that work best and process the concepts consumed during the learning. And this is just one of the skills that most teachers have in their tool belts.

Teachers know that deep learning begins with establishing a baseline of knowledge and carefully scaffolding new concepts to build brain connections. While teaching for deeper understanding, a teacher will encourage students through many skills. Students need to be reflective of what guides them during the process of building content knowledge. Teachers are always directing students to employ these methods independently and build on what they already know.

"An adept learner has to sift through the resources that work best and process the concepts consumed during the learning."

The Importance of Mindset

Adopting a positive mindset is continuously encouraged. Teachers recognize that learning is a journey of twists and turns, interlaced with mistakes and opportunities to fail forward. Therefore, it is best to guide students to embrace a positive mindset early on in the learning path. Once the growth mindset is accepted, a student will be more prepared to identify “fails” and use techniques to learn and fail forward faster.

A teacher knows that learning is a lot of finding out what you already know, understanding how to take in new concepts, discovering how a learner learns, and realizing the best learning method for students.

These tactics are tried and true methods that many teachers have researched, developed, and perfected to help keep their students along the positive learning path, despite their occasional twists in the wrong direction. These teaching techniques allow learners to continue to develop lifelong learning skills necessary for self-teaching and daily problem-solving!

The Importance of Learning Like You are a Teacher

Like an experienced teacher, having different tricks up your sleeves can help you when you start to learn how to code. These tricks allow you to develop the metacognitive skills of learning how to learn. And knowing these strategies will help you analyze your learning material, reflect on what you are learning, and direct your path for learning.

Now, Let's Begin with Part 1

When you're ready, let's get started with Part 1 of The Metacognitive Process: What Do You Know?