3:2 Metacognition

Where and When Did I Find the Word?:  The word 'metacognition' came up in Billmeyer & Barton’s (1998) textbook Teaching Reading in the Content Areas: If not Me Then Who?during the third week’s reading.  The text states, "How well a reader comprehends a text is also dependent on metacognition: his ability to think about and to control his thinking process before, during, and after reading" (p. 3).


Meaning: ‘Metacognition’ is defined through the text as one’s “ability to think about and to control his thinking process before, during, and after reading” (p. 3).  The skills that is being used allows for the reader to think about and monitor their comprehension of a reading.  This includes creating a mental picture, asking questions, organizing information, making predictions, ect. 


Familiarity: I have heard the word ‘metacognition’ repeatedly throughout undergrad and now graduate school in all of my education classes.  I feel that I am very familiar with this term but not until my college years.  If I am supposed to be using metacognition throughout all of my reading, shouldn’t I have been aware of the term and the process earlier in school?


Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why?:  I feel that I am well rounded in knowing what the term means and the process involving one’s monitoring of reading.  I feel as though I need to know more about teaching my students how to use this skill of metacognition in order to help their comprehension and achievement in school. 


Should Others Know This Word?:  I wish more teachers knew this word and the process behind and for them to pass it on to their students.  The more teachers who were aware of metacognition, the more students in school would learn how to use it as well.  If students were more aware of the thinking that should be done while reading a text, they would be more successful in their learning and understanding of texts in school. 

Billmeyer, R. & Barton, M.L. (1998). Teaching reading in the content areas: If not me,
            then who? (2^nd ed.). Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory.