The more critically one reflects on their teaching, the more conscious they becomes of the whys and hows associated with an experience. However, reflection and critical analysis are no easy feats. The structure provided by reflective frameworks can offer music educators guidance in understanding reflection, evaluating reflective thinking, and…

This companion guide is intended to be used in conjunction with the Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL) Integration Approach School Leader and Educator Self-Reflection Tools. This companion guide focuses on the following area of reflection: Model social-emotional skills and mindsets through demonstration, embodiment, and overt narration. [For the…

As more and more students with learning disabilities (LD) and emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) find themselves in an inclusive, general education setting, there is a need to find ways to maximize their educational performance. One promising approach is to use growth mindset training to help students move away from deficit thinking and…

Take the next step in reflective practice! Operationalize reflective practice and overcome the "reflection bubble" with an approach designed for the field of TESOL. Learn how teachers, teacher educators, supervisors, administrators, and other stakeholders can implement reflective practice. Expanding upon the original aspects of…

Developing and articulating clear goals for student social and emotional learning (SEL) involves a number of important steps. This document focuses specifically on the articulation of learning goals (sometimes called "competencies" or "standards" in state and district policy) and suggests a process for those state teams that…

The article describes four general kinds of instruction that can foster independent learning by helping special needs students learn to think. They are metacognitive explanation; scaffolded instruction; cognitive coaching; and cooperative learning. Teachers can adapt and combine these methods to teach students how to think as they read, write, and…

The paper examines cognitive and metacognitive teaching practices in relation to theories of motivation, showing how and why they may inadvertently impede the learning disabled trainee's strategy of generalization. Ways for teachers to counteract such practices as well as implications for research needs are discussed. (Author/CL)

The teaching of creative thinking to gifted students requires: (1) raising creativity consciousness and teaching creative attitudes; (2) improving students' metacognitive understanding of creativity; (3) strengthening creative abilities through exercise; (4) teaching creative thinking techniques; and (5) involving students in creative activities.…

It is now recognised that thinking skills, such as problem-solving, analysis, synthesis, creativity and evaluation, can be nurtured and developed, and education professionals can play a significant role in shaping the way that children learn and think. As a result, schools are being encouraged to make greater use of thinking skills in lessons and…

Gifted students can learn to direct their thinking to maximize learning and creative production. They do this by stating what they intend to do, choosing strategies and appropriate conditions for thinking, and self-monitoring. The article describes techniques for developing self-directed thinking and applies these techniques to a class assignment.…

The STAR (Stop, Think, Ask, Recite) strategy was developed to help a kindergarten student write numerals. The child was encouraged to recite a "saying" while he formed each numeral. For example, to make a "5," the child would say "the man went down the street, around the corner, and his hat blew off." (JDD)

Intended to assist teachers in evaluation of specific learning strategies for learning disabled students, the article summarizes 14 metacognitive strategies (sets of steps used by the student to talk his or her way through a problem) based on principles of rehearsal, transformation, organization, mnemonics, monitoring, motivation, and…

This article describes an early childhood self-regulated metacognition program for underachieving gifted students. Teacher and peer modeling of such strategies as think-aloud, behavioral demonstration, and cuing of steps to efficient task accomplishment are outlined, with examples. Benefits of self-regulated learning strategies are reported from…

Problem-solving approaches to teaching pupils with autism in special schools are analyzed, discussing the structures needed by individual pupils to enable them to function as problem solvers, the value of reflection in enhancing the learning potential of pupils, and ways of increasing pupils' awareness of their own ways of handling learning…

This article suggests that the use of mnemonic strategies may help learning disabled (LD) students in the area of spelling, which is of particular frustration to most LD students. It has been found that children with learning disabilities do not have a pathological difficulty with long-term memory, but rather a deficiency in the use of…