Metacognitive learning – getting oneself unstuck
At Talbot, teachers know it is important that children have a range of strategies that they can use if we get stuck in their learning. By having Growth Mindsets, pupils are able to approach their work without the fear of becoming stuck and giving up. It is important to be confident to persevere and be resilient too. Getting stuck is not something to be worried about, if one has strategies to help look at a problem in a new way.
Every year, each class works on creating a Getting Unstuck display, which includes the strategies that they find most useful. This way, children can resolve problems themselves, which helps them to appreciate and celebrate their successes more deeply.
In 6VW, the children individually chose eight of the most useful strategies that they could use on a daily basis. They wanted these to be personal to 6VW, so they have created their own Get Unstuck spinning wheels.
In 6IM, the children focused on the ‘cogs’ of their learning and how these fit together to help us build up our knowledge - with each cog being a new strategy. Now, Year Six always have lots of useful ideas to help them in their learning.
Some of the ways children might approach a task differently are to:
- Look back at previous learning
- Use the working wall
- Pick up a book
- Read the question again
- Get a friend’s support
- Check a dictionary
- Ask an adult
- Take a ‘mindful minute’
In Year Six, getting stuck is not a problem, it simply means they are doing challenging work and have an opportunity to learn something new.
