“Wait, What am I Trying to Say?”
Building Student Agency Through Metacognition
As a high school teacher I often see myself as an attention wrangler, an attention matador if you will. The students, the bull, my sage lesson and literary wisdom, the red muleta I use to lure them in. Except in this metaphor the bull often doesn’t notice the muleta. Instead the bull opens their chromebook and searches for anything else to do that doesn’t involve chasing the muleta. Then I, the matador, am left wondering where I went wrong. I thought bulls were supposed to like muletas. And since when can bulls use a computer?
I’m getting lost in thought here, which is a good thing. As I write, I find that getting lost and navigating my way through my thinking is what makes writing a worthwhile pursuit.
In today’s break neck paced world, mindful thinking appears to be at an all time low. I see this daily in my high school classroom. A majority of my students are only motivated to academically perform when they have quantifiable skin in the game (a grade). Is this typical of their age group? I would argue yes, but I have a hard time accepting that truth.
Quality writing necessitates a profound level of thoughtful brainpower to compose. A writer must access their funds of knowledge, they must sort that knowledge, and they must generate and arrange words to communicate that knowledge. It is mental gymnastics, and in my experience, even if students aren’t aware of the brainpower required to craft their thoughts, once they feel that first mental hurdle, they cramp up and retreat. As their coach it is my responsibility to make sure they keep running despite the inevitable discomfort.
In that spirit, I decided to do something that may help them notice their walking patterns. Once they understand their steps, they can build themselves up from a walk to a jog to a run. Developing an awareness creates clarity. The technical term for developing this awareness is called metacognition.
In Kate Chaterdon’s Across the Disciplines: A Journal of Language, Learning and Academic Writing, she outlines how metacognition allows a writer to develop an awareness of their decision-making process. When a writer shifts from asking how to write and instead asks why and how they arrived at what they wrote, it “translates to questions like: What moves do I make, as a writer, to meet the needs of my audience or genre? Am I effective at meeting their needs? Are there things I could do differently? What do I do well?” (Chaterdon 2019). Given the levels of decision making that crafting complex writing requires, it makes sense that understanding the why behind that decision making would be helpful. If I understand how the plane I’m flying works, I’m better able to fly the damn thing.
To cultivate this self-awareness, I developed a strategy called the Stoplight method. This method requires three highlighters (green, yellow, red) and a physical piece of writing. What the students do with these highlighters is flexible based on the learning intention, but the main idea is that the students are asked to color code their writing. Green signals confidence. Yellow signals indifference. Red signals dissatisfaction. As the students highlight their work, they are able to see a physical indication of their writerly command. The highlighting plants the metacognitive questions in their head without needing to be asked directly.
“Why don’t I like this part?”
“I really like this part! How can I create this elsewhere?”
“Eh, I don’t really get this part. What purpose does it serve?”
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Will all students ask these questions of themself? Probably not, but that’s where further scaffolds (handouts, prompts, verbal cues) come into play.
During my Teacher Workshop, I had my fellow teachers highlight a free-write they composed earlier in the lesson. Once they finished marking their text, I had them conference with a partner to discuss their color coding with one another. The results were telling and reflective of the research I conducted prior to the workshop. They shifted from discussing the content of the writing toward the thinking that went into the writing they produced. They were thinking metacognitively.
Once the focus of reviewing one’s writing shifts toward understanding the thought that went into the writing, I am confident students will be able to see the craft of writing through a less abstract, more approachable, objective lens.
How will I measure progress of this approach in the coming school year? I expect progress by the end of the school year, as shifting students’ thought patterns and translating that thinking into markedly improved writing will not occur overnight.
Joining the GMWP, conducting this research, and developing this strategy has reinforced the concept that learning belongs to the student. It is my job to provide them the space to expand their ability to think critically for themselves, and I firmly believe creating an awareness of how and why one writes the way they do is a strong step toward building confident, autonomous writers. Moving forward, I plan to bring my findings forward to my department, and eventually to my entire staff in some professional development format.
I close my eyes and I can see it now. I’m standing in front of my colleagues with a box of highlighters in one arm and a matador’s red muleta in the other, luring them to give my ideas a shot. If you were sitting in the audience, would you? Think about it.
Works Cited and Further Reading
Boston University. (n.d.). Metacognition in the writing classroom. Boston University Teaching Writing. https://www.bu.edu/teaching-writing/resources-for-teaching-writing/guides-tips/metacognition-in-the-writing-classroom/
Chaterdon, K. (2019). Writing into awareness: How metacognitive awareness can be encouraged through contemplative teaching practices. Across the Disciplines, 16(1), 50–65. https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/atd/contemplative/chaterdon2019.pdf
Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning. (2018). Metacognition. Columbia University. https://ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/resources/metacognition/
Driscoll, D. L., & Wells, J. (2020). Metacognition and transfer: Reflective thinking as a catalyst for writing development. In Writing knowledge transfer: Reimagining the road to transfer (pp. 215–233). The WAC Clearinghouse and University Press of Colorado. https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/books/cognition/chapter11.pdf
Marano, G., Kotzalidis, G. D., Lisci, F. M., Anesini, M. B., Rossi, S., Barbonetti, S., Cangini, A., Ronsisvalle, A., Artuso, L., Falsini, C., Caso, R., Mandracchia, G., Brisi, C., Traversi, G., Mazza, O., Pola, R., Sani, G., Mercuri, E. M., Gaetani, E., & Mazza, M. (2025). The neuroscience behind writing: Handwriting vs. typing — Who wins the battle? Life, 15(3), 345. https://doi.org/10.3390/life15030345
McCormick, C. M., & Telzer, E. H. (2024). The adolescent brain: A second window of opportunity for learning and adaptation. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 69, 101447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101447
Piekny, J., & Maehler, C. (2014). Development of abstract thinking during childhood and adolescence: The role of rostrolateral prefrontal cortex. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 10, 57–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2014.07.009
