In this article you will learn...

• Teaching kids the skill of mathematical metacognition is the key to achieving conceptual understanding and procedural fluency.
• Metacognition requires students to examine, externalize, and apply their thinking and is related to the concept of student ownership—a mindset that leads to elevated academic achievement.
• Fostering metacognition requires a balance of explicit instruction, teacher modeling, student-centered exploration, and responsive coaching that helps students first learn the kinds of questions and thought processes they can apply, and then grow to use them on their own.

In this article you will learn:

• Why mathematics standards were intentionally designed with two types: Standards for Mathematical Content and Standards for Mathematical Practice.
• Building metacognition in math can be achieved when teachers understand and integrate the content and practice standards, determine the grade-level progressions of the practice standards, and support students to use these practices on a daily basis through direct conversations about math.
• It is imperative that we teach our students to think like mathematicians by asking questions that foster metacognition and teach them to speak like mathematicians when making ownership statements that demonstrate that they are actively integrating both cognitive and metacognitive skills, both mathematical content and mathematical practice.