In Chapter 1 of the Bain text, the author discusses the methodology for their study on what makes a college teacher truly exceptional. The first guiding question is about what the best teachers know and understand. They are all accomplished in their fields but that isn’t enough. Chapter 2 talks about this; how the best teachers motivate their students to connect information and evaluate problems using what they know. “[The best teachers] know how to simplify and clarify complex subjects, to cut to the heart of the matter with provocative insights, and they can think about their own thinking in the discipline, analyzing its nature and evaluating its quality.” Do you ever think about what you think about? How can metacognition make you a better teacher? Was there anything else in Chapter 2 that particularly struck you?

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