Metacognition in Action: How ISR is Shaping Future-Ready Students

During December and January, ISR students, teachers, and parents participated in focus groups to provide feedback on the new Learner Portfolio tool piloted during the November parent conferences. This platform houses the personal learning plans of middle school students (Grades 6-9) and follows the same process as previous years. The focus groups helped assess how effectively students reflected on their academic progress and the six learner ambitions: creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, compassion, communication, and curiosity.

As ISR transitions from the 16 Habits of Mind to the six learner ambitions by grade level and by phases during these next months, our goal is to equip students with skills that foster confidence and success while visualizing growth using this tool. Here’s what some of our Grade 6-9 students had to say about the Learner Portfolio:

• "It is practical for tracking our growth and linking evidence to the ambitions and subtopics.”
• "It supports reflection and self-assessment, which are not available in Canva."
• "It provides charts to track our progress (although we tend to underutilize them)."

Our journey with Metacognition and Learner Ambitions began during the 2021-22 school year with sample science lessons in Grades 2-5, class meetings in Grade 6, and advisory classes in Grades 7-9. Since then, we have formalized these lessons in our advisory program and expanded them to additional grade levels. The 2024-25 school year marks the full integration of the Learner Portfolio into middle school grades, where each student’s Personal Learning Plan (PLP) is guided by teachers, created by students, shared with parents during conferences. Ultimately these will be uploaded to our Learning Management System as all previous personal learning plans.

To support this transition, we incorporated teacher training on both the Learner Ambitions lesson plans—rooted in research-based thinking routines from Project Zero—and the Learner Portfolio platform. Teachers also shared their experiences with the Learner Portfolio tool:

• "Instructions and ‘moment captures’ in the tool help students connect real experiences with their ambitions and reflect meaningfully on their growth."
• "It fosters goal-setting and accountability through SMART goals and meaningful reflection."
• "All types of media are centralized for easy access, making it a valuable portfolio tool."
• "Voice and choice allow students to creatively upload evidence and share perspectives."
• "Teachers appreciate how the platform challenges students and reinforces positive learning habits."

Parents also provided insightful feedback:

• "I liked the platform overall."
• "I love seeing how students set their own goals and learn to achieve them."
• "(Students) challenge themselves to improve their academic record without compromising classwork."

Parents engaged in conversations highlighting their appreciation for ISR’s focus on essential thinking routines and learning ambitions that form habits to drive future success. They look forward to seeing continued progress in upcoming conferences.

Alongside the positive feedback, we also identified areas for improvement to better support students, teachers, and parents. We are analyzing both the focus group and the survey data (teachers and students only) to refine our approach.

Ultimately, we are excited to engage in lessons that teach the learner ambitions and also to track each child’s progress through the Learner Portfolio platform. This tool transforms student reflections and teacher feedback into visual representations of growth and areas for development. We encourage parents to stay involved by reviewing the parent letter sent in November to Grades 6-9 families and engaging in the posts and updates we will share periodically in preparation for end of year conferences.

Additionally, we invite all parents to explore detailed information about the project recently published by Forbes magazine and this related video for further insights into the Metacognition project and its impact within our Nord Anglia community.