Maggie HoodyLearning Matters: Helping Students Increase Their Learning Power by Learning About Learning

Learning Matters, finds itself at the cross section between growth mindset education and Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. As many of us transition back to in person teaching, we have to prepare for students who may have spent more than a year simply practicing what they already knew, not actually learning. With the challenges of online teaching, many teachers gave out work that simply floated skills, instead of pushing for new learning opportunities. As a first grade teacher I know that my students coming in next year will need to learn how to learn for the first time. Dr. Hoody’s book and it’s online resources are exactly what I have been looking for as I begin preparing for uncharted territory next fall. We all discuss the challenges we faced during the pandemic, but we now have to prepare for what lies ahead, post pandemic learning. What will our post pandemic growth look like? I am so excited to use these lessons for the first few weeks as I get to know my new students and focus on their social emotional learning. Self awareness is one of the most powerful tools we can give young minds. Learning Matters will help my students understand how to utilize metacognition, learning about learning. I highly recommend this teaching tool, it guides you through an entire unit that can be done in just over two school weeks. I used this at the end of the school year and cannot wait to start my year with these lessons come the fall. LOVE LOVE LOVE this curriculum!

This book offers sound, thorough guidance to help students understand what learning is and how to be aware of and cultivate their own cognition. As a teacher, helping students learn about learning always sounds good in theory, but can be a daunting undertaking in practice. "Learning Matters" takes away any fear of the unknown by providing teachers with complete lesson plans (that are easily adaptable to the reader's classroom context if needed) to equip our students with the tools they need to engage with complex tasks in the school setting. As an instructional coach in an elementary setting always looking for ways to help our students become more capable learners, I will absolutely utilize this resource with our staff to guide our teachers in helping our students navigate learning.

As a teacher for more than fifteen years, I am beyond excited to finally have a resource that dives deep into how I can help students learn about their learning. Maggie has built a beautiful framework that can be molded into any unique learning community across grades k-8. She has used Theory Into- Practice-Approach to guide the easy-to-follow lessons into three distinct learning phases that begins with The Nature of Learning followed by Learner Qualities and ending with Planning and Monitoring a Learning Journey. Each lesson is fully equipped with everything needed to implement with your learners. I am excited to begin this journey with my fourth graders next year and most importantly have learners begin to think about their learning, how they learn and knowing when they are learning.

If you are a teacher, do yourself a favor and BUY THIS BOOK! It is a fast, easy, and enjoyable read filled with easy to implement lessons designed for use during the first six weeks of school. Hoody has included- along side an overview of the entire arch of lessons- clear, easy to understand plans for each individual lesson, along with master copies of student materials needed. Plans are clearly laid out and easy to follow; there is even teacher talk included for each lesson! Hoody could not have put more thought into what a teacher needs for a successful lesson. I'm looking forward to using these lessons with my class this fall!

As an “old” teacher (18 years in the game) I am so excited to get this this book and implement the lessons into my classroom. Dr. Hoody does an amazing job mapping out lessons that are easy to follow/implement and are focused on student learning. I wish I had this book when I started teaching! The resources that come along with the book are extremely helpful and add tons of value to the already valuable text. This book is a must have for both new and veteran teachers