Metacognition may be described as being aware of one's own thoughts, feelings, and actions, and the effects they might have on others.  It is a person's ability to reflect on and evaluate the quality of his thinking.

Children need to learn to examine their own thinking while in the process of performing their various tasks and activities.  This self-examination enables them to make corrections along the way, deciding what is working and what needs improvement.  One might compare it to drawing a plan, then evaluating and predicting outcomes as the plan unfolds.

At Hendricks Day School, metacognition, thinking about thinking, is highly valued.  Teachers constantly question students to stop and think, to consider the consequences, to make sure their approach is sound, to predict what would happen if.  Recognizing that this self-evaluation is developmental, the skill is more clearly identified in later grades, although students at every level are encouraged to "stop and think."