In chapter one, metacognition appears to be a big focus.  When teachers sit and think about thinking it is vital to think about a student’s prior knowledge.  After reading this first chapter I began to realize how often I forget about my students’ prior knowledge.  As I was reading a great insight passed through my neural network, my dendrites branched, I learned what might be the reason why students favor certain subjects over others.  When a student tries to match acquired information with prior knowledge it is like putting a puzzle together.  Like Thorndike’s puzzle box, trial and error appears to be the key.  A student will try to fit the new knowledge with prior knowledge and if it fits then the student feels a reward, but when it does not piece together, like the Fish is Fish, then it is discouraging.  Students begin early on to prefer subjects where the pieces fit with prior knowledge easier.  Therefore, this is how each student formulates his or her learning style and preferences.
     I believe that my love of science came from not being able to fit new knowledge with my existing knowledge.  The first time I can recall really realizing that I loved science was in the eighth grade.  I did not understand how writing related to what we would do later in life or even myself for that matter.  Science was relevant to me; I could see science and touch science.  Literature, grammar, history, and other subjects were just subjects to take away our time to play.  I now understand how all subjects are relevant to my life.
     The question that we must answer as a teacher is “How can I help the new knowledge piece together with prior knowledge?”  I hope that this class will help answer this question.  One of the suggestions the first chapter had was just to take a student and understand their prior knowledge as each lesson proceeds.  Each day as I teach I repeat this question to myself, with the hope that I might catch a piece of the puzzle that fits in that spot my students need most.