Think Long -Term : They Won't Be Students Forever

After reading Carrie Germeroth & Crystal Day-Hess' Self Regulated Learning For Academic Success I've been thinking a lot about how brief our time with our students or athletes or colleagues really is in the grand scheme of things.

For our impact with these people to be long-term we have to be building self-regulation skills rather than simple behavior or task management.

We don't want them to rely on us to remind them to put their name on the paper.
We don't want them to rely on us to tell them what to eat and what not to eat.
We don't want them to rely on us to tell them they're doing a good job to keep going.
We don't want them to rely on us to be watching for them to treat people right.

Managing behavior is for the short-term; building self-regulation skills is for the long-term.

"Self-Regulation is an internal process in which an individual uses a multifaceted set of emotional and cognitive skills...to regulate his or her own behavior. Within educational literature, the term behavior management refers to external processes or rules that are imposed on students to manage their behaviors." -page 38

We have to be teaching / showing them how to do it on their own - outside of the classroom or in a different venue or environment.

The goal can't be simply to stop the behavior from happening in our presence or in our classroom; the goal has to be for the person to be able to stop their own inappropriate or counter-productive behavior no matter where they are or who they're with.

They have to be able to thrive in any situation, not just with us or in our classroom or school.

We need to teach lessons that last.

"By drawing on their previous learning experiences, they can assemble a better toolkit of strategies and build confidence in their ability to take on new challenges." -page 4

Transfer isn't something we can take for granted; self-regulation skills like learning from experience need to be drilled and strengthened like critical reading or writing skills.

Build in reflection time; don't just ask content questions.

It's not enough that they can demonstrate something with us around; they need to be able to do it without us and outside the confines of the classroom or schoolhouse.

"Your less self-regulated students may not know the best ways to approach the task or which goals are most appropriate, particularly when they are encountering unfamiliar topics." -page 16

If all we're doing is preparing students for end of the year exams or even preparing them for college, then we're definitely not thinking long-term enough.

There's a lot of life to live and a lot of learning to happen after 22, and it's when they're not doing what they're doing for a grade or because someone is telling them to that we'll see how impactful and how meaningful their time with us was.

What good was my teaching or training if it can't be used anywhere except class or in the school or in an isolated time or place?

I can't be there forever; if it's lost or it falls apart when I'm gone or even some time after I'm gone, then what was the point?

How can I build self-regulating skills in school?

"Now is the time to begin teaching them that they don't necessarily need another person to tell them how well they are doing; they can figure it out on their own with tools that record and track their goals, the learning strategies they use, and their learning outcomes." -page 18

1. Expose students to multiple styles of note taking / information recording and let them choose which to use based on the information that need to be recorded - have them explain why they chose what they chose in their notes. Instead of giving them an outline, or a chart, or a Venn diagram create opportunities for them to decide which one to use; by reflecting on why they chose what they chose and how well it worked they're more likely to make the informed decision next time in a different context. They're not doing what they're doing because someone told them to.

2. In a language class have students create their own unit vocabulary list. Present to them the objectives and topics of the unit, and instruct them to create the vocabulary list they think they'll need the most. It will make the words mean more, and builds prioritization skills. Follow up with your recommended vocabulary list to create multiple reflective opportunities for students.

3. Allow groups to choose multiple platforms for presenting; build in to the process reflection on why they chose what they chose and how well it went. Being able to choose the right tool for the task is a critical self-regulation skill.

If they don't have the tools to do it, then instead of doing it for them we ought to help develop it.

4. Act out a behavior of focus people demonstrate toward others in group settings, both positive and negative, and have students reflect on how the observed behavior impacts others in the group before starting the next team project. 

5. Create opportunities for your students,colleagues, or athletes to log, curate, and interpret their own data. Being able to identify your own areas of need and opportunities for growth is a critical self'-regulating skill. Utilize portfolios, allow students time to really look at old writing samples before starting new ones, let your athletes break down their own film, and make self-assessment and reflection as meaningful as teacher assessment and commentary. 

6.  Get them talking about it. It doesn't matter what it is. If they're talking about it and how it works, or how it can be improved, or how to get better at it, then chances are it'll stick more than it would otherwise.

Think about the long-term impact of your lessons; how can they be used for future learning or to solve future problems? How could they be?

Simple adjustments can yield huge dividends.