This summer I am writing a book with a colleague about self regulation and the common core. This blog began as book notes and now that I am nearing the end of the project I realized I have not been able to find the time to blog. I cannot complain, I have had great work space and time, maintained focus, and approached each writing session with self-set goals and self-instructions. However, I should have set aside time to blog…….
Self instruction is the way we focus our attention on the task at hand. I think we all do it at times, some call it “self talk” others call it “self-verbalizations” – however, training in self-instruction is critical for even our youngest learners.
I find that before I begin a day I self-instruct with a plan of action, make a list, and check the list to evaluate my progress. If I have made significant progress and am satisfied with my performance, self-efficacy goes up! If I have struggled to find a resource, citation, or idea for a new chapter, my self-efficacy goes down. The self-instruction helps me manage my self-efficacy beliefs when I taking a closer look at my progress and I can attribute success or failure to a particular behavior. When I add a comment next to each of my goals that attributes my behaviors to whether or not I accomplished the goal, I can realistically evaluate my progress. At that point, I know what to do, what to change, and how to reset my goals to make those I did not attain manageable and realistic, to try again.
So today’s self-instruction included blogging, and now that I have accomplished the task, I can attribute specific behaviors that led to my satisfaction. First, I planned how I would set aside the time early today…Second I decided to use one of my writing breaks….Third, I considered the importance of keeping up with the blog (which made it a priority)…..Fourth, instead of procrastinating over a cup of coffee, I did it!!!!
What does this have to do with the common core? Self-instruction can help teachers manage their classrooms and their lesson planning in a way that can turn the standards into goals, and instead of becoming overwhelmed with what we cannot do, we can consider our accomplishments and keep going……
Dr. White, thank you for you postings on self-regulation and learning. If it was for your blog, I would not be keeping up with my studies. I would have taken a vacation from studies and that would not be good. Thank you very much, Sandra.
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