Building Self-Regulation Skills - E115

Rachel: 0:40

In this episode, we are tackling the skill of self regulation.

Katie: 0:45

Yes, it happens to be the third and final pillar in terms of engagement for Universal Design for Learning.

Rachel: 0:52

let's get started. This week Katie and I are gonna be chatting about self-regulation. So this is yet another pillar in the engagement part of the UDL framework.

Katie: 1:12

Yes, it's the third and final pillar in the engagement. And so it's kind of neat to, to close this one off and also get ready for the next part of our series.

Rachel: 1:23

Yeah. So I guess uh, we should start by just kind of defining what self-regulation is. So I'm just gonna read this right from the website because like, I can't say it any better than what they're saying. It, it says the ability to self-regulate is to basically be able to strategically modulate one's emotional, re, re reactions or states in order to be more effective at coping and engaging with the environ.

Katie: 1:49

Yeah. And there are days when I don't think I'm so great at that. So if, if we're being honest this, especially in a student's life, whether they be teenagers or preteens, et cetera, with hormones raging through their bodies, I can just imagine how difficult this bunch must.

Rachel: 2:09

Well, you say that and you're, it's so true, right? Is self-regulation is one of those skills that I don't think is ever really explicitly taught in schools.

Katie: 2:20

No, no. And it's interesting because it's one of the learning skills too, and how can we be rating learning skills that we're not really teaching to students in some ways, and I know they're not Marks driven, they don't impact. But it's one of the learning skills that I think is really important to kind of help students in their futures to be able to cope with reactions and end all the rest. It's a good one to know.

Rachel: 2:44

definitely.

Katie: 2:45

So in terms of this part of udl, they break it down into three different uh, checkpoints. And so I'll list the checkpoints and then we can get started from there. So the first one is promote expectations and beliefs that optimize motivation. The second one is facilitate personal coping skills and strategies. And the last one is develop self-assessment and reflection.

Rachel: 3:09

Yeah. So let's just jump right into promoting expectations and beliefs that optimize motivation. So that's about setting personal goals that inspire confidence and ownership of learning.

Katie: 3:21

So yeah, so this one's neat. I like that they, they provide some different ways that we can kind of keep this in mind as educators. So they say to provide prompts, reminders, guys, or rubrics or even checklists that help students kind of check in and see how they're doing with respect to some of their goals. And then also when they're getting frustrated too, which I think sometimes I need, it would be good to have like a little checklist for myself when I feel myself getting frustrated to be like, do I need to pause? Do I need to back away for a few minutes and then come back? And then also looking at how long you can stay on task without too distracted, et cetera, and looking to increase that length of time and elevating frequency of self-reflection and self reinforcement, which can be challenging for anyone. So, so taking a look at how we can get students to really think about how they're feeling and, and how it's affecting their work.

Rachel: 4:13

I feel like I've seen a lot of these kind of checklists and prompts, reminders at the elementary level. I, I feel like those kind of anchor charts are very, very prominent in an elementary classroom, and then we lose them in secondary and they're not as frequently seen, if at all.

Katie: 4:32

No, and in Ontario, like when you're reading report cards, you're really looking mostly at the learning skills because that's where it gives the most personalized comments. And so it's interesting how big of a shift that occurs between elementary to secondary, where it's less stress on learning skills and more on grades. It's fascinating that disconnect.

Rachel: 4:51

Yeah, you're you're so true. Whenever I get my son's report card, that's the, and that's the piece of the report card with his elementary one that gives me the most information about how he's doing in his classroom. The rest of it is just, it's, it's, it's almost. Like they're picking just comments from a comment bank and it, it, it doesn't really flow or connect together. Right? Whereas the learning skills is like highly, highly personalized. But then in, in secondary, at least in Ontario, all we get for students are, all we're reporting on is just what the level is for the learning skill without having an actual comment that goes along.

Katie: 5:30

Yeah. So this makes me think, like, I think we need to tap on some mentor teachers shoulders and say, Hey, what do you use for some of these learning skill reflections in helping students to stay on task? And, and I think it's helpful to have that in your classroom, particularly if you do have a lot of behaviors or a lot of frustrations or students that could just kind of use that reminder and check in.

Rachel: 5:50

Now there i, I have played a little bit with with some self-reflection. I, I really do like getting my students to reflect in a classroom. So I've done, I was last semester using a daily check-in. which actually kind of fell off a little bit of the way because it was too frequent. I found it was too, too frequent. But with my daily check-in it, there was always a question around, well, how are you feeling today? And how are you doing today? Just so I could gauge the current mood of what my classroom was to then sort of know where my students were starting.

Katie: 6:25

Yeah. And that's helpful, right? They sometimes they're gonna be pretty honest with you, and if they're having a rough day and you're asking the question, you're gonna get that honesty, which is super helpful. If it means that you can help proactively prevent, you know, disruptive behaviors in the classroom and you can support them to be more successful that day.

Rachel: 6:41

I think this semester there's a weekly reflection that I've come across from, it's a resource from someone who developed it with modern classrooms. And um, I kind of like that. I kind of like that idea of just doing the reflection at the end of the week to talk about what they've learned, how the week's gone, how they've felt. It's gone and. you know, whether they've been distracted or not. So it, it is kind of integrating some of these ideas and I think maybe a little less frequent is gonna give me a little bit more honesty in terms of the responses that I get.

Katie: 7:17

And even something, so one of the big distractors that is in my classroom is obviously technology. And I'd say obviously maybe it isn't, but um, it's obvious to me and that's one of those things where I have been doing more regular check-ins with my students when I notice. That they're totally glued. I'm like, okay, what's going on? What do we need to do? Is it helpful for me to leave it on my desk? Do you want to put it in your bag? Like, how can I get you back on task before we get too distracted again? Um, And sometimes they just want it there as that security blanket, which I get. But um, they just need some reminders to put it down and get to work so they're not getting carried away with videos and distracted by other things. It's challenging.

Rachel: 7:57

It's very challenging. I like to ask my students when they're on their phones and they're getting distracted by them, I'm like, I go up to them and because I wanna give them a bit of the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they're looking something up, or if it's my ESL science class, like maybe they're translating a word or something like that. So I don't necessarily know until I'm right on top of them, but I will usually ask them just are we making good choices with our. and and it's the best. Cuz you always get the most honest reaction back from them. And they're, you know, if they're, if they're obviously being distracted by phones, they're like, no, I'm probably not making very good choices right now. And then you know, they get on when they work. So I don't know. I have a lot of fun with that one.

Katie: 8:41

I have one student who um, He's always smiling and laughing when he is looking at his phone, so we always call his name and I'm like, there's no way you're working on English if that's your reaction,

Rachel: 8:52

Yeah.

Katie: 8:53

And he just laughs at me and I'm, it's, it's kind of fun, but it's like our daily banter. I always try to get him off that phone, but let me tell you, but I get it like it is addictive. It is the technology of the day. It's, it's hard.

Rachel: 9:06

It's funny you bring that up. I have a couple of students in in my new class and they were giggling at the back too, and like really giggling like, like the one student's giggle is, is just so infectious. I was giggling at him to, and then he, he said something along the lines of, well, science is just this fun But you're right, it's, it's, it's a nice opportunity to then kind of have the banter with students.

Katie: 9:33

So one of their suggestions, and I wish it were possible, and it's probably not in the public system is the idea of having coaches or mentors that can actually help students and model the process of some of these goal setting activities and and help them make good choices. We do not have that in second.

Rachel: 9:51

We don't. We don't at all. I think possibly in the United States, they probably have like a lot more of their instructional coaches. We probably do a lot more of that work than unfortunately here in Canada. We just don't have that sort of structure in our education system, which I won't go off on a rant on, but I think we can do so much better here.

Katie: 10:12

But yeah, so it's this idea of like how we can optimize motivation for kids, but also guide them in making good choices and setting goals for themselves and, and being aware of things that are distracting to their learning.

Rachel: 10:25

I liken their description though for this uh, particular checkpoint, like helping students set personal goals that can be realistically reached and. The reason that's, I guess, that's kind of really resonating with me is, um, a lot of our teachers will do a beginning of the semester survey with their students and, um, I was overhearing some conversations, but the kinds of questions that people are putting in their surveys and one colleague of mine. Had something like, what goal do you expect or do you wanna achieve in this course? And then the next question is, is your goal realistic?

Katie: 11:02

Ah.

Rachel: 11:03

And uh, well, it's like, it's very grade oriented and it kind of, I, I wouldn't go there with my surveys. I thought it was interesting to kind of ask, you know, and, and have the students stop and go, oh, is that really a realistic goal based on past achievement?

Katie: 11:20

But part of me also says, who's to say it isn't? and why do we wanna sow seeds of doubt?

Rachel: 11:26

But maybe like taking that sort of idea of, well, let's set a goal and, and then reflect on is this goal realistic? Like can we reach it by X state? Then I think that's a very, very useful exercise.

Katie: 11:42

and, and having students. Brainstorm steps they can take to reach that goal. Right? So if that's their goal, let them have that goal, but get them thinking about how they can actually do it. Because it's one thing to say it's a goal, but it's another thing to follow through with, you know, the basic steps like studying, homework, review, whatever the case may be to help make that possible.

Rachel: 12:02

Kinda reminds me of the book, like Atomic Habits, like you would want to help students go. Okay. Like what's the, the, the one sort of like, next thing, tiny little action I can do to build towards my goal and what's that one thing that I can do in order to get there. because you, the, the second sort of part of that is that like, it, it also talks about fostering positive beliefs in your students, that their goals can be met. So you really want to help them build those realistic goals and then help them achieve those steps to be able to get there. because there are a lot of students, honestly, the, that I've come across that are like, well, eh, I probably can't do that. And it's just, it's, it's I guess trying to foster that growth kind of mindset.

Katie: 12:47

Yeah. And some kids mature too, right? Like from one year to the next, and so putting that doubt in their mind is probably not the best because then it's like, Hmm, maybe I can't actually do it. Maybe this is wrong. Maybe I should just give up now.

Rachel: 13:01

Let's, uh, jump into the next checkpoint. So the next checkpoint is all about facilitating personal coping skills and strategies.

Katie: 13:10

Yeah. So this one is actually more the meats meat and potatoes of like helping them actually get to reaching those goals. Whereas the other one is like, how can we model it and get them thinking this way and seeing kind of that the self-regulatory skills. And so this one I think is more manageable. This one I think is more realistic, at least in. Teaching reality uh, because it's all about providing them with tools to help get, working on developing those skills.

Rachel: 13:39

So they talk a lot about, uh, providing differentiated models and scaffolds and feedback for all of the skills that we've talked about that are important in self-regulation. One of them is, uh, talking about like, almost just we were talking about now, like building up those positive beliefs and working on that growth mindset kind of language. And you know, I've been really, really aware of language over the past sort of couple of years in my classroom. And, uh, one that I really, really like that I've. Often on social media is that poster where they, they have the, you know, I'm not good at math, and then it's like dot, dot, dot yet, and I love adding the word yet to it.

Katie: 14:24

And how can we get rid of those fears of failure in certain subject areas and, and feeling like subjects just aren't for them. I'm not gonna lie to you. I am guilty of that. If you were to put me in an art classroom, I would be like, oh no, this is not for me. I'm terrible at art. Just wait. I'll be happy to get a 50 But I guess I'm just as guilty as some of our students are, right? Because there's that fear of, I don't know what the fear is. I think it's partially a failure, but it's also of not doing.

Rachel: 14:54

It's, uh, fear of failure. It's not doing well. It's looking bad in front of your peers. There, there's many, many reasons why students, students might feel that. I almost feel like here though, like this particular checkpoint in the udl framework is, is also kind of screaming mastery based learning. Again, because it does, it really does build up a student's confidence being able to do something that they think they're really bad.

Katie: 15:25

Yep. and so some of the different ways that they suggested is using checklists and mastery and checklists. That's phenomenal, right? Like it works hand in hand. So breaking those things up into little pieces and little steps and letting students see, okay, let's do this first done. I can demonstrate that. Move it on to the next try again. So, It, it really does go well with mastery. And, and some of what they're talking about here is also like using these checklists, et cetera, for, for more personal or social anxieties as well. And I think that's, it's interesting, but it's very relevant for the classroom because it's not a comfortable place for everybody.

Rachel: 16:06

Yeah. No, I was just gonna say that's very.

Katie: 16:08

And, and so it can be very challenging to be in a classroom surrounded by peers you're not comfortable with. Maybe be called on in class, maybe be afraid to make mistakes with your speaking or anything else on if you're an ELL or whatever the case may be. But so, Build these skills, these coping skills, and these strategies that they can use to, to reach success. it's such, I don't know. It's a good concept. It's a good thing, and I don't think we do enough of it.

Rachel: 16:36

I would agree. I don't, I don't think we do enough of it either.

Katie: 16:39

No. Like the only course that I ever really explicitly teach learning skills is the general learning strategies course, because that's a big part of what that course is about, is helping students to do that. But I don't do that in the rest of my classes.

Rachel: 16:52

Yeah, no, it is. It is interesting.

Katie: 16:54

and it's, it's these little things where, you know, if you have students that are overwhelmed and frustrated, it's going to end up as behavior, so why not address them head on? Why not have conversations at the beginning of the semester or whatever else, and little check-ins with those that perhaps, Admit to you that, Hey, I'm super frustrated in your class, and I, and I act out, or I skip, or whatever the case may be.

Rachel: 17:21

So the, the last sort of checkpoint for self-regulation is about developing self-assessment and reflection. And we have talked a bit this a bit already, but let's dive a little bit deeper.

Katie: 17:32

So they're talking more about like monitoring emotions and their reactions to things going on around them. Good skill to have. So it's really kind of making them think about it and making them reflect on it and, and making them more aware of what's happening.

Rachel: 17:46

what I really like here. And, and what's sort of resonating with me is they're talking about for learners, being able to recognize that they're making progress towards greater independence is highly motivat. And then on the other hand, losing that motivation can happen because of their inability to be able to recognize their own progress. And I feel like, again, it's screaming mastery based learning, but maybe that's because my mind is biased and uh, I'm seeing it through that lens.

Katie: 18:16

Yeah. I think it happens more naturally in a classroom where they have that flexibility of time and space and attention to teacher as needed. So it does scream mastery because it, that classroom model allows for that, whereas a traditional classroom setting where, you what are the phrases? Chalk and talk or sage on the stage, and it's a lot of delivered by teacher and not much else in terms of kind of that interaction or ability to kind of hit pause and take a break as needed. It's harder to manage your own behaviors when you are feeling frustrated or overwhelmed.

Rachel: 18:49

So one of those strategies they talk about is offering devices, aids, or charts to assist individuals in learning to collect chart and display data from their own behavior for the purpose of monitoring changes in those behaviors. I do this from a teacher end, like in terms of behaviors of, maybe not like the emotional stuff, but being able to stay on task. I'll do with my progress trackers. And displaying my, my Progress tracker in class. And I've started keeping it up during the entire class period. And then students are seeing themselves move forward as, they're completing mastery checks and stuff. But then I've also just started creating all these individual checklists like trackers for students to use on their own too, to help them be able to track for themselves. And it goes into, More detail than like each task within a lesson and what they're working on, and then they can check it off as they complete it.

Katie: 19:48

Do you then have them reflect on maybe what the DES distractions have been or what's held them back, or you know, how they can improve for the following unit?

Rachel: 19:56

That's a great question and I need to include that. So, I think that's where having that weekly reflection and being able to reflect back on then what's gone well that week, what hasn't gone well, what's been distracting and, and resetting their goal for the next week would be really, really helpful. Like I think I'm scaffolding well in terms of. My expectations on what I expect their goals to be, but I'm not giving them enough space right now to then take that and, and reflect and set their own goals. So I think that's somewhere I can definitely improve.

Katie: 20:30

Another question to ask is, what has been going on in my life that might impact my learning? Because if they're sharing that with you and willing to even just by including it one week, they might feel comfortable enough, that might give you a bit more insight as to what's going on and how you can support them.

Rachel: 20:46

And then the other sort of suggestion here is using activities that is gonna help a learner get feedback. And also access to alternative scaffolds to support their understanding of their program.

Katie: 21:01

Yeah. I think it's just a, a way to make sure students are aware of what's going on. How they're doing and how they're progressing and what they need to still work on or be more aware of. And that's fair. need that. I need a tracker for my prep period to say, Hey, yeah, well you're getting distracted, Or maybe I don't because I'm all too aware.

Rachel: 21:23

It's interesting though, like I, I feel like through all of this self-regulation, I'm pretty good at focusing on the curriculum side of things, but maybe not so much the emotional side or the, the resilience type of skill that, that we really need to develop as humans.

Katie: 21:40

I think a lot of self-regulation. we make assumptions that students understand and then perhaps we implicitly teach it. Not really being aware that that's what we're doing, but I think it would be helpful to be a little more direct with it and to actually guide students and make them understand what that looks like and sounds like, and feels like in a classroom and how they can improve.

Rachel: 22:04

Well, this has been certainly helpful for my learning.

Katie: 22:06

I know, right? We don't talk about self self-regulation enough.

Rachel: 22:11

Well, hopefully we've given you some ideas then on, or at least things to think about as you are building self-regulation skills and developing those skills uh, for students in your classroom. So what we'll do is we'll include any of the links or resources we talked about here today in our show notes. You can access our show notes for this episode@edugals.com slash one 15. That's edu G a l s.com/one 15.

Katie: 22:41

And if you like what you heard today, then feel free to share it with a colleague or a friend. And don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast app so that you don't miss out on any future content.

Rachel: 22:50

and as always, we'd love to hear from you. So if you've got some great ideas for self-regulation that you use in. Your classroom, we'd love to hear them. You could go onto our flip at edu gals.com/flipgrid and leave us a video message there, or you could go onto our website@edugals.com and leave us a written reply.

Katie: 23:11

Thanks for listening and see you next.