Module 3

In both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, Woolfolk addressed the student’s role in managing their own behavior. Despite the value in teaching this skill, educators are sometimes not willing to invest the extra effort it takes to teach self-management to students (p. 493). Woolfolk suggests taking the time to teach students self-management will not only prepare them for working well independently, it will also lead to fewer classroom management problems allowing for more time and energy to devote to actual teaching (p. 493).

Encouraging students to set goals and teaching them how aim for higher standards can help increase student performance, and making goals public can also help keep students accountable (p. 277).   “Self-monitoring” in another important management behavior for students to learn. This could entail keeping track of tasks accomplished on one’s own or documenting or logging specific behaviors, such as the number of books read or assignments completed.  Self-monitoring is a valuable behavior that can be useful for students in learning how to break down assignments into smaller steps. Self-monitoring also offers the opportunity for “self-correction” (p. 277). Although not necessary, “self-reinforcement” via a self-imposed reward offers extra incentive to manage one’s behavior and accomplish tasks (p. 277).      

Self-management should be the goal of every classroom management system (p. 492).  Demanding obedience should be replaced by educating students how to regulate their behavior because when teachers focus on compliance, the opportunity to construct deep learning can be lost (p. 492).  Self management fosters valuable independent behaviors in students, which in turn helps facilitate more efficient learning because students don’t need to wait for direction from educators (p. 277).

Reference:

Woolfolk, A. (2016). Educational Psychology (13th ed.). Boston: Pearson.