Self-Regulation
Self-Regulation Tools. Self-regulation tools can be found in a basket on the shelf. They are for everyone's use and must be returned before each recess break. Tools include noise reducing head phones and various hand fidgets.
Teach what staying focused looks like. I make sure students know what staying focused looks, sounds, and feels like. Using Interactive Modeling, I teach and have students practice how to keep quiet, talking only when truly necessary. I model exactly what their eyes, mouths, hands, and feet should be doing when they’re focused on a quiet independent task. I also teach “personal management”—for instance, how to take bathroom and water breaks if needed.
Relate academic stamina to physical stamina. I frequently use the analogy of marathon training when helping students build endurance for focusing. “Marathon runners can’t run 26.2 miles on day one. They build endurance day by day. Maybe they run three miles at first, then four, and so on. Eventually they build to twenty or more miles. This is similar to the way we’ll build our reading stamina. First we’ll begin with three minutes, then five minutes, and then ten.
Teach how to refocus. One important way to help students build stamina is to give them strategies for getting back on track when they lose focus. For example, I model breathing techniques (such as inhaling and exhaling slowly three times) and then students practice them. The goal is for students to have ways to take small breaks without disrupting their concentration or others’.
www.responsiveclassroom.org
Teach what staying focused looks like. I make sure students know what staying focused looks, sounds, and feels like. Using Interactive Modeling, I teach and have students practice how to keep quiet, talking only when truly necessary. I model exactly what their eyes, mouths, hands, and feet should be doing when they’re focused on a quiet independent task. I also teach “personal management”—for instance, how to take bathroom and water breaks if needed.
Relate academic stamina to physical stamina. I frequently use the analogy of marathon training when helping students build endurance for focusing. “Marathon runners can’t run 26.2 miles on day one. They build endurance day by day. Maybe they run three miles at first, then four, and so on. Eventually they build to twenty or more miles. This is similar to the way we’ll build our reading stamina. First we’ll begin with three minutes, then five minutes, and then ten.
Teach how to refocus. One important way to help students build stamina is to give them strategies for getting back on track when they lose focus. For example, I model breathing techniques (such as inhaling and exhaling slowly three times) and then students practice them. The goal is for students to have ways to take small breaks without disrupting their concentration or others’.
www.responsiveclassroom.org