Self-management is the ability to manage one’s emotions and behavior in varied situations. It includes stress management and keeping the motivation high to meet academic or personal objectives. In the classroom, students need to self manage themselves to pay attention to lectures delivered by the teacher. Self-management in the classroom includes taking notes, asking queries, and focussing on the topic without interrupting or disturbing others. As a teacher, you must build these skills in your students. Here are some strategies that can encourage students to exercise self-management in the classroom:
Mutual Agreement
Before starting any lecture or topic, the teachers can mutually agree with the students by taking their input. The agreement might be related to a specific subject or topic or relevant for the entire semester or year. As classrooms are even conducted through online means these days, the agreement might include some conditions related to remote learning situations. For instance, to raise a query, the students used to raise their hands in the classroom. However, with online classes with dozens of students learning at a time, the teacher might not be able to recognize whether a particular student has raised a hand to ask a question. Therefore, the agreement must include that a student should take permission by speaking clearly in his microphone before raising a query or concern.
Preparing a checklist
As a responsible teacher, you must create a comprehensive checklist that contains all the key self-management skills that the students must possess. You can include the names of all the students in the checklist to determine which are the most self-managed and the least self-managed kids in the classroom. As mentioned in the agreement, this will encourage the students to employ self-management strategies and be alert if someone breaks the rules.
The checklist can contain the following questions:
1- Is the student paying attention to what the teacher (you in this case) is saying?
2- Is the student waiting for the other kids to complete their questions before raising his query?
3- Is the tone in which the queries are being asked appropriate or not?
4- Is the student conveying his opinion rudely or politely?
Include the maximum number of questions related to self-management practices to make this checklist a complete leaderboard for evaluating the students' self-management skills.
Emotional discipline
Teaching students to control their emotions like anger, laughter, disagreement, etc., is vital for self-management. Some students might have innate behavior and qualities that enable them to exercise self-control. However, there might be many students in your class who cannot control their emotions. As a teacher, you must support these students by teaching them the basics of emotional discipline.For example, you can ask the students to take some deep breaths if they are going through an extreme emotion. Ask them to avoid thinking extremely of a situation in class or at home that can disturb them emotionally. You must provide the necessary emotional students going through a low period in their lives. However, at the same time, you must ask to refrain from showing any remorse or sadness during a lecture as it can affect other students as well.
Taking breaks
The students are not mature enough to demonstrate self-management skills 24/7. You must understand it is natural for them to be curious, interested, or naughty while dealing with different situations. Therefore, provide them with enough breaks between multiple lectures so that they can positively utilize their energy. For instance, you can incorporate some fun activities or games in an online class after every hour or two hours of serious training. Such breaks will not only help the kids to control their behavior but might also help them to maintain their motivation level.
Creating deadlines & sticking to them
As a teacher, you need to complete the syllabus in a particular period. Therefore, you must create some deadlines for your benefit. At the same time, you must also create deadlines for assignments, projects, and other academic activities so that the students remember and follow them completely.It is easy to get distracted and waver from the deadlines in an online class. Create a deadline for every topic or chapter and try to complete teaching within the deadline. Also, once the deadline ends, give the students a definite period to revise their lessons. You can take a small exam or test to check whether the students have understood the concepts or content of the lessons.To help the students stick to the deadlines, ask them to create a daily and weekly timetable or schedule. It will help them cover all the academic and learning activities without getting bored or distracted. Preparing a timetable is especially helpful for kids who are learning from home. It prevents them from wasting their time and helps them demonstrate self-management skills during the online classes by staying focused and motivated.
Self-management skills required for students of different age-groups
The self-management skills can differ for different age groups of students. For example, elementary school students need to be taught the importance of discipline and self-control in the classroom. Similarly, the students of secondary schools need to be aware of their academic and personal goals and must be motivated to achieve them without creating a scene in the classroom. High school students must be taught how to manage their emotions and stress to improve concentration and maintain their zeal to study new things.
If you follow all these tips and insights, imparting self-management skills to the students would not seem to be a complex task. However, the yardstick to measure self-management skills cannot be the same for all the students. Therefore, as a teacher, treat some students as special cases and take extra attention and effort to groom them.
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