LRG – Teaching Students How to Use Self-Management

Self-management is a robust technique whereby students of all ages and ability levels learn how to control their learning and social behaviors. When students effectively self-manage, teachers spend more time on instruction and less time reminding students how to behave, which benefits teachers and students. Additionally, students learn independence when they self-manage. This guide presents a 10-step instructional sequence for teaching students three types of self-management: self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement. Each type can be taught to a whole class, small groups, or individual students (grades K-12). Any type can be used with both learning and social behaviors.

Through this simple 10-step process, students learn what self-management is, why to use it, how to apply it, and when to use it. Instruction includes role-playing, modeling, and demonstrating mastery during guided practice and in the actual setting. Instruction takes about one hour, spread across multiple sessions. After instruction, follow-up is necessary to reinforce students’ use of self-management and confirm that accurate self-management occurs.