If you started school for the Fall, whether you’re a middle schooler, high schooler, or a college student, things are ramping up in classes now. We are shifting to the performance phase of self-regulated learning. After forethought, comes the performance phase in this cyclical process of learning. It is where monitoring your comprehension and regulation of your chosen strategy become the most important things to focus on. You may have to adjust or change some things and must therefore possess the ability, to be honest with yourself and have the willingness to change and be adaptable.
It’s not the phase to beat yourself up or throw in the towel because things aren’t going as you had planned beautifully in the forethought phase. We are human, we are not perfect and even when we don’t always stand up to our own highest ideals, know that failure and falling short is a part of your growth and development as a learner. After all, some things are just not within our control.
You could compare this to driving a car on a journey using your Google Maps. You know your destination, and you have a roadmap to get there. You set out on your trip, but find that along the journey there are accidents leading to detours, and some of the terrains are bumpy, even downright treacherous. You may get a flat tire! Do you turn around and go home in defeat or do you find a way to press on? It’s the same principle when you are honing your self-regulated learning skills. Each day of your course or program could bring new academic or personal challenges to face and overcome
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Here are some questions to ask yourself in this phase as you reflect to develop better self-regulation.
· Am I understanding what I am learning?
· Am I communicating with instructors/coaches to advocate for myself?
· Am I able to delay food, physical or social pleasures to get my work done?
· Am I managing to stick to my schedule any at all or somewhat?
· Am I utilizing technology tools and apps in effective ways to increase my productivity?
· Am I feeling in control?
· Am I adjusting to changes in assignments, personal responsibilities, and class schedules?
As we ask ourselves these questions, if the answer to any of these is a no, then there are steps you can take, and resources to be tapped to help you stay the course to achieve your goal. It may be extra time with an instructor, tutoring, accessing library resources, spending time with an academic coach, or just rearranging your schedule to accommodate the unexpected
The most important attribute of a self-regulated learner is a fundamentally positive self-concept and attitude. The ability to reflect positively on our own progress is best fueled by a growth mindset. That is the self-motivating belief that you can learn anything, overcome any challenge, in order to develop mastery and succeed in your learning.
