Introduction | 9
W H AT T E A C H E R S S AY
“I was excited to see their responsibility and their problem-solving strategies in regard to taking on a challenging course. I also enjoyed seeing them take control of their success and feel confident of the path they had chosen.” —Rachel, geometry teacher
What Will I Find in This Book? The seventy-five instructional activities within this book come from practice-based research. Through our collaboration with thousands of middle and high school educators, the initial instruction, scenario-based guided learning, and independent practice activities have been tested and refined in diverse classrooms. Each chapter contains a variety of options to make it easy for educators to select activities that can be most effectively incorporated into their context, based on their grade level, content area, student population, or a variety of other factors. In other words, you don’t need to use every activity included in this book—choose the ones that will be most useful in helping your students reach the learning targets. Like learning anything else, self-regulation takes practice over time. In addition to purposeful instruction, students need practice in authentic settings to become proficient. Use your specific content area and context to pinpoint ways for students to practice self-regulation. The best way to help students develop self-regulation is by facilitating multiple opportunities for them to practice the components while providing them with constructive feedback and prompts for self-reflection. In each chapter, you’ll read about Mrs. Cooper’s research project. This vignette describes how one teacher facilitated students’ development through ongoing practice, reflection, and feedback. We have also included quotes from real people to illustrate how educators and students engage with the instructional activities. These quotes come directly from educators and students in schools that have implemented self-regulation instruction and practice. They were collected via interviews, professional development evaluations, and student work examples. This book is designed as a stand-alone toolkit that any educator in a middle or high school can use to improve instructional practices related to self-regulation; however, we encourage you to embark on this journey with other educators. Use the instructional planning form at the end of each chapter to take notes, modify the scenarios to resonate with your students, and contemplate ideas for facilitating students’ practice of the concepts. After reading each chapter, discuss your ideas with colleagues and try out a few of the instructional activities with students. Share your successes, and brainstorm solutions to any barriers you encounter. Chapters 1–7 provide
