As a child advances in age, it’s assumed that they know how to manage themselves, because they are quiet, sit still, and complete assignments.  There is so much more to self-management than that.  

When I think of self-management, I compare it to ownership as part of learner agency.  Both of them are more difficult to define, because it’s part of our being of who we are.  We can’t do a quick strategy to develop self-management skills, which means they must be done over again through a duration of time. For those who want it one and done, this is going to be a growth area for you as you delve further into making it a vital part of your daily process.

In this episode, we will look at ways to increase learner self-management, so they can build up resilience through life’s toughest challenges. All of these ideas will be applicable for grades 1-6 homeroom, specialist, and supporting teachers. 

But first, let's look at some of the skills we as educators need to model, so our learners are able to apply it to their own practice.

• Provide opportunities for students to monitor and manage their learning to make progress.
• Involve students in planning.
• Build resilience by ensuring that learning goals co-constructed with students are challenging but achievable.
• Create an atmosphere where students regard learning as a process of gradual improvement.
• Continually reflect on how they are supporting student agency as an intrinsic motivation to success.
• Support students to manage distractions

The self-management sub-skills help learners to know how to appropriately interact with each other.  The social skills are divided into two criteria:

• Organization
• States of mind

​When I am looking at these, my natural inclination is going towards states of mind.  This is an area that is seldom explored and I want to break it down into bite-size pieces.  Let’s go!

States of mind is such a huge area of focus with mindfulness, perseverance, emotional management, self-motivation, and resilience.  The one that pops out to me is resilience, since it is still a growing area in my practice with learners.  We will match up the ways that teachers can support learners with each sub-skill criteria. 

Disappointment is a sadness for not achieving something we really want. This greatly affects our state of mind, because we yearn for something that will not happen or was not meant to be.  Disappointment comes in a variety of ways: loss of relationships, poor academic performance, family life, not achieving goals, etc.  The hardest part about disappointment is that it can stay with us for a long time.  We may not show it daily, but it sits in the back of our mind. 

What teachers can do:  Create an atmosphere where students regard learning as a process of gradual improvement.

• Our learners will feel disappointment on a regular basis.  How do we get them to deal with these disappointments in a healthy way?  One possibility is creating an environment where learners are able to take risks without a consequence.  The more risks they take, they will be better equipped to deal with disappointments that occur along the way.  In addition, it creates an underwritten rule that we are focused on growth over time, rather than an isolated incident.  This allows learners to deal with their disappointments head on, rather than pretending they don’t exist.  They eventually come back with greater consequences. 

What teachers can do: Support students to manage distractions

• Another way to support disappointment is allowing students to manage distractions.  When disappointment occurs in our lives, we become fixated on that singular event and stop momentum towards our goal.  We get distracted. How will your learners work through their disappointments?  Will they use a visual reminder?  Will they work with a buddy?  There are so many ways, but we must allow the learner to determine the best one for them. 

I believe self-management is one of the hardest ATLs to “teach” in the PYP.  It’s at the root of who you are as a learner, similar to ownership in agency.  There are things you can do to support self-management development, but it requires the learner to do most of the heavy lifting.  

As you enter any early years classroom on the first day of school, you see a lot of curiosity, talking, and bonding.  You also see a lot of students who are learning to self-manage their social skills, so all voices are being heard.  It can be overwhelming for a new teacher. Yet, there is satisfaction in laying the groundwork of self-management skills that will help learners to channel their enthusiasm and curiosity to achieve tasks and overcome obstacles within themselves. 

Self-management skills require young learners to look deep within their beliefs and actions to determine why and how they do certain things and how to take corrective measures.  In this episode, we will examine how self-management provides freedom to take risks and make mistakes in order to become more well-rounded learners.

But first, let's look at some of the skills we as educators need to model, so our learners are able to apply it to their own practice.

• Ensure sufficient time for uninterrupted play.
• Support children with transitions by sharing a visual timetable and by counting down reminders.
• Provide opportunities to meet as members of a learning group.
• Involve students in planning and organizing learning spaces (including cleaning up).
• Create an atmosphere where learning is viewed as a process of gradual improvement.
• Continually reflect on how they are supporting student agency as an intrinsic motivation for participation.
• Develop their skills in supporting students with developing their ability to self regulate (including focus, working memory, managing emotions and making choices).

The self-management sub-skills help learners to know how to appropriately interact with each other.  The social skills are divided into two criteria:

• Organization
• States of mind

When I look at the sub-skills, I’m actually torn between what is practical and what my heart wants to talk about.  I believe organization is at the heart of the early years classroom.  It drives what learners can do and their level of independence.  Meanwhile, they must also be resilient to constant changes within their environment as they navigate social interactions with others. 

My head is telling me to focus on organization and I’m sure my heart will follow shortly.  I’m going to follow protocol from the social skills and match up what teachers can do to each sub-skill criteria. 

​When I think of our earliest learners, organization is at the heart of everything we do.  We are setting up the systems of the classroom, so they can learn how to maintain and organize them.  This is a huge year-long effort on the part of the teacher and team to establish organizational practices that will lead towards independence.  It’s not an easy feat, but you can definitely tell the difference in learners and how classrooms function when organization is established.

​The first way to show organization is by supporting our learning in choosing and completing tasks independently.  The first thing that comes to my mind is a Reggio Emilia classroom.  If you’ve not seen their classroom set-up, look for some images on Google or join their Facebook group.  Their classrooms are specifically designed so learners can choose materials and complete tasks independently. 

Ensure sufficient time for uninterrupted play
Our role is to support the learners in becoming self-sufficient young people.  To do this, we can reinforce organizational skills by allowing learners uninterrupted time to play, know how to deconstruct and reconstruct materials, how to organize their learning space, and clean up after themselves.  They learn at a faster rate when they are given autonomy to explore these concepts on their own and with their peers.  

Supporting learner agency as an intrinsic motivation for participation
Agency is at the heart of getting learners to take ownership of their experiences and responsibilities.  By increasing opportunities for learners to demonstrate agency, teachers are increasing student motivation to change.  When thinking of organizational skills, learners need agency and time to make mistakes in a safe place.  By facing obstacles, they are able learn the best way to operate for themselves in a shared learning space. 

Another way of being organized is following the directions of others.  It is recognizing that teachers and other adults in the community want learners to succeed, so they provide certain directions to achieve tasks.  When these directions are followed, learners can complete tasks quicker and in a more organized fashion. 

Provide explicit opportunities for learners to practice and develop skills
Oftentimes, our learners want to follow directions, but they don’t know how or don’t see the added value.  By providing practice through dramatic play and games, the concepts are easier for our youngest learners to understand and apply to their everyday learning situations.  It is also a great team building activity and reduces the risk of learners feeling isolated by the teacher while learning to follow directions.

Create an atmosphere where learning is viewed as a gradual process
Following directions is a gradual process for our early learners.  They need to be told and retold a gazillion times how to follow directions, before they are able to replicate the process on their own.  It’s easy to get frustrated by the lack of regular and sustained progress.  What we need to remember is that we are looking for gradual improvement over time, rather than a fixed ending point.  

One more way to demonstrate organization is supporting young learners to follow classroom routines.  At this tender age, they are hungry to learn and grow, but they need certain parameters in which to operate.  This is the reason that routines are so important. 

Share a visual timetable and use counting down reminders
To make it easier for learners to follow classroom routines easily, we can provide a visual timetable to ensure smoother transitions.  A visual schedule can help learners with countdown reminders, so they are focused on achieving certain tasks by the time deadline.  It also reduces frustration of trying to beat the clock. Once learners are comfortable with the process of using a visual schedule, they will learn how to manage their time more effectively in order to follow classroom routines. 

Guide students to develop their ability to self regulate
While completing classroom routines, young learners have a tendency to get side-tracked by their thoughts and the actions of others.  By using routines, we are trying to get them to increase their working memory and focus.  At times, they will get off-task, so how do we redirect to follow the classroom routine?  Discrete reminders are my favorite way as we circulate the classroom while students are working independently or in small groups.  A big part of this process is supporting the learner's understanding of how to manage their emotions while making choices.  We all make mistakes, but we can redirect ourselves back onto course. 

Provide opportunities to meet as members of a learning group
One possible way is to allow frequent times for learners to meet in a collaborative group.  This allows for learners to share the decision-making process within a small group setting, which will translate into the whole group situation.  Frequent opportunities to engage with each other will raise questions, test ideas, and form a lasting foundation of conclusions. 

Involve learners in planning and organizing learning spaces
In my opinion, the best way to get learners involved in the process of shared decision-making and allowing them to make the decisions.  Sounds easy right?  Many educators struggle with what this may look like and the process of making it happen.  I think an easy way is having a morning circle and discussing ways to improve the learning space.  Remind learners that it’s not always about the fun times, because we all have a responsibility in keeping the classroom organized.  This will often take the form of cleaning up materials that you didn’t use, so the classroom community benefits.  Nothing hurts the ears more than hearing, “Why do I have to clean it up?  I didn’t play with it? This will help to reduce that conversation over time. 

That’s it for now my friends as I try to apply these ideas to grades 1-6.