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  • Self-Regulation - Novice High

    • Self-Regulation - Novice High

    Positive Psychology Learning Outcomes: Students will learn what self-regulation is and share their experiences with it, and they will notice the positives about self-regulation and how it can help in their lives. Language Learning Outcomes: Students will connect content to background knowledge, connect context to meaning, narrate/describe in present tense across a variety of familiar and general topics, and create language based on memorized phrases and formulaic speech.

    Lesson Information

    Positive Psychology Learning Outcomes

    Students will...

    1. learn what self-regulation is and share their experiences with it.
    2. notice the positives about self-regulation and how it can help in their lives.

    Language Learning Outcomes

    Students will...

    1. connect content to background knowledge.
    2. connect context to meaning.
    3. narrate/describe in present tense across a variety of familiar and general topics.
    4. create language based on memorized phrases and formulaic speech.

    Materials Needed

    Optional:

    • Marshmallows or other candy (enough for each student to have two) to do the marshmallow experiment in class. 

    Overview

    Explain to students that they will be able to define what self-regulation is and identify ways to use it to improve their everyday lives. 

    Activate Background Knowledge

    Ask the students to think about a time that they had to do something before they were allowed to do something fun. For example, if they had to do the dishes before going to play with their friends or had to finish their vegetables before eating dessert.

    • Have them share an experience with a partner. 
    • Explain that those were examples of self-regulation. Self-regulation is being disciplined and controlling your emotions and wants. 

    Activity 1: Vocabulary

    Introduce new vocabulary words that relate to the topic.

    • Self-regulation: exercising control over one's self
    • Patience: the ability to continue waiting or doing something for a long time without becoming angry or anxious
    • Emotion: a strong human feeling such as love, hate, or anger
    • Budget: a plan of how someone's money will be spent
    • Posture: the way you position your body when sitting or standing

    Activity 2: Listening and Speaking 

    Have students watch the marshmallow experiment video: The Marshmallow Test | Igniter Media | Church Video

    https://youtu.be/QX_oy9614HQ 

    • Stop the video after the instructions to make sure students understand the experiment.
      • What happens if the children wait for the experimenter to come back?
      • What happens if the children don't wait for the experimenter to come back?

    • Discuss the following questions:
      • Why was it hard to wait until the teacher came back?
      • How did some of the children distract themselves?
      • Do you think you could have waited for the teacher to return? Why or why not?
      • Would it be easier or harder to wait with a friend?

    Activity 3: Speaking

    Tell the students that they will see a series of pictures, and for each one they will talk about the following questions:

    • What is happening in the picture?
    • How can someone use self-regulation in these activities?
    • Are you good at using self-regulation in each activity shown?
    • Pictures topics include:
      • Eating
      • Emotions
      • Posture
      • Exercise
      • Savings
      • Meditationbenefits of eating salad everyday

    Retrieved from: https://edtechbooks.org/-bjs 

    How to Get In Touch with Your Emotions

    Retrieved from: https://edtechbooks.org/-nsuK 



     

    Retrieved from: https://edtechbooks.org/-AYXm 

     Inexpensive exercises jumping exercise ball hand weights

    Retrieved from: https://edtechbooks.org/-qmSa

    HSBC Direct Online Savings Account Review

    Retrieved from: https://edtechbooks.org/-dmxb 

     young black man wearing athletic wear sitting in the park meditating

    Retrieved from: https://edtechbooks.org/-RKH 

    Activity 4: Writing

    Explain to the students that they will each be setting a goal.

    The goal will be a S.M.A.R.T. goal.

    S - Specific (it is focused and exact)

    M - Measurable (it is possible to determine if there has been any change or progress)

    A - Attainable (it is something the student can actually do)

    R - Relevant (it is related to their school, work, or life plane)

    T - Time-based (it has an end date)

    Examples of not-S.M.A.R.T. goals:

    • I want to be happy. (not specific or measurable)
    • I want to be able to fly (not attainable or relevant)
    • I want to graduate college in three weeks (good, except the time is not attainable)

    Have the students write down their goal using these statements:

    My goal is…

    I will see that I am making progress by…

    I think I can do this because…

    This is important to me right now because…

    I think I’ll be able to reach my goal…(set a date/time)

    Retrieved from: https://veryspecialtales.com/smart-goals-worksheets-examples-kids/ 

    Goals are helpful for us when we want to achieve something, but we can usually change them when we need to. Explain to students that if after working on a goal for a while and they don’t like how it is going, it is okay to change the goal to be easier or harder for them, or to shorten or lengthen the time they need to accomplish it. Sometimes we decide we don’t want to achieve old goals, so we set new ones. 

    Activity 5: Speaking and Listening

    If students are comfortable, have them share their goals with a partner or with the class.

    • Remind the students that while listening to others goals we must be kind. Things that are hard for some people are easy for others, and they must never be mean about someone else’s goal.

    • That being said, having support can help achieve a goal, so it is good to share. 

    • Have the students get into pairs and share their goals with each other. 

    Homework

    Have students work on their SMART goal this week for a follow-up on Thursday.

    Follow-up

    Tuesday:

    Read or have a student read the following quote:

    “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

    - Henry Ford

    How does thinking you can do something help you to do it?
    How can thinking you cannot do something make it harder?

    Wednesday:

    Read or have a student read the following quote:
    “Self-regulation will always be a challenge, but if somebody’s going to be in charge, it might as well be me.”
    - Daniel Akst

    What does this quote mean to you?
    Do you agree with the quote?

    Thursday: 

    Have students think back on the SMART goals they made on Monday. In pairs, have students share:

    • What was your goal?
    • If you have worked on your goal this week, what progress have you made?
    • Are there any changes you want to make to your goal?

    This content is provided to you freely by Ensign College.

    Access it online or download it at https://ensign.edtechbooks.org/PositivePsychologyintheClassroom/self_regulation_novice_high.