PLE Post #9

How might self-efficacy and self-regulation contribute to the intervention plans you use in your case study?

My case study is about Lisa, a third grade student who is disruptive and uncooperative when working in heterogenous small groups that meet at least twice a day. Although the group composition changes about every four weeks, Lisa does not seem to get along with any of her peers. The group that Lisa is currently working with is having a hard time grasping the material and completing their project in an acceptable manner because Lisa is so disruptive. She gets angry with her group mates when she does not get the job she wants and refuses to complete her section of the project. She also constantly interrupts other group members and does not pay attention when her group prepares for class presentations.

Self-efficacy is very important for elementary students to have because it is their self-constructed believe about whether they feel competent enough to perform tasks. One way I would incorporate self-efficacy into Lisa's intervention plan is to include a lot of verbal encouragement to help build her confidence. When Lisa actively participates in her group I will say things such as, "That is a great idea Lisa!" or "I really like how Lisa is participating in her group!" Another way I will help improve Lisa's self-efficacy is by working with her to create small attainable goals. My hope is that once Lisa realizes she can achieve these goals, her self-efficacy will increase and she will start setting higher goals for herself including fully participating in group projects. The final way I will help improve Lisa's self-efficacy after I get her participating in a group is by putting her in a group with my highest achieveing students. One way students can gain self-efficacy is by succeeding in a group setting. I think putting Lisa in a successful group and having her experience success will help improve her confidence and will hopefully motivate her to participate more in a group setting.

Self-regulation is another very important skill for elementary students to have. Self-regulation involves setting goals, monitoring and evaluating our own cognitive processes, and imposing consequences for our successes and failures. One way I would incorporate self-regulation into Lisa's intervention plan is by having her set small attainable goals for herself. As I stated earlier, this will help Lisa's self-efficacy. Surprisingly, it will also help improve her self-regulation because a large part of regulating our behaviors is making sure we know what our goals for the behavior are. The second way I would help improve Lisa's self-regulation is by having her think metacognitively about her work. I would schedule a conference with Lisa and ask her to explain how she views group work and how she thinks through her sections of the group work. I think this will help with Lisa's self-regulation because it will give her a chance to evaluate her cognitive processes and become more aware of why she struggles with group work. The final way I will try to improve Lisa's self-regulation is by having her write down a list of consequences for herself. These consequences will outline what happens if Lisa does her group work efficiently and what happens if she does not. My hope is that Lisa will internalize these consequences and will  one day no longer need to write out consequences for herself.

The website that I found for this week's post is found at http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/affective/efficacy.html. This website describes self-efficacy, tells how students can improve their self-efficacy, lists pedogogical strategies for improving self-efficacy from some of the most well-known psychologists like Bandura, lists teaching practices to avoid, includes tips for improving self-efficacy for struggling students, explains the importance of teacher self-efficacy, and gives websites and journals for further reading. I really like this website because it includes a lot of information about self-efficacy and it is scholarly. I also think this could be a useful resource for our CSEL.