Self-Regulation Strategies in the Gifted Classroom
Opening the doors to a journey of autonomous learning
“Little by little, one travels far”
― J.R.R. Tolkien
Have you ever found yourself lost in a new city?
I once got lost in Washington D.C., pregnant, with an injured foot, and no idea where my nearest metro station was.
A well meaning passerby stopped to help guide me. But, to my frustration, he gave me bad directions.
He didn’t know how to help me on my journey, and he sent me many painful steps in the wrong direction.
Good intentions alone won’t put your students on the right path and poor directions can be unproductive. You have to have a firm roadmap in your own mind to guide gifted students.
In this 1-hour course, “Self-Regulation in the Gifted Classroom,” Richard M. Cash, Ph.D. lays out a roadmap for teachers to guide their gifted students on the journey of self-regulation.
Dr. Cash has worked in the field of education for over 25 years. His range of experience includes teaching at the elementary, middle school and college levels. He has also authored several books in the field of gifted education.
Travelling Far with Small Steps
As an expert in self-regulation strategies in the gifted classroom, Dr. Cash finds that gifted students, particularly those from underrepresented populations, have a tendency to use these handicapping survival strategies to navigate the pressures of gifted academia:
- Negative self-talk
- Not seeing the value in risk-taking
- Avoiding new experiences
Small steps make a journey. Whether that journey is lifelong and exciting, or short and self-protective, is largely dependent on the self-regulation skills a student takes with him or her.
Getting Your Bearings
Self-regulation offers the freedom to understand the world and our role in it in a dynamic way. It’s the process by which we personally engage in appropriate actions, thoughts, feelings and behaviors, in order to pursue valuable academic goals.
Dr. Cash makes the three dimensions of the self-regulation process as easy as ABC:
- Affect: Learning what motivates and drives us, and analyzing how we feel about situations so we can better direct our attention
- Behavior: Learning to use effective actions, communication styles, and literacy skills to be successful, including Dr. Cash’s “10 Study Habits” (Image on right)
- Cognition: Encouraging metaphysical thinking, infracognition, and metacognition to expand thoughts into deeper realms of meaning and understanding.
These three dimensions must work in tandem if they are to work at all.
Dr. Cash finds that when schools try to implement behavioral strategies, but don’t address the behavioral and cognitive dimensions, academic, social, emotional, and thought, change ends up being ineffectual and insignificant.
On the Road Again
Ready to take on a journey that will teach your students the valuable skill of self-regulation?
We’ve got the map. You’ve got the itch to travel.
Take the first step into “Self-Regulation in the Gifted Classroom,” and get a solid mental roadmap to teach this skill in the gifted classroom.
Delivering Quality Training – No Matter Where You Are
Did you know that this course is mobile ready? That means you can complete the course on your smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop computer, or any other mobile device!
Images courtesy of Flickr via Arbron, ^Joe and courtesy of Richard Cash, “Self-Regulation in the Gifted Classroom”
