How can you connect this new skill to the student’s priorities? How can you assure ownership by making the development of this skill the student’s goal rather than just your goal for the student?
Self-monitoring the quality of work will require a little motivation to make this the student’s priority. Therefore, you must first figure out what will motivate the student to want to learn this skill. A student who is motivated by grades at school, for example, will be more motivated to learn new strategies if they are told that they do not get credit for homework turned in late or not at all. However, another student may not take ownership unless the reward is different than grades- perhaps earning tokens to use towards a special outing, video game, etc. And yet another student will be motivated by their eagerness to please and follow the rules. Thus, determine what motivates the student and then use that to create “buy-in”.
As you introduce this skill, how will you incorporate (visually, thematically) the student’s unique interests?
Can you make it visually clear to the student who is resistant to change that his assumption is only one way of looking at things? Can your use of visual supports and self-assessments help get agreement that there is a problem, get agreement on the solution, and create the motivation for change?
In some cases, an effective way to help shift the student’s perspective is to present the product he completed and compare it to the concrete quality markers that you are have defined and provided to the student (e.g., the visual instructions, the project rubric, an example of a completed product that meets all standards). How does his product and the example product not visually match up? What is his product missing that the example product contains? What items on the list are not addressed in his product? Be sure to present these comparisons in a sensitive and constructive manner. In some cases, the student has experienced repeated failures (academically or otherwise) and may feel that he simply cannot achieve that level of quality. Thus, be sure that the student can realistically meet the defined criteria you set.
In addition, social narratives (e.g., situational stories, coping comics) will likely be helpful within the priming process to help the student recognize why it is important to self-monitor their work as well as how to do that.
Priming is a form of negotiation that can reframe and sharpen a student’s assessment of self. Below are the self-assessment tools that align with this intervention topic:
"Organization and Self Direction - Task Completion 2"
Interspersal is a proven technique involving the presentation of familiar, higher success tasks with the new, more challenging task. When it is appropriate, are you varying the activities to maintain the student’s confidence and focus?
Before the student encounters a situation where he will need to perform this skill, how do you help the student prepare?
Initial practice in using a tangible or visible cue for quality requires close monitoring by an instructor at first. The instructor will need to actively support the student in referring to the marker and adjusting his performance accordingly. Guided practice will be important. The idea is to have the student develop a routine for checking their work so that they do it automatically, or with the simple glance at a visual reminder. That routine will be solidified after time and practice.
Additionally, once a skill has been taught, you can help the student prepare to use it by reviewing strategies before he encounters the situation. For example, if you use a situational story to teach the student the importance of editing his work, re-read the situational story at breakfast before the student goes to work.