How to teach self-monitoring to help with online learning

Keeping kids on task during distance learning (through self-monitoring)

If you’re working from home while simultaneously keeping kids on task during distance learning, you deserve a medal! (And that’s pretty much all of us right now, isn’t it?) Here’s how to deal: teach your kids the art of self-monitoring during online learning (hey, this may even help you stay on task at work, too)!

Self-monitoring is the act of checking in with yourself to make sure you are doing the expected thing at the expected time.

For online learning, distance learning, and remote school, that means checking in to see that you are looking at the screen, sitting in your seat, and engaging in the task presented by the teacher. 

Self-monitoring has two big advantages:

1. Students who self-monitor are likely to react to their own monitoring by making changes without YOU needing to bribe, nag, swear, or become reduced to wine-induced pleading.

2. Self-monitoring is done by ONESELF, which eliminates the need for the parent to be involved in any way. So, basically, the kid gets to learn how to responsibly monitor and manage themselves and mom gets a break. 

How does this work, you ask?

Self-monitoring takes advantage of a simple behavioral principle: that checking in on your behavior to see if it matches an expectation has a lasting impact on behavior. It’s easy to implement, and you even get some bonus outcomes for free, like teaching the skill of self-regulation and self-motivation. 

A self-monitoring system can be set up in a variety of ways in any learning environment and with any type of online courses, but there are some key components that make it more successful. 

Setting up a self-monitoring system in five steps:

1. Choose the target behavior.

You can choose a behavior to increase, like staying in your seat and keeping your eyes on your computer screen during remote learning, or you can choose behaviors to decrease, like talking when the teacher is talking. The target behaviors will be the things that the child will monitor, so you want to keep them simple and not choose too many.

Write them down for your reference. If possible, choose targets that tell the child what to do rather than what not to do.

Example: Instead of saying, “don’t talk when the teacher is talking”, say, “Quiet mouth while in class.”

2. Choose an appropriate schedule for check-in.

Once you’ve picked your targets, you want to set a schedule for your child to ‘check-in’ and see if they are on target. Choosing a schedule can be tricky; you don’t want to make your child check-in too often, but if they aren’t checking in enough, they won’t get the benefit of check-in.

Spend some time thinking about how often they need to be reminded to stay on task. Is it once every five minutes or once every 15 minutes? Set your schedule to prompt a check-in sooner than you expect them to be off-task. If your child is falling out of their chair every five minutes, you need to check in every four minutes or sooner. 

3. Choose a prompting method.

Pick a cue that will signal the child that it is time to check-in. It could be that you start a timer for each interval, or you can use an app that taps into the Pomodoro Technique of short bursts of focus time, like Pomodor or BeFocused.

4. Choose a reward.

Rewards make it worth it. You don’t go to work without getting paid, and kids want the same consideration. Choose something valuable to work toward, then use a system like a sticker chart to work toward earning that reward. 

5. Make your materials.

Once you’ve chosen all these variables, create a system that will let your child keep track of their progress. A single sheet of laminated paper and a dry erase marker are the easiest way to make this repeatable each day. 

Watch it work:

Morgan, a third grader, is having trouble keeping her eyes on the screen and staying in her chair during online learning. She gets fidgety and wants to walk around the room or start talking to the screen when the teacher is talking. Her mom has watched for a few days and sees that Morgan’s teacher has to remind her to get on task at least twice in each 60-minute class. 

Target Behaviors: Stay in your seat, keep your eyes on the screen, stay quiet when the teacher is talking.

Schedule: Check-ins are scheduled every 20 minutes.

Prompting Method: Setting a timer at her desk.

Reward: Trampoline time after school with a neighbor if Morgan has 15 or more successful check-ins.

Materials: Write the expectations across the top of a page. Place checkboxes at the bottom of the page. 

In action: Introduce the board to Morgan. Explain that every time she hears the timer, she needs to check to see that she has stayed in her seat, with her eyes on the screen and her mouth quiet. If she can answer yes to all those things, she can give herself a checkmark and reset the timer.

If she did not do one of those things, she should draw a slash through the box and reset the timer. At the end of the day, count the successful check-ins and deliver the reward if she earned it. 

Troubleshooting

You may need to help your child follow the system initially, especially if they might be inclined to not be honest about their check-ins. Stay focused in the beginning and you will be able to let the system work later without your presence. 

If your child is still having problems focusing, you may need to adjust the time so they get more reminders. If they are successful most often, adjust the time so they get fewer reminders. 

If you’ve put the system in place and it still isn’t working, check to make sure the reward is actually rewarding and change it if it’s not.

Get tips for choosing rewards that actually work!

Ready to get started? Download our FREE printable!

 Download a free self-monitoring printable for online learning.

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