Jenny’s history project is due tomorrow. She has ten hours to do it. She stays up all night and has it ready to hand in on time.  She realizes that if she had given herself time, she would have revised it. Now it’s too late.

Jenny doesn’t have the skills to break down the steps to complete her history project. She hasn’t learned writing mechanics. She isn’t aware of her skills deficit and doesn’t know what she doesn’t know. Although she scores a passing grade, her lack of planning and prioritizing will catch up with her eventually.

Foundational Processes

• Understand your learning profile. How do you learn and process information?
• Understand the “big picture” and be able to visualize the culmination of the task.
• Value the task
• Learn to set goals that are
  • Proximal (meaning the goals are set in the near future and thus provide some incentives to meet them)
  • Specific
  • Appropriate difficulty

Strategies

• Rubrics
• Samples of finished projects
• Visual and three-dimensional representations
• Use calendars and timelines
• Direct and systematic instruction
• Promote self-understanding by providing self-assessments of learning style
• Share the “big picture” with students
• Model strategies that are useful
• Provide adequate time for student to learn and practice strategies
• Hold students accountable

How to manage time:

• Knowledge of time
• Knowledge of task
• Prioritizing tasks
• Monitoring progress

Reflection Questions

• What are some goals that I have in front of me right now?
• Do I value the goals that I pursue in the present time?
• What is my learning style?
• How does my own learning style influence my goal setting strategies?
• How might I visualize the culmination of my goals?
• What steps might I take to help my children or my students to set and reach their goals?

Resources

Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2009). Promoting, Planning, and Prioritizing. In P. Dawson, & R. Guare, Smart But Scattered (pp. 231-238). NY: Guilford Publications.

Krishnan, K., Feller, M., & Orkin, M. (2010). Chapter 3: Goal Setting, Planning, and Prioritizing, The Foundations of Effective Learning. In L. Meltzer, Promoting Executive Function in the Classroom (pp. 57-85). NY: Guilford Publications.