STRATEGY INSTRUCTION #3

NAME: McKayla Jacobs

CONTENT AREA: Social Skills
GROUP SIZE: Small group of 7 students
STRATEGY: Teaching the Behavior of Self-Control
RATIONALE: I chose to teach the behavior of self-control because a lot of my students struggle with
this behavior when around each other. This includes verbal bullying, talking about wanting to hurt others,
and reacting when others are having a bad day.
STEPS OF STRATEGY:
First: I presented a PowerPoint presentation on Self-Control. This PowerPoint included what self-control
is, the three parts of self-control, and four ways to improve self-control.
Second: I told the students we are going to play a game about self-control and what factors in our lives we
can and cannot control. I read the rules to the students and asked if they had any questions. Each student
chose their desired game piece. I took my turn first to show how to play and then continued clockwise.
When it was the player’s turn, they rolled the dice and moved that many squares. After moving, the player
picked up a card and read it out loud. Each card asked, “Can I control _______?” Once the player read the
card, all the players answered either yes or no and explained why they thought that.
ACCOMMODATIONS/MODIFICATIONS:
All the students in my class have an IEP, so the game has been modified to accommodate their abilities
and needs.
Instead of lecturing the students about self-control, I chose to create a game out of it to assist in their
motivation to participate. At the end of the day, the students are given a choice to play games and a lot of
them like that sort of visual/kinesthetic aspect of board games.
PERSONAL REFLECTION:
This strategy went well for the situation at hand. There was one student who was having a rough day from
the very beginning that caused a lot of issues with the rest of the class. However, the students seemed to
enjoy the created game and participated will with each other. There was only one point when a student
was refusing to play the game correctly, but this was resolved by asking her to play the game correctly
like the other students or she would not be able to play the game anymore. She tried to do this again in the
next round, so I reminded her of the choice she had to make and she quickly started playing the game as
she should. Otherwise, the students all do great about communicating when answering questions from the
cards. I did have a small problem with a couple students arguing with each other whether the answer was
yes or no. In this case, I ignored and proceeded to another student who was acting appropriately and the
other students ended up stopping.