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Proximal goals

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1) January-March 2018: Finish Self-regulation course and organize time [MANAGE TIME]

 

Challenge(s): I forsee time management being a rather large challenge over the next few months. I think it’s important to realize that, “good time management usually means good planning, working to optimize your time, and always being sure to make good use of [my] time” and not necessarily just using every hour of the day. I think that with me, I tend to utilize every hour of the day to the point that I am burnt out at night and I find it hard to fall asleep because my mind is racing from the day’s activities. I think that creating a great plan for the day will enable me to organize my priorities for the day, allotting some time for relaxation and reflection. There are 4 modules in the course, if I was to do dedicate 2 hours a day on the module, and spend 2 hours a day working on my business (either making a product, creating a social media post, reaching out to local vendors, etc.) my day’s events will be prioritized better. I think that the biggest challenge I forsee with time management is that I need to be able to work “smartly” and not “hardly”  (Bast, 2016). By looking at my tasks for the day using the Eisenhower Matrix, I should be able to remedy this potential problem.

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If I can first divide my course work into these 4 categories, I will be able to better manage my time. For example, if I have an assignment do, I could easily have taken precautions earlier to not get to the stage where it is a pressing deadline and I am stressed that I need to meet it, I can do a little bit each day for an hour or two, until the deadline,and leave the deadline day for editing and finalizing. What I liked about this reading was that the author states that if an activity takes more than 2 minutes, then schedule it into your day, but if it takes less than 2 minutes, do it right then and there, to avoid procrastinating. For this course, I can easily ready someone’s post and comment on it if I have 2 minutes to spare throughout the day, as opposed to scheduling it at a later time, and that later time never happening due to other responsibilities that come up throughout the day. I also think that by scheduling urgent, but not important tasks such as checking my email and checking my social media accounts for my business should be alotted 2-3 times a day, as opposed to every hour. By scheduling time for these urgent but not so important tasks, I can better manage my time and minimize distractions. Finally, by organizing my tasks for the day in the morning, I can still have time for busy  work that is not truly urgent or important, but allows me to de-stress such as online shopping, watching television, surfing the web, etc.

 

Resource(s): Bast, F. (2016, February 11). Crux of time management for students. Retrieved February 27, 2018, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12045-016-0296-6

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Latham, G. P., & Locke, E. A. (2007). New Developments in and Directions for Goal-Setting Research. European Psychologist,12(4), 290-300. doi:10.1027/1016-9040.12.4.290

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Feedback (self-assessment, or peer assessment):  Teacher assessment: During the process of achieving this proximal goal, I think it is important to connect with my professor so I can track my progress. What am I doing well in? What do I need to improve upon? Am I meeting deadlines? What skills have I developed? By filling out the mid-course rubric, I am able to ask for clarifications, outline my strengths, and work on my areas of improvement.

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Course connection to SRL: For the course, I can establish specific learning goals that i want to achieve either per day or per module, this way I can focus on what’s important but also eliminate any chance of attaining tunnel vision which usually happens when i focus too hard on the final goal (finishing the course) as opposed to focusing on the skills that I can gain during the process.  I think that by creating a goal focused on the skills, I will not only have higher satisfaction, but this will allow me to stay motivated and develop my metacognitive skills of monitoring my progress (Latham, and Locke, 2007).

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2) February 2018- End maternity leave and begin working again [DEVELOP A ROUTINE]

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Challenge:I think the hardest challenge will be leaving my child and physically leaving the house for 8+ hours on a set routine. I think one way to look at this, is that I need to begin by training my mind of a set routine, this way, the brain can begin functioning in that routine almost subconsciously (less attention control) (the goal circuit model). Of course I do not mean that i’m not going to focus on my job, because I will, but by training my brain with a routine, both my body and my cognitive psyche understand that it is the act of practicing that will enable me to get better at managing everything.  I think that if I formatted my life the way I work in a classroom where routines are established to get students developing their self-regulation skills, I will also be able to smoothly transition back into work, and find a work-life balance. I also think that formulating routines in your life, leaves room for self-reflection, which enables one to adjust their routine activities/see what works, and what doesn’t. Thus, the goal is to check off everything on my daily agenda efficiently, without wasting time, but also having the opportunity to focus on other tasks (Ersche et al., 2017) The only challenge I have with setting a routine is maintaining my motivation levels, because studies have shows that it is indeed low levels of habitual tendencies that lead to the pursuit of a goal (Ersche et al., 2017). A potential solution that I can think of, is that by setting a routine, I need to be able to develop multiple learning strategies so I am able to develop the “motivational beliefs and attitudes needed to understand, monitor, and direct [my] own learning (Wolters, 2003). I need to ask myself, how will I stay motivated, and develop ways to master these skills, as opposed to just focusing on accomplishing the routine daily?How will I develop internal feedback? For example, if I am unable to cognitively process something that I need to understand for work, or process something new that I need to do with my child as he passes through a developmental milestone, how can I gain the skills needed to alter the cognitive process so I can stay motivated? I need to be able to not only keep myself motivated, but also adapt my cognitive strategies to meet all my needs for the day, for example, if I am bored of my daily routine life , I can think of strategis to make it less boring and stay motivated. I can also think of a way to adjust my routine, thus developing my cognitive abilities (Wolters, 2003). Now, I keep using the word motivated, but one way that I can ensure my motivation levels are high is that I can establish an intrinsic reward system with myself. If I can get through a few days of balancing everything to the point where I have allotted some “me-time” every day, I can engage in some positive self-talk, and applaud myself for doing so. This ultimately can lead me to stay motivated and continue what I am doing to achieve my goal of work-life balance. I can even provide some rewards for myself, such as going out to the movies with a couple of friends, or going to my favourite store if  I am able to successfully find a work/life balance as a way to keep me determined.  Finally, the most important thing that I can do to avoid stagnation is to challenge myself, and modify my days in order to avoid repetitive, mundane tasks, and to keep my days interesting. This can be anything as simple as changing up my routine in a classroom, learning something new, or having a different evening routine (try to go for a walk with the family, game night, watch a television show together etc.)

 

 

Resources:

 

Ersche, K. D., Lim, T., Ward, L. H., Robbins, T. W., & Stochl, J. (2017). Creature of Habit: A self-report measure of habitual routines and automatic tendencies in everyday life. Personality and Individual Differences,116, 73-85. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2017.04.024

Wolters, C. A. (2003). Regulation of Motivation: Evaluating an Underemphasized Aspect of Self-Regulated Learning. Educational Psychologist, 38(4), 189-205.

 

Feedback:I think that self-assessment is critical when setting a routine because I can consistently evaluate what is working, what isn’t, if I am losing my motivation levels, how far I am in acquiring my goal etc. Thus, self assessment is a critical component of creating a routine.

 

Connection to SRL: I can keep a learning journal to help me “identify changes within myself” (Northern Territory Government, 2018).  This learning journal can act as a tool that I can use to understand the routines I have added in to my daily life, the events in my life, what I experience, what I learn, if I am challenged, how far I am in achieving my goal of obtaining a work-life balance, etc. This learning journal will act as a tool for me to organize my routine into 3 sections:

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3) March 2018-Have Spring 2018 items ready to be promoted and sold for personal business [BUILD A SUPPORT SYSTEM]

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Challenge: The biggest challenge I forsee with my entrepreneurial gig is that I need to be able to build a support system that will not only help me grow, but will help me achieve that work/life balance that is so important for me. I own a side flower business that works with fresh, faux, and paper flowers. I make crowns, runners, garlands, and headbands for little girls. I have recently started this business, but it is gradually getting a lot of positive feedback, so I am hoping that I can continue on this path, in addition to being a teacher, and a super mom! The first question I need to ask myself is “who would i want as a member of my team to help me achieve success?” (huff post article) and look at all aspects of my life as an entrepreneur, including mental health support, will enable me to get organized. For example, Having certain people around me that can help me with specific tasks in my business such as a mentor for helping me with social media, my husband for emotional, motivational support, a coach for helping me create a marketing strategy, and other business entrepreneurs who have a similar vision for their business venture will help me achieve my goal.

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Resources:  

Morgan, N. (2016, April 08). How to Build Your Support System in 3 Easy Steps. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/nozomi-morgan/how-to-build-your-support-system-in-3-easy-steps_b_9637312.html

Vidmar, Dale. Reflective Peer Coaching: Crafting Collaborative Self ... (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2018, from http://www.bing.com/cr?IG=CAAE1D28CE0E4885A57F9F6F1AC9D627&CID=3DB15D1A0E7B6F9D2F9056920FD46EEC&rd=1&h=W0HfgolQJQz1IfzSCwvaf_dKhEcUuHi03R2tVmqk6dA&v=1&r=http%3a%2f%2fwebpages.sou.edu%2f%7evidmar%2fSOARS2008%2freflective_peer_coaching_2005_research_strategies.doc&p=DevEx,5065.1

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Feedback: I think that peer coaching is just as imperative for this proximal goal just as it is for teaching. With  peer coaching, having a support system, whether it be a colleague, another fellow entrepreneur, or a family member, ready to collaborate with, and then also be ready to reflect with after the task is finished (whether it be marketing, creating, advertising, etc.) helps me build “self assessment and self awareness” of my craft. Conversing with a supporter enables me to understand any discrepancies that happened between what was intended to happen, and what actually happened. The conversation also enables me to become cognizant of my actions as I can apply what was mentioned in the conversation to my practice and after reflect upon it. Similar to formative assessment in classroom, the purpose of this support coaching is to enable growth and for “learning [to]  build upon learning” (Vidmar, 2006). The “non threatening dialogue” that occurs between my coach also enables me to take some time to reflect. This act of reflection “is  primarily concerned with developing insights and discovering solutions to difficulties—or what might be described more correctly as learning opportunities.” (Vidmar, 2006) There are 3 components of reflection: 1) knowing in action when thinking about a certain action in business (marketing, creating, advertising) is “embedded in the act of doing”, 2) reflection in action, is when one is interpreting the current situation as they are partaking in an act, and 3) reflection on action, when the act of reflection is done afterwards. All three of these types of reflection will allow me to develop as an entrepreneur, however it is the reflection in action that will allow me to be quick on my feet and make decisions on the spot. By creating a support system with colleagues, loved ones, and mentors/coaches, I can create a feedback loop where constructive criticism is given, and time for feedback is given, thus enabling growth.

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Connection to SRL: With these direct conversations with my supporters, these learning opportunities lead me to reflect, and these self-reflection opportunities can increase my motivation (Schunk, 2001). I think by having the opportunity to evaluate, I am in return strengthening my self-efficacy, which will result in staying motivated (Schunk, 2001).

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Sources:

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Bast, F. (2016, February 11). Crux of time management for students. Retrieved February 27, 2018, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12045-016-0296-6

 

Cooper, R. P., Ruh, N., & Mareschal, D. (2013). The Goal Circuit Model: A Hierarchical Multi-Route Model of the Acquisition and Control of Routine Sequential Action in Humans. Cognitive Science,38(2), 244-274. doi:10.1111/cogs.12067

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Ersche, K. D., Lim, T., Ward, L. H., Robbins, T. W., & Stochl, J. (2017). Creature of Habit: A self-report measure of habitual routines and automatic tendencies in everyday life. Personality and Individual Differences,116, 73-85. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2017.04.024

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Government, N. T. (2017, January 25). Education and learning. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from https://nt.gov.au/learning

Latham, G. P., & Locke, E. A. (2007). New Developments in and Directions for Goal-Setting Research. European Psychologist,12(4), 290-300. doi:10.1027/1016-9040.12.4.290

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Morgan, N. (2016, April 08). How to Build Your Support System in 3 Easy Steps. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/nozomi-morgan/how-to-build-your-support-system-in-3-easy-steps_b_9637312.html

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Schunk, D. H. (1990). Goal setting and self-efficacy during self-regulated learning. Educational Psychologist, 25(1), 71-86.

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Schunk, D. H., & Zimmerman, B. J. (Eds.). (2008). Motivation and self-regulated learning: Theory, research, and applications. New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

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Vidmar, Dale. Reflective Peer Coaching: Crafting Collaborative Self ... (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2018, from http://www.bing.com/cr?IG=CAAE1D28CE0E4885A57F9F6F1AC9D627&CID=3DB15D1A0E7B6F9D2F9056920FD46EEC&rd=1&h=W0HfgolQJQz1IfzSCwvaf_dKhEcUuHi03R2tVmqk6dA&v=1&r=http%3a%2f%2fwebpages.sou.edu%2f%7evidmar%2fSOARS2008%2freflective_peer_coaching_2005_research_strategies.doc&p=DevEx,5065.1

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Wolters, C. A. (2003). Regulation of Motivation: Evaluating an Underemphasized Aspect of Self-Regulated Learning. Educational Psychologist, 38(4), 189-205.

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