I read the article called “Classroom Applications of Research on Self-Regulated Learning.” Reading this article made me think back to my elementary school days and made me think about if I was thoroughly taught self-regulation. Some of the concepts and ideas that the article mentioned made me recall certain events, projects, and approaches my own teachers took to teach me this important aspect that I would later use in my life. In elementary school, I always tried to be a very well behaved student, and always worked very hard. I rarely talked out in class, and I was always doing my work and on task. These ideas were mentioned in this article. I always tried to please, and knowing that I was working hard and not getting yelled at was rewarding for me. There was a system in place starting in 5^th grade in my elementary school. It involved index cards; green, white and pink. Whenever someone didn’t do their homework, they would get a green card and have to fill out the reason why they didn’t complete their homework. Whenever someone talked out of turn, or was disrupting the class, they would get a white card. On this card they would have to fill out what they were doing in class to disrupt it, and what they will do next time in that situation. Finally, someone would receive a pink card if they did something good in class, for example answered a question right, or was on task when we got work time. If someone got 3 white or green cards, there would be a call home to the parents, and if someone got 3 pink cards, they would get their names in a big bowl and would have the chance of getting a prize. I always aimed to get pink cards, and was very exited when I would. I remember the one time I was talking out of turn and messing around, and I got a white card. It was so horrible to me, and I think I actually cried. Even though they were just cards, it taught us valuable lessons about behavior, and the fact that your own behavior is what decides the outcome.

Another thought that came to mind when reading this article was the fact that doing self-assessments helps you with your work. The article states that doing a self-evaluation includes all three parts of self-regulation, which are cognitive, motivational, and affective. I never knew that doing a self-evaluation was part of becoming self-regulated. I was always very hard on myself during these, and always ended up giving myself a worse grade than the actual teacher would give me, which I think is interesting.

Being able to related to this article was nice because I could relate to it, and now I am able to see why my teachers through out my life have done the certain things that they did. For the most part, all those projects were all part of learning and have helped with my development and discovery today.