Managing Impulsivity
People who embody the Habit of Mind of Managing Impulsivity “have a sense of deliberativeness: They think before they act. They intentionally form a vision of a product, plan of action, goal or a destination before they begin. They strive to clarify and understand directions, develop a strategy for approaching a problem and withhold immediate value judgments about an idea before fully understanding it” (Costa & Kallick, 2000, p. 3).
Introduction
When I started teaching in Indonesia, the Habit of Managing Impulsivity was the primary area I identified in which my students needed the most practice and support in developing. This gap was especially true for my younger students. The vast majority of my students would do or say the first thing that would pop into their head without thinking first. They did not attempt to understand directions or develop a strategy for approaching problems—they would immediately jump to judgments and act on them without thinking. Once this tendency was identified, I intentionally incorporated this Habit into my classroom—through a combination of direct instruction and frequent reinforcement—as often as possible. This Habit is crucial for students' success in life no matter what path they take after leaving our classroom walls. Through the following activities, I have seen my students go from not knowing what Managing Impulsivity means, to being able to discuss the concept, then to actual personal growth on the part of the student.
Table of Contents
Explicit Instruction
A student cannot begin to consciously develop a Habit of Mind and experience the subsequent personal growth without first becoming familiar with the definition of the concept. It is also essential to give students the opportunity to reflect on a new Habit and see that it is worth their time and effort to develop the Habit within themselves.
To begin developing the Habit of Managing Impulsivity in my students, I implemented the lesson plan shown in the document on the left. At the beginning of the lesson, the word "Impulsive" was written on the board. We had a class discussion about the meaning of the word and—as a team—developed a definition in student-friendly language. We then discussed the phrase "Managing Impulsivity" and made a working definition that students could reference.
Managing Impulsivity explicit instruction lesson plan
Introduction of New Material—Video Clips
Students were then shown the two video clips—shown below. In one of the videos, I am shown managing my impulsivity. In the other video, I receive news that upsets me and do not manage my impulsivity. These videos were also designed to incorporate the Habit of Finding Humor—particularly the video where I do not manage my impulsivity. Students enjoyed seeing me lose my cool in the second video and they made me play it multiple times. This video has become a running joke in my class. The phrase “don’t throw the plate” has become synonymous with managing impulsivity.
"Mr. G Managing His Impulsivity" Video
"Mr. G Not Managing His Impulsivity" Video
Guided Practice—Board Brainstorm
After discussing the videos in the section above students were tasked with filling out two tables drawn on the whiteboard. One table asked students to think about the questions "What does it look/feel/sound like to manage your impulsivity?" The other question asked students to think about the question, "What does it look/feel/sound like when you are not managing your impulsivity. The pictures below show student responses to this activity for one of my classes.
Students working together to brainstorm what it looks/feels/sounds like to manage your impulsivity
Sample board work from one of my classes
Students continue working together to brainstorm what it looks/feels/sounds like to manage your impulsivity
Students working together to brainstorm what it looks/feels/sounds like to not manage your impulsivity
Sample board work from one of my classes
Students working together to brainstorm what it looks/feels/sounds like to not manage your impulsivity
Independent Practice—“When is being impulsive appropriate? When is it not?” Writing Activity
Finally, students were given three handouts with the following headings: "situations where it is appropriate to act impulsively," "situations when it isn't appropriate to act impulsively," and "reasons I active impulsively." They were instructed to brainstorm as many responses to each prompt as they could before the end of class. We then wrapped up the lesson with a discussion of students' responses to these prompts. Several student samples can be found in the document to the left.
Student samples for independent practice portion of the lesson
Students working on the activity described above
Students completing their independent practice reflections
Reinforcement—Candy Challenge
This activity was designed as a way to reinforce the Habit of Managing Impulsivity with some of my younger students. During class, students were tasked with completing a color by numbers activity to practice our target vocabulary for the day. While they were working, I placed a piece of candy next to each student. They were informed that they were allowed to eat the candy at any time they wished. However, for every fifteen minutes they resisted and managed their impulsivity they would get a tally next to their name on the board. At the end of class, they would receive a piece of candy for every tally mark they earned. As soon as they ate the candy they were no longer eligible to earn more. One student did not manage his impulsivity and immediately ate his candy. Three students made it to the end of the activity—winning six pieces of candy to take home with them. The pictures below show several students participating in the "Candy Challenge" as well as the three students who managed their impulsivity the best and earned the maximum prize.
Student managing his impulsivity and resisting the urge to eat the candy on his desk
Student a few minutes before he did not manage his impulsivity, ate his candy, and was out of the challenge
"Candy Challenge" champions who earned the maximum pieces of candy
"Candy Challenge" board tally
Reinforcement—Tortoise and the Hare Reimagining
For this activity, we began by watching the video on the left showing Disney's story of the Tortoise and the Hare. In this classic tale, a tortoise and a hare race. The hare should win because he is so much faster than the tortoise. However, the hare is very impulsive and gets easily distracted. The tortoise, on the other hand, manages his impulsivity and is slow and steady—winning the race in the end. I framed the story in this way with students before showing the video clip.While this story is common for children in the US—none of my students had ever heard of this tale.
Disney's The Tortoise and the Hare
Following the video, students were tasked with reimaging the story in an alternate reality where the hare knew how to manage his impulsivity. In the pictures below, you can see my students watching the video as well as working on their reimaginings.
Students watching Disney's The Tortoise and the Hare
Student working on his reimagining
Students illustrating their stories
Student working on his story
The document on the left shows several students samples of their reimaginings. We wrapped up this reinforcement activity by reading these stories allowed.
Student samples of The Tortoise and the Hare reimagining
Reinforcement—Simon Says
Another way this game was reinforced with my students was through playing the game Simon Says. In this game, one person is assigned to be the leader, and everyone else follows. If the leader says, "Simon says" followed by an action the followers are supposed to complete the action. However, if the leader does not say "Simon Says" before the action the followers are not supposed to do the action. If a student accidentally did the action when the leader did not say "Simon Says" they would sit down and be eliminated until the next round. While this is a common activity in the US—the majority of my students in Indonesia have never heard of it. This cultural difference allows me to frame the game as a learning activity instead of just a fun game that students play with friends.
Before the activity, I told students that it was a “Managing Impulsivity" activity. For the first round, I was the leader. Then the winner of any given round became the leader for the following round. After the game, we had a class discussion about why the Habit of Managing Impulsivity was essential to successfully win this game. In the audio clips below, you can hear some of my students playing this game and practicing developing their skill of managing their impulsivity.
Audio sample one
Audio sample two
Audio sample three
Teacher Reflection
The best and most effective way for students to develop this Habit and experience subsequent personal growth is through frequent practice. Talking about this Habit is not enough to fully internalize and embody it. By definition, being impulsive means you act before thinking. To manage your impulsivity, you have to train your mind to take the time to think before you immediately respond. Just knowing that this is something that you should do is not enough—you need to practice. I strive to present my students with frequent opportunities to practice this skill and develop the Habit of Managing Impulsivity through the above explicit instruction and sample of reinforcement activities. Managing your impulsivity can have a significant impact on students’ organization, study habits, character development and system of values.
While developing this Habit of Mind is an ongoing process, I have seen significant changes in my students. At the beginning of the year, most students would immediately begin working on assignments without listening to directions, would shout out whatever thoughts came into their head, and would act without thinking in most class activities. I have seen a significant reduction in this type of behavior over the last few months—especially in regards to listening to instructions and expectations for activities. This shift has done wonders for my classroom culture because students understand what they are supposed to be doing and can complete the given task successfully. I strive to continue developing this Habit through frequent reinforcement activities moving forward.
References
Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (2000). Describing 16 Habits of Mind. Retrieved from http://www.habitsofmind.org/sites/default/files/16HOM2.pdf