Community or Cohort?

In an earlier blog post, I wrote about strategies used by instructors and participants to build community in online classrooms.  Last week, Doug Peterson and Stephen Hurley discussed this post as part of their program, This Week In Ontario Edublogs.

Their discussion was quite profound; they explored issues and ideas I hadn't considered at all and dug deep into the meaning of 'community.'  Their conversation prompted me to think more about this topic, particularly the difference between a cohort and a community.

Stephen talked about the Latin root word 'munity' in community, which is also found in immunity.  He said it means making something stronger.  'So being part of a community should make us stronger, or make our learning stronger. I researched this idea further and found this etymology of the word community:

The word community is derived from from the Latin communitas, fellowship, which, in turn, is derived from communis, or "common". 

The prefix "com" signifies "with, together, in conjunction, joint". Removing the "com" from the latin, leaves you with munis, which derives from munire, meaning "to fortify, strengthen, or defend".
AKA: Strength in numbers. 

When we talk about a learning community, then we are saying that we are learning together, with one another and this strengthens or learning.  Doug likened it to the idiom, "A rising tide lifts all boats." Usually this is in reference to the economy - a strong economy benefits individuals and businesses at all levels.  But in this context, can we say that building an online community then strengthens the learning of all participants?

These three examples from my own experience to help to explain my current thinking on building an online community versus a cohort.

The MEHRIT Centre - I recently finished an 18 month series of online courses to become a Self-Regulation Facilitator with The MEHRIT Centre. There are several reasons I would characterize this group as a learning community. We were together for a long period of time, which allowed us to get to know one another, building trusting relationships and sharing our learning.  But what really brought us together as a community is our shared passion for self-regulation and our beliefs about how important self-reg is for children and adults. Through a Facebook group, we continue to learn and share with one another long after the courses have been completed.

Western University EdD Program - I also recently completed my doctorate online through Western University, which is where I did my B.Ed (in person) so many years ago. The participants in this group also became a close community, and even though we have finished our studies, we stay in touch through social media.  In this group, we got to know one another through small group assignments using Skype, Blackboard Collaborate and Google Docs as well as through online discussions. We used our Facebook group to support one another when the going got tough - when the assignment requirements seemed too much, or when the feedback was too harsh or inconsistent. When someone was feeling stressed and ready to throw in the towel, the Facebook group was there for support and encouragement. At the end of the course, several people posted that they had considered quitting but the group helped them make it to the finish line. We were definitely stronger together.

Intermediate ABQ - I have participated in online AQ and ABQ courses, both as a participant and as an instructor. As a consultant, my position at our school board was posted every four years and I had to reapply and re-interview for my job. The first time I had to reapply, my superintendent suggested that I take my Intermediate ABQ so that I would be eligible to take the Principal's Course. I did not have any intention of becoming a principal, and if I returned to the classroom, I certainly did not want to teach intermediate.  I was the Teacher Consultant for Kindergarten and Primary Programs, and that was my passion. Nevertheless, I signed up for an Intermediate ABQ in Family Studies. I completed the course, but as Stephen said, it was just about getting the work done and finishing the course.  I had no passion for this topic, and no shared interest to sustain with other participants once the course was finished.

In this instance, I was part of the Intermediate Family Studies ABQ Cohort but not part of a learning community. It is possible that there were others in the course who were passionate, who may have formed a community that continued on beyond the course. Perhaps communities and cohorts can co-exist within the same group of participants.

Thanks for pushing my thinking on this topic, Doug and Stephen.  I can't wait to discuss this with others at #BIT2018 this November in Niagara Falls.  See you there!

Online Learning Communities

There are many advantages to online learning and to online teaching. As an online student, I have the flexibility to engage in learning whenever and wherever I want. I have had the opportunity to learn together with people from across the globe in a range of contexts - private schools, international schools, small rural schools in Northern communities and schools in large urban centres. I have been able to learn from some of the top experts in the field from around the world.

But the sense of community and connection in online classes varies, and I've experienced this both in online classes that I've taught and online classes where I participated as a student.

Recently, I completed two long-term online classes as a student - a three year online doctoral program from Western University and the Self-Regulation Facilitators course from The MEHRIT Centre which took about 18 months. In both classes, a range of strategies helped us to build community and connections, even though we never met in person.

At the #BIT2018 conference in Niagara Falls this November, I am facilitating a Learning Spaces conversation around the topic of Building Community in Online Classrooms. I'm looking for ideas from both the perspective of the teacher and the participants about How do you build a sense of community in an online classroom?

Some strategies from my own experience:

1. Small group size. At Western, our cohort of 13 students remained together during the entire three years so it was easy to get to know one another.  At the MEHRIT Centre, when I teach the Foundations Courses, I typically have an average of 15 students. Even though the courses are only 6 weeks long, I still have time to get to know each student.

2. Online video classes. In addition to our online discussion boards, readings and assignments, our courses at Western included several video conferences each semester using Blackboard Collaborate.  Timing these was problematic, as we had students in China, Qatar, Tanzania, Alberta, and Mexico.  If the video conference was at 8 pm, then it was 3 am for the student in Tanzania and 8 am in China. But these video conferences allowed us to chat with our instructors and one another in small groups.

3. Group Work.  When I saw that we were required to do some group assignments in our courses at Western, I was hesitant.  But the group work assignments were really helpful. Even though we had to deal with time differences and technology challenges, we got to know one another.  One of our assignments was to read a section of each person's major paper, and give them feedback. My partner and I had two Skype meetings; we spent more time talking about the program and the course assignments in general than giving feedback, but that it was good to be able to have that conversation. However, not all group work assignments build community. One of our group assignments for Western had us working in a group of 7.  There were 6 questions so each of us took one question, and posted our answer on a google doc.  The last person to pick was assigned the task of editing for clarity and continuity, and then presenting our group's work to the class.  I didn't really get to know anyone in my group during that assignment.

4. Social Media. Both the Western EdD group and the MEHRIT Centre facilitators group have a Facebook page. Not everyone has joined, but those who have are able to connect informally on Facebook to share resources, ask questions and stay in touch. I also follow online colleagues on Twitter and Instagram, and share ideas there as well.

What other strategies for building an online community have you experienced, either as a student or as an instructor?

How do we build a collaborative learning community in an online environment?

Please share your ideas!  


Update:
Doug Peterson and Stephen Hurley had a very interesting conversation about this blog post on This Week In Ontario Edublogs, which you can listen to at the archives on VoicEd.ca


Their conversation prompted me to think more deeply and write another blog post on this topic.

Using a Frayer Model

In an earlier post, I wrote about using Mind Maps as a tool for organizing my thinking on complex topics and tasks.  Graphic organizers were something that I certainly had my students use frequently over the years but didn't use for my own learning very often.

This week I decided to explore using graphic organizers in the self-reg course that I'm taking through the MEHRIT Centre. The goal of Shanker Self-Reg is to help children and adults recognize and reduce the stressors in their lives so that they can be 'Calm, Alert and Ready to Learn.'

One of the challenges working with people in today's hyper stressed society is that we don't even know what calm is any more. Some people use screen time to feel calm but that's mindlessness.  Calm means being aware of what's going on inside and outside of you, not tuning out with screens or alcohol.

After some reflection, I decided to use a Frayer Model to explore the concept of calm. In the one I used the four quadrants are:
Definition in Your Own Words
Characteristics
Examples
Non-examples

Instead of Characteristics you can use this quadrant to draw an image that represents the concept, in this case calm.  I like using images because that is the one area where I find the answers from person to person, or group to group, really change. In workshops, after the groups have completed their Frayer Models, we provide time for participants to do a gallery walk and look at each other's work.  What is the same? What is different?

I've used Frayer Models with adult learners in workshops for concepts like self-regulation, mentor, and teacher.  A colleague was saying the other day that people confuse inquiry learning with collaborative inquiry so it might be interesting to do a Frayer for collaborative inquiry with a group as a culminating activity.

What graphic organizers do you like to use with adult learners? With students?  I envision using it for exploring vocabulary in science - biology, experiment - or social studies - democracy; history; citizenship.  I can see using it for discussions at the beginning of the year for concepts like responsibility, respect or friendship.

What are your experiences using the Frayer Model?

What if.....

There are many different ways we can create opportunities to discuss our passions with other educators and parents. Our challenge in the self-reg Level 2 course was to create a What if... statement that could be used to spark dialogue or reflection on the stress awareness of others using any format we chose.  I was stumped.  Usually I relish the opportunity to be creative and have fun demonstrating my learning but it took me awhile to come up with a format.  Eventually I settled on this graphic, inspired by the many graphics available for free on the MEHRIT centre website.

What is your 'what if' statement?

(image from https://www.123rf.com/stock-photo/rain_pond.html)

Stress reducing strategies & thinking about positive stress

We were challenged to visually share what we have learned about dealing with stress through self-regulation, and I created two photo collages using online images and PicCollage.  In the first collage are strategies I used to deal with stress before I started this self-reg journey. Often at work, around 2 in the afternoon, I found myself heading upstairs to the vending machine to get a Diet Coke and some junk food to help me power through the afternoon when I was feeling physically and mentally exhausted.  When I got home, I would often mindlessly watch TV and cruise social media, and/or look forward to one (or several) glasses of red wine to relax. 

After starting this self-reg journey, I have healthier ways to deal with stress.  One of my go-to stress relievers is exercise and this is a good example, I think, of the positive stress that Stuart Shanker and Susan Hopkins talk about in some of the MEHRIT centre videos and programs.  I run a half marathon each fall as a motivator to stick with my running program.  I could run 5K a few times a week and that would still be a bonus for my health and help me reduce stress.  But I find the positive stress of setting this big culminating exercise goal is exciting at the same time as it is scary.  I create a 16 week training plan, make sure I'm eating healthy, do my exercises to keep all my joints healthy, and so on.  On race day, I'll be nervous right up until I cross the start line and then, as crazy as it sounds to anyone who's never done it, it's actually FUN!  The last 5K are usually the longest but crossing the finish line and achieving a goal I had to work so hard for make it all worth it. Every year I say I'm never going to do it again.  And then, on New Year's Eve there is a discount for early registration and I find myself signing up for another year!  This year I'm running with my youngest daughter (her first half marathon) and my husband, which makes it even more fun.

When we are talking about stress with parents and students, we need to ensure that we talk about positive stress so that we can counter the image of stress in popular culture where stress is always bad.

Other strategies I use now include taking a walk break when I've been at my desk too long and getting some fresh air, eating more healthy foods and less junk food and setting priorities and then focusing on what's important.  (still red wine and some junk food but in moderation!)  

Before self-reg: Diet coke; junk food; red wine and mindless screen time; 

After self-reg: Exercise; fresh air; eating healthy foods; prioritizing tasks 

Photo credits:

Diet coke - onlinecashandcarry.com

Vending machine - costco.ca

Watching TV - shutter stock photo

Red wine - pinterest.com

Exercise - watchfit.com

Fresh air - shutter stock.com

Eating healthy - food.ndtv.co

Prioritize - process.st

Recognizing Stressors

We've been learning about how to be stress detectives in our MEHRIT Centre course - digging deeper to find those hidden stressors that are impacting our limbic system even though our Prefrontal Cortex may not even notice.  Hidden stressors can be things like lights, noise and even junk food.

I revised my original popplet to show my learning over the last few weeks (It's easier to see on the link!)

When I posted the original popplet on my blog, it was such a small post I wondered if it was even worth sharing yet it has generated some interesting discussions.  Doug Peterson and Stephen Hurley featured it as one the blogs from Ontario Educators on their podcast at VoicEdRadio.

Doug posted a comment about it on his feature This Week InOntario Edublogs 

In the category of better late than never, comes this post from Lisa Cranston.  In full disclosure, Lisa and I worked together for years, and one of the greatest groups that I had a chance to be part of was our Early Years Technology group.  I learned so much from my colleagues in that group and, when the topic came to visual mindmapping, I thought that I contributed back by showing how to brainstorm and share thoughts visually with our use of the SMARTBoard, SMART Ideas and other applications.

Well, it turns out that I wasn’t all that effective!

 I responded to Doug, but for some reason it didn't show up on his blog. Anyway, I absolutely love using graphic organizers with students and we used lots of them in the Early Years Technology group he spoke of - venn diagrams, T-charts, webs and more.  But I didn't use them as a tool for my own learning. I tended to use lists and maybe a table. But an assignment for my doctoral work required us to create a mind map for our final paper and, after much grumbling and complaining, I found I really liked it. I used iMindMap for my proposal and I've gone back to that mind map multiple times for assignments since then.  

I guess what's good for the students is good for the teacher!

Creating Opportunities for Sharing

Since we know that supporting adults and students with self-regulation is so important, we were asked in our course this week to think about 'what are the barriers to supporting others in developing their understanding of self-regulation? and then to brainstorm when we might be able to create opportunities to share our knowledge of self-reg and how we can reframe behaviour as stress behaviour rather than misbehaviour, and then go about recognizing and reducing stressors for students.

In an earlier post, I shared some of the barriers, so this post we are going to look at the opportunities to support others, including parents and educators, in developing and deepening their understanding of self-reg.

Some of the opportunities we identified included:

If the teacher is able to engage in discussion, then we can talk about 'what is your goal?'  Just like our students, teachers are not ready to engage in discussion if they are dysregulated themselves. Here's an example from my work as an education consultant.  A kindergarten teacher complained that a student wouldn't sit for whole group time (sometimes called 'circle time') and he was always disruptive.  The only thing that would work was if he sat at a nearby table and played with play doh.  If she did that, he would sit, play with the play doh and listen to what was happening at the whole group.  If she tried to get him to sit at the carpet, he would run out of the room and down the hallways.

So I'm thinking, great - you've already solved this problem.  What do you need me for?  But the teacher was really focused on having him sit at the carpet.  That was her goal.  We had the discussion - why do you want him to sit at the carpet?  Well, that's what they are supposed to do.

Is it disrupting the other students when he sits at the adjacent table?  No.

Are the other students asking to sit at the table because he is at a table? No.

Is he able to listen and learn when he is at the table? Yes.

Can we try letting him sit at the table during group time for a week and see what impact it has on him and also on you?  Okay.

So we did.  And not only was he able to sit and be part of the class, but it really reduced the teacher's stress because she wasn't worrying about him bolting from the class.  She was much more relaxed when she was teaching so group time became more enjoyable for her, for Jacob and the rest of the class.

Sharing our own self-reg success stories from our personal self-reg journey may encourage others to try self-reg themselves. I have used this blog and other social media like Facebook and Twitter to share my self-reg learning journey. By articulating the stressors that we observe - how we recognize and reduce stressors in our own lives, others may begin to recognize and reduce stressors in their own lives. And once they see how self-reg works for them, they will be more willing to try self-reg with their students or their own children.  

Suggestions from others included:

Create opportunities to gently challenge a perspective or belief in a way that creates just enough dissonance for the person to feel the impact of the concept of Step 2.  This is so powerful but such a tricky 'sweet spot' to find. You want to push their thinking far enough to cause some dissonance and create an impetus for change.  I think that's the good stress Stuart Shanker is often talking about - stress that creates growth. Yet you have to be careful not push them so far that you've created too much stress and they go into 'fight or flight' or freeze.

Another suggestion is to edit language choices, protocol descriptions, etc in documents used within the school, the district and with parents. Language is a powerful yet subtle way to promote thinking and this method can be a terrific accompaniment to more overt teaching.

Opportunities to teach the science of self-reg as well as the five steps at regularly scheduled meeting as the brain science behind why self-regulation works can inspire and persuade some reluctant educators and parents.

Modelling self-reg practice for teachers and parents is another practical strategy. If we have an opportunity to show someone how self-reg can help return a child or adult to calm, then we can ignite their curiosity to learn more.  Articulating what we are doing and why we are doing it is part of this modelling practice.

Using the increase in social media attention on the topic of stress - on Twitter, Facebook and other discussion boards and blogs - to heighten interest of our colleagues. Mental health and well-being is 'a hot topic' right now.   

What strategies have you used to share the principles of self-regulation? How can we support teachers and parents with looking at stress behaviour vs misbehaviour; co-regulation instead of punishment; self-regulation instead of self-control?

Barriers to Self-Regulation

Since we know that supporting adults and students with self-regulation is so important, we were asked in our course this week to think about 'what are the barriers to supporting others in developing their understanding of self-regulation?'

Barriers:

I think one of the big barriers to developing others' understanding of Recognizing Stressors in The Shanker Method is the self-control paradigm and all of its accompanying beliefs and practices.  If a child is disruptive in class, and someone (the VP, the support worker, whomever) comes and helps the child by using the steps of self-regulation, this is sometimes upsetting or disappointing to the teacher who is firmly entrenched in the self-control paradigm.  It's not enough that the disruptive behaviour has stopped and that the child (and the classmates) can now learn.  There needs to be a consequence!  He/She must be punished!  It's not about digging deep to find the stressors causing the problem and then reducing them so the child can be calm and ready to learn. It's about applying the rules.  

In addition, if I am a teacher moving from self-control to self-regulation as a way of looking at classroom behaviours, then that is going to have a huge impact on my practice.  In the self-control paradigm, as the teacher I may have a role to play in terms of creating a behaviour plan and handing out rewards or consequences, but the majority of the work for changing the behaviour rests with the student.  If it's a self-regulation paradigm, that changes my work as a teacher.  I need to be a stress detective, and then when the stressors are identified, I need to be part of the solution of reducing those stressors.  If the child is stressed by all the visual clutter in the room, and the bright lights and noise, then I need to make changes, not the child.   

Another barrier is the confusion around 'what is self-reg?.'  There are so many different ideas about what is self-reg and so many different resources that teachers may feel overwhelmed or may look for a product with flashcards and posters rather than learning the Shanker method of five steps.

Other barriers that were mentioned included the disregulation of the staff, especially now at this busy end of the year time.  This disregulation doesn't allow them to reframe student behaviour. When they are feeling tired and overwhelmed, they fall back on what they know - behaviour management and control. 

Time is also a barrier - so much curriculum to cover; no time to stop and reframe, recognize, and reduce stressors for disruptive students. 

What barriers have you noticed?

The Summer Symposium this year, on July 4 - 7 at Trent University in Peterborough, is about "Bringing Down Barriers." After analyzing all the feedback about barriers our Self-Reggers have come across along their Self-Reg journey, MEHRIT centre staff identified 10 key areas which are critical for understanding Self-Reg and moving beyond some of the barriers regularly experienced when embarking on a Self-Reg journey. As well, the final day will be focused on bringing energy to your self-reg initiatives. 

Next post, we'll look at creating opportunities to support educators and parents in developing their understanding of self-reg.

Recognizing Stressors - A Beginning

In our self-reg course, we are beginning to learn more about recognizing stressors in all five domains. We are becoming stress detectives. I've created this popplet to use when charting my learning about recognizing stressors and will add to it as my knowledge and understanding grows. Using mind maps and other graphic organizers is a new strategy for me as a learner, even though I often used them with my students. I'm excited to see how this strategy will support my thinking.

A related post I wrote about exploring mind map software: Exploring MindMaps

My Last 10

Doug Peterson shared a challenge from Alec Couros - If you were summed up by your last 10 Tweets or Facebook posts, what would that look like?   I've decided to just use my last 10 Tweets; I tend to use Twitter for professional purposes and Facebook for personal/education.

My last 10 Tweets:

Upcoming Self-reg events in Toronto. Started learning self-reg to help students &found I use it all the time myself! https://t.co/pVYlo5L0vB

— Lisa Cranston (@lisacran) March 28, 2017

EY team is reflecting on educator use of mathematical tools to model student thinking in order to make thinking visible #YRDSBEarlyYears pic.twitter.com/6PuxqkEbnC

— YRDSB Early Years (@YRDSBEarlyYears) March 27, 2017

Make math a part of everyday life. "How Can Parents Help Their Kids To Love Math?” by @MatthewOldridge https://t.co/SGJUQsG97A

— Upma Gupta (@GUpma) March 28, 2017

"Leadership is possible at all levels" so what do we need to do to build and sustain #leadership? @westernuEdu @bmplanche

— Lisa Cranston (@lisacran) March 27, 2017

"Leadership is possible at all levels" so what do we need to do to build and sustain #leadership? @westernuEdu @bmplanche

— Lisa Cranston (@lisacran) March 27, 2017

For all of our new little friends joining us this September.... come and spend some time with us on April 5 from 9-10 am. @maxwell_stangs pic.twitter.com/cDKJOPeuKZ

— Mrs. Burkhart (@Mrs_Burkhart) March 27, 2017

From driver’s handbook to Dora the Explorer, Toronto library’s 2016 book removal requests https://t.co/FaRJpaGMxF via @flipboard

— Doug Peterson (@dougpete) March 27, 2017

John Campbell invites you to join us in Early Years for "A Day in the Life" on Wednesday, April 5th from 11:30-12:30. pic.twitter.com/ZjVi80xhLu

— John Campbell PS (@JohnCampbellPS) March 27, 2017

42 quotes on the importance of play from doctors, scientists, parents, teachers, and more: https://t.co/zUYzK8ycrA #ece #playmatters pic.twitter.com/DKseNVVoWF

— Kimberly Hart (@KimberlyEHart) March 23, 2017

Benefits of Outdoor Play for Kids with Special Needs https://t.co/lootLrZTqD #special needs #outdoor play

— Kathryn (@KMarkPet) March 26, 2017

So what do these last 10 Tweets say about me?
I follow a lot of smart people from a lot of different places, some of whom I know 'in the real world' and some of whom I've never met. I love that about social media; being able to learn from so many different people in different contexts.

Two of the posts are about A Day In The Life, an upcoming event at my former board that was part of my portfolio as a consultant. Even though I am retired, I am still like to promote important things happening at 'my board.'

Many of the posts are about kindergarten and early primary grades. My educational background is Early Years, my first teaching job was as a kindergarten teacher and my final assignment was Kindergarten Consultant. I have a passion for early years, even in retirement.

Two posts on leadership reflect my current learning as an EdD student in Educational Leadership at Western. It's a great program, challenging in so many ways, but fantastic learning.

And lastly, my most recent tweet is about some self-regulation courses coming up in Toronto. I started the self-reg courses in the fall for a number of reasons but mostly because self-reg was emerging as a key part of my doctoral Problem of Practice. What I didn't anticipate was how much learning more about self-regulation would help me in my own day to day life.

What about you? What do your Tweets, Facebook and Instagram posts say about you?

Applying the Steps of Self-Regulation

In our course, Dr Shanker talked about the impact that urbanization has had on stress levels. That really resonated with me as I thought back to my own experience.  I grew up on a farm and the closest town had a population of 650 people.  I went to a small elementary school and a small high school (400 students).  I lived at home and commuted to college for my Early Childhood Education diploma.

When I finished college I was accepted for the Early Childhood Education program at Ryerson in downtown Toronto.  They have a program where your two years of college count as two years of university; you just have to make up four electives, research and statistics. I had always wanted to live in Toronto and could hardly wait to get off the farm and start my big city adventure.  Within a few weeks, I was so homesick and I couldn't figure out why my dream was now turning into a nightmare.  Luckily I stuck it out and by Thanksgiving I was loving my new life and my new school.  Looking at it through the five steps of self-regulation:

Read and reframe - the problem wasn't that I hated the city and wanted to move home.  I was just stressed by a number of factors.

Recognize the stressors:

Biological - the noise of the city, the vibrations from the subway that ran directly under our residence building.  In our residence we were not allowed to have food anywhere but in the dining hall.  I had breakfast and dinner at the hall, no snacks, and had to eat lunch out every day.  I also had to get use to crowds and people invading my personal space.

Emotional - nervous about moving away from home; lonely because I only knew a few people in Toronto.  Since I was joining the cohort in the third year, they all knew each other already.

Cognitive - making the jump from college to university level requirements; problem solving and finding my way around the campus and the city

Social - fitting into the cohort when they all knew each other already; learning to live in residence and share my space with everyone. As the only daughter with two brothers I had always had my own bedroom.  Now I had no space to call my own.

Prosocial - I was feeling so stressed and crowded and I craved my own personal space.  Along with many classmates, I had a placement at the Ryerson toddler centre in their lab school.  We were supposed to do all these activities with them and I had a hard time.  I felt like the toddlers probably just wanted some space and to be left alone for awhile.  My empathy was getting in the way of being successful on placement.

Reduce the stressors

-my boyfriend had a studio apartment a short subway ride from the residence so I used to go there when he was at work so I could have some quiet alone time

-I went home for visits at Thanksgiving and Christmas to reconnect and recharge (no phones in our rooms meant limited phone calls home as this was back in the olden days, before cell phones and social media)

-I tried to make healthy choices like the school salad bar for lunch

-I gave myself time to adjust to the academic rigour of university 

-participating in some group projects gave me an opportunity to meet some of my classmates

Reflect - I realized I didn't want to move home and that I just needed to give myself time to adjust to the myriad of changes (stressors) that were all flooding me all at one time. I choose the ones that bothered me the most,  which were the lack of personal space and the change in eating patterns.  

Respond - Making incremental changes and allowing myself time to adjust were very helpful in getting through the first six weeks.  Years later, when my niece went through a similar experience when she moved from her rural home to residence at Fanshawe, I was able to reach out through social media and tell her to just hold on until Thanksgiving.  She told me later that she couldn't believe it.  In September all she wanted to do was go home, and by Thanksgiving she never wanted to leave college!

Self-Regulation vs Self-Control

Through the self-reg courses that I've taken so far I've been working on deepening my understanding of "what is the difference between self-regulation and self-control?"  Here are some of the resources from the MEHRIT Centre and Stuart Shanker's work that have been supporting my thinking on this question:

This infographic on Self-Regulation and Self-Control from the MEHRIT centre has helped me to continue to refine my understanding.

from self-reg.ca

Psychology Today article - Self-regulation vs. Self-Control 

NPR - Why It's Self-Reg, Not Self-Control, That Matters Most for Kids


Stuart Shanker's book: How to Help Your Child (and You) Break the Stress Cycle and Successfully Engage with Life

I've also learned from reading other people's blogs about the same topic such  as this blog by Aviva Dunsiger on The Connection Between Self-Regulation and Self-Control.   

and The Visible Parent Blog - Busting the Myth of Self-Control

My understanding is still developing; I'm a learner not an expert.  I'm sure if you ask me this same question six weeks or six months from now my answer will have changed based on my ongoing learning.  My current explanation, when people ask what's the difference is:

Self-Regulation is non-judgementally looking at your impulses and cravings and asking why and why now?  It takes into consideration the social dimension, external factors and hidden stressors.  With self-regulation we learn to be stress detectives.

Self-control is judgmental. It focuses on why you as an individual can't control your impulses and your external behaviours.  In self-control we ask what's wrong with me? Why can't I control myself?   Self-control focuses on internal factors and on learning to control your weaknesses. 

Self-control is about inhibiting impulses and cravings while self-regulation is about reducing impulses and cravings by developing awareness of our stress levels and learning how to return to a calm state when we are hypo- or hyperaroused.

Many times in our readings we are reminded that self-regulation makes self-control possible.  

How do you explain the difference between self-reg and self-control?

What resources have you found helpful in learning more about self-reg and self-control?