How can learning be monitored? Great question, isn’t it? Sometimes, my learning is marked by time. I want to study ‘x’ for 30 minutes. I want to learn how to ‘x.’ I may even create a list of sources. Other times, I want to simply feel confident in my newly acquired knowledge.
Once I figure out what I want to learn and how it will be monitored, I set up times to evaluate the progress. Time limit is the easiest option. Other times, I may create a checklist of my sources. As I complete them, I check them off.
The most important piece is simple. Having a completion timetable. I always, always have a time to complete my goal. This is essential or it may not happen! When I opted to make benches for my farmhouse table, the end goal was that it must be completed by the time my husband returned from a business trip. Why? Because I wanted to do something special for him as well.
Whatever option you choose, make sure to set the goal. Set the due date. Monitor it and reach that learning goal.
If you don’t meet that learning goal? That is hard. I am hardest on myself. I will beat myself up repeatedly for not reaching a goal. But, the end result is the same, whether you wait to forgive yourself or simply do it immediately. Forgive. Forget. Move forward on another goal!
By Tracy Atkinson
Tracy Atkinson, mother of six, lives in the Midwest with her husband. She is a teacher, having taught elementary school to higher education, holding degrees in elementary education and a master’s in higher education. Her passion is researching, studying and investigating the attributes related to self-directed learners. She has published several titles, including Calais: The Annals of the Hidden, Lemosa: The Annals of the Hidden, Book Two, Rachel’s 8 and Securing Your Tent. She is currently working on a non-fiction text exploring the attributes of self-directed learners: The Five Characteristics of Self-directed Learners.
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