• Provide guidance in systematic analyses of decisions: writing the problem at the top of a
sheet of paper, listing all possible choices, and sketching out the benefits and cost of each
choice.
• Use the same systematic structure to analyze past decisions now that their consequences are
evident, such as, “You were angry at Jo for teasing you, and so you punched her in the
cheek. Now you have to sit out at recess for a week. What are some other things that you
could have done instead? What might have happened then?”
• Provide opportunities for students to commit to personal or academic goals: writing the
goal down and storing it in a safe place, revisiting the goal periodically to reflect progress
toward it, listing optional steps to take toward the goal, and trying out the steps and
reflecting on their success.
• Provide opportunities to systematically analyze adult perspectives, such as the point of
view of the volleyball coach when a student is late to every game or the perspective of the
librarian when a student returns a book that is dirty and torn. Help the student guess what
the adult is thinking and feeling and what might be done as a result.
• Provide opportunities for students to evaluate task performance in effectively ‘safe’ ways:
identifying weaknesses and strengths in performance, reflecting ways to improve
performance, trying out strategies to improve performance, and reevaluating performance
to check for improvement. For example, “You got a lower grade than you wanted on your
research paper. What steps did you take to make it a stronger paper? What steps did you
leave out? What might you do now to make it even better?”