## Steps in Implementing Self-Monitoring

The steps in implementing self-monitoring are well established (Reid & Lienemann, 2006). Note that the time needed for some steps may vary dramatically depending on what type of self-monitoring is used.

## STEP 1: Select a Target Behavior
The first step is to decide what behavior the students will self-monitor. It’s important that the behavior be well specified. For example “doing your best work” is much too vague; “percent correct on my math work” is much better. For self-monitoring to work, the students must understand exactly what they will self-assess and self-record. Make sure that the behavior is one that the students are already able to perform. Self-monitoring will not create new knowledge or behavior; it will, however, change the frequency, intensity, of duration of behaviors that students are already able to perform. It is also critical that the behavior be under the students’ control.

## STEP 2: Collect baseline data
Before starting self-monitoring, it is necessary to collect baseline data on the students’ behavior. This will allow the teacher to assess accurately whether self-monitoring was effective. Collecting baseline data can be very straightforward; for example, if the teacher planned to use SMP to increase the number of math problems students completed on their daily math seat work, collecting baseline data might be as easy as compiling and graphing worksheets over three or four days.

## STEP 3: Obtain students’ cooperation
For self-monitoring to be effective, the students must be active and willing participants. Remember that the students will actually perform the self-monitoring. Teachers should meet with the students and talk about the problem frankly by discussing the benefits of improving the behavior, (e.g., staying in your seat means you don’t lose recess; doing all your arithmetic problems means you’ll do better on the test). The discussion should be positive; the teacher should stress, without making exaggerated claims, that self-monitoring has helped many students. In practice, the great majority of students will immediately buy in to trying self-monitoring. If any student is unsure, try using a contingency contract. In this case, the student agrees to try self-monitoring for a set period of time and will receive a reinforcer simply for trying it. After you have enlisted cooperation, explain when and where self-monitoring will be used (e.g., during second period math class seat work time).

## STEP 4: Teach the self-monitoring procedures
In this stage the students are taught how to self-monitor. Note that although the time needed to teach procedures can vary widely (depending on the type of self-monitoring used) this process is not time-consuming; instruction time is typically well under one hour. There are three critical tasks at this step. First, the teacher needs to define the target behavior for the students. The teacher simply explains to the students exactly what constitutes the target behavior. This typically is quite simple. For example in SMP this may entail little more than telling the students to count the number of correctly worked math problems. For other types of self-monitoring, defining the target variable may be more complex. In SMA this may mean teaching the students what it means to “pay attention.” Here the teacher and the students can develop a list of specific behaviors that constitute “paying attention” such as looking at the teacher or your work, writing answers, listening to the teacher, or asking a question.

## STEP 5: Implement self-monitoring
The first time the students are to use the self-monitoring procedures it is a good idea to prompt the students, (e.g., remember to listen for the beep and then mark down whether you were paying attention or not). During the first few sessions, the teacher should monitor the students to ensure that the self-monitoring procedures are used consistently and correctly. This is critical for self-monitoring effectiveness.