
I recently had a chance to write for Education to the Core (an elementary blog). Naturally, I wanted to bring some of my ABA tips and tricks to the table, while writing a post about something that would useful to teachers outside of the special education realm. I chose to write about self-monitoring, an ABA strategy that I absolutely love. If you would like to read the article, you can read it here.

I have one student that uses a self-monitoring check-off system. He is responsible for setting the timer for six minutes (although this will eventually increase). He has two rules that he needs to follow. If he is able to follow these rules, he give himself a check when the timer goes off.

- As with any behavior intervention, you want to think about what you want the student to do as opposed to what you what them to not do. Limit it to 2-3 things at a time, give or take depending on what is best for your student.
- Take baseline data. It’s tough to really know if an intervention is useful if you don’t have data. Take baseline data and make sure you’re taking data after the intervention has been put in place.
- Make sure your student is in the loop as to what behaviors they are working on. It should be very explicit as to what they are working on.
- Don’t forget to teach the student how to use their self-monitoring system, just like you would any other skill.
If you have students that are currently using individual token economies in your class, you may want to try moving them on to self-monitoring. You can get your own copy of these self-monitoring tools for free on my Teachers Pay Teacher store.
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Liz this is an amazing post! Such great ideas about something we don't talk about near enough. I love your descriptions of how you use them in the classroom! Loved the one you wrote on Education to the Core as well! So glad I found your blog!!
Chris
Autism Classroom Resources
Chris, thanks so much for your comment! I have been a huge fan of yours for the past few years, since around the time I went back to school for my ABA certificate and I started making some much needed changes in my classroom. It's an honor that you like this post so much.
Awesome post Liz! Thank you so much for sharing these great ideas
Rae
Mindful Rambles
Liz, great idea for older kids! Going to try to transition my middle schoolers to this over summer school!