Helping Students Manage Their Energy

This article introduces a tool to help students learn to better manage their energy. The tool asks students to assess their energy levels for each waking hour over at least 2 days in order to identify patterns of activities associated with high energy and with depleted energy. The article describes how to use the tool in the classroom by articulating the learning objectives, providing background research on energy regulation, and debriefing student reactions. The findings from two classes of students suggest that the tool is effective in achieving its learning goals and has a longer term impact on student behavior. The article closes by discussing the challenges of energy management for students.