How can you connect this new skill to the student’s priorities? How can you assure ownership by making the development of this skill the student’s goal rather than just your goal for the student? Can your use of visual supports and self-assessments help get agreement that there is a problem, get agreement on the solution, and create the motivation for change?
The obvious motivators of good grades, passing courses, and keeping a job are often worthwhile to tie to this goal. Strong external reinforcers are worthwhile to consider in any intervention that requires the student’s involvement in this planning process.
How can you make this simple enough that the student will not avoid the task? If the task is overwhelming, the student may deny the problem or avoid the situation. Priming often involves simplifying the planning process to a level at which the student feels comfortable.
Your breakdown of the process in task analysis is intended to help you define where and when the student will get assistance in carrying out the skills you target for intervention within a planning process. You may need to ‘structure out’ certain steps of the process by scheduling specific times during the week when and where the student will be supported in organizing priorities and deadlines. The special education teacher or support staff may need to set up email notifications so that all teachers copy that teacher and the student’s caregivers on deadlines or priorities in various classes. In this way, the special education teacher is not necessarily dependent on the student to share new information on priorities and deadlines, and the teacher and caregivers can also work to hold the student accountable to these deadlines.
Simply, just getting the student to agree to regular planning meetings, to consistently attend those meetings, AND to use the visual supports developed in those meetings is the initial goal. Connecting not only natural reinforcers but additional external and powerful reinforcers to this process is likely to be necessary.
As the student is successful in carrying out the use of the visual supports to complete assignments, to handle change in priorities, and to achieve deadlines, investment improves. As investment improves, it becomes the student’s goal and the instructor can then systematically turn over parts of the planning process to the student.
Priming is a form of negotiation that can reframe and sharpen a student’s assessment of self. Below are the self-assessment tools that align with this intervention topic:
"Organization and Self Direction - Task Completion 1"
Interspersal is a proven technique involving the presentation of familiar, higher success tasks with the new, more challenging task. When it is appropriate, are you varying the activities to maintain the student’s confidence and focus?
Layer planning for priorities and deadlines within more engaging activities whenever possible. If an enjoyable activity follows ‘planning time’ in the class and it is clearly defined exactly what must be planned, the student will have better motivation to finish. Since planning is taxing for so many, present ‘planning activities’ in short bursts when a new priority appears. Intersperse it throughout the day if possible to build the student’s use of the process. In other words, some students will benefit from multiple short intervals using the planning process at various (possibly scheduled) times of day.
Before the student encounters a situation where he will need to perform this skill, how do you help the student prepare? How do you orient the student to the upcoming situation?
Recognizing a new priority or deadline and making a note of it is itself a significant skill in this planning process (step 3 in the task analysis). The instructor may practice having the student write down a priority in a designated place in his agenda or notebook during their common ‘planning times.’ After this initial practice, coordinated instruction will be a key. Does every instructor label a priority or deadline and encourage the student to note it in his agenda or notebook? Coordinated instruction requires a specifically designed visual support in the notebook or agenda where the student notes issues or deadlines. Coordinated instruction also requires common knowledge by all instructors of the level of prompting necessary to support the student initiating writing down the priority or issue in the designated place by himself.
To ready the student for situations where he might be assigned a deadline (which in many cases occurs every day, in every class), review how and when these assignments are typically presented in that particular class– on the board, at the end of class, on the daily handout, etc. When possible, prime him for these events by verbalizing what the teacher might say to signal to the student/class that an assignment is due (“Mr. Banks is probably going to say something like this…..When he says this, what do you do?.....Write it down here….”).