What type of schedule does the student need to organize priorities and deadlines?
Generally, if a student is dealing with this complex skill, he will probably need some form of calendar schedule. The instructor must be involved in selecting/designing this so that the student can adjust his schedule as needed to meet priorities and deadlines.
Consider how the student will adjust his schedule for today. Adjusting for today may occur on a daily planner. The daily planner may need to be broken down by class periods. *Note that the student may adjust his ‘to-do list’ within a specific class period or study hall. For many, it may be appropriate to combine the to-do list concept within the schedule to support student independence in planning. Then consider how the student will adjust it for later days in this week. How will he adjust it for days in future weeks?
How will the student interact with his schedule to ensure that he is consistently using and referencing it? Will he check items off, delete items, place completed events in a folder, etc.?
The student uses the schedule (planner or agenda) to note assignments on specific days or class periods. Checking assignments off his agenda or planner as completed is one skill to teach through practice and prompting. Note that deleting or ‘crossing them off’ may lead to later confusion (‘did I do that?’ Or ‘when did I do that?’). Being able to see what you have accomplished can help reinforce the student’s use of the system.
*Note that often the immediate step following ‘placing an assignment on your schedule’ is ‘placing the assignment in the correct folder.’ This is discussed in more detail in Visual Cues.
Is the schedule available to the student at all times? If not, what adjustments should you make to ensure its accessibility?
In some cases, a calendar, planner or agenda can be placed in the front pocket of a 3-ring binder to assure routine availability. It must have a routine place where it is always kept.
The complexity of dealing with large amounts of materials from multiple classes may mean that the planner (schedule) is kept separately from the binders for each class. Though this is cumbersome, make sure to create a consistent space in the backpack where the student can always find his planner.
What additional cues (e.g. time durations, highlighting, reminders) might you add to the schedule to clarify expectations and activities?
The instructor may initially use highlighting to focus attention on ‘what comes first.’ The instructor may also add time allotments to the scheduled assignments to help the student see amounts of time necessary. *Be careful not to underestimate time required. Setting ‘long’ estimations and then coaching the student on estimation may be appropriate. For instance, you write in coordinated planning times with the student that he may need one hour to complete algebra homework. You note that he allots an hour and either completes it early or spends one hour and then puts it in the designated folder or divider in this notebook. Again a long-term goal may be helping the student to use a highlighter to highlight big projects.
In order to align this intervention topic area with the unique needs of the student, do you need to create a schedule in the View2do program?
