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?
Provide a careful assessment of the student’s organization in all environments. What part of the day is he struggling the most in staying organized? What part of the day is he being successful? Start with the part of the day in which he is being successful and look at what systems or strategies are being used during those times. Is he being successful in a math class which is a high interest and strength for him?
Consider what organizational strategies he is using for that class. Did the teacher or the student design the structure? Maybe a similar system can be set up for a different class.
Being organized can prove aversive and painful for some. You well may need strong reinforcement to assure student investment in using an organizational structure within his activities, whether they are at school or at work. Moreover, building independent use of a system often requires monitoring by an instructor. Having someone ‘checking after the student’ can be irritating.
As you introduce this skill, how will you incorporate (visually, thematically) the student’s unique interests?
Does the student have a set vocational dream or career choice? Look at the organizational strategies implemented at those sites and possibly adapt those strategies to be used in the school setting. For example, he may wish to work for a graphic design company. If you can show that a design company uses labeled folders or files in design projects as well as check lists for needed project materials, he might be motivated to use those strategies at school. If a student wants to become a train mechanic, knowing the importance of keeping up with the correct tools and materials and keeping the tools organized might motivate a student to learn organizational strategies.
Can you make it visually clear to the student who is resistant to change that his assumption is only one way of looking at things? 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?
For the student who is insistent that he doesn’t need any visuals or supports, showing him current grades or projects where he has struggled might help in convincing him to try to use a different strategy for the next project or unit. Again using an organizational system can feel aversive at first. He may think of himself as ‘stupid’ if he needs those supports so he avoids them. Helping him see that self-organizing is a ‘smart’ thing to do may be part of the negotiation. Or using the system allows him to show how smart he really is. A thinking story might make it visually clear that a different method is necessary for success. A situational story or coping card using an admired peer or adult could help him understand strategies that have made a difference in job or career success for that individual. Incorporating the student’s ideas in developing an organizational strategy will aid in ensuring success.
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?
Organizational skills are naturally interspersed with other activities, specifically working on the content of a class or on the work task itself. Setting up specific times of the day to organize space and materials (2-3 times per day with a primary instructor) may be one strategy that focuses the student on the strategies. Over time, assuring that he has practice putting materials in the appropriate places as he uses them will be natural interspersal.
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? How do you orient him to the materials he will use?
The organizational strategies for materials in a school setting or job site should be prepared and reviewed with the student prior to the start of that activity. Agreement and understanding by the student should be an initial target. At first an instructor may need to model the organizational strategies while prompting him to the visual cues in order to use the strategies appropriately and consistently. For some students the instructor may need to initially identify and determine the task and materials, create the organizational framework, and then model and teach the student how to use the framework. For other students, the instructor will assist the student in identifying and determining the task and materials and then creating his own structures.
Organizational strategies for space, especially for a job site, may need to be determined and set up by the instructor during job negotiation. Reorganizing furniture or shelves to assist in clarifying the area where the student will be working, and then determining what organizational framework, such as labeling of shelves or materials that are needed, may need to be completed by the instructor prior to the start of the job. Creating a specific spot or area where the student is able to store his materials will help to avoid the distractions of searching for lost or misplaced items. The student will need to visit the site to become familiar with the space and taught how to use the visuals and materials before beginning the job. Hopefully, the frameworks incorporated on the job site will be similar to strategies that the student is familiar with and have been successful in the school environment.