Today was our monthly PTO meeting, and I want to say thank you to our parents who have stepped up to work to support our school community. So far our PTO has funded our welcome back pizza party, our first day coffee, our family ice cream social and organizing and supporting our fund raising through our Run-A-Thon which is Tuesday September 26. Our PTO has also sponsored all of our students and staff to receive a Lincoln t-shirt which will be distributed next week in hopes that ALL students and staff wear these for our run-a-thon.
As many of you know this is the final year that Lincoln will serve as an elementary school it is also our 95th year, so we will celebrate this historical year in many ways. If you have interest or questions about the process the district is going through, please check out our updated web page, https://district.d303.org/facility-plan.
This week our school participated in our first town hall on Wednesday, our focus was task initiation. Below is information shared from our committee. Ask your son or daughter what they learned Wednesday and how this can help them.
What is task initiation? Task initiation is the ability to start a task. It includes overcoming procrastination and getting started on tasks even if you don’t want to do them. Obviously, this is a critical life skill, since there are many chores and tasks we must complete even when we don’t feel like doing them at the moment.
• Examples of Task Initiation •
Skills for task initiation can be difficult to spot, because it just appears like someone doing what they are “supposed” to do! Just a few examples of what task initiation looks like includes:
Starting an assignment in class right away after directions are given.
Cleaning your room when it needs to be done, without reminders or prompts.
Beginning a tough test or quiz, even if you aren’t 100% confident on the assignment.
• Possible Signs of Challenges with Task Initiation •
Learners who struggle with task initiation are frequently getting in trouble for not doing their work. While at first glance this can appear as intentional avoidance behavior, kids and young adults who struggle with task initiation really lack the skills to get themselves going. Again, this can be extremely frustrating for learners, since they often want to do their work but just don’t know how to start or get themselves in action. Being able to notice possible signs can be helpful to target these students early on.
Possible signs of challenges with task initiation include:
A student putting their head down when it is time to begin work independently.
Someone who finds other things to do when it’s time to work, such as sharpening pencil multiple times or getting a drink.
A student who says, “I don’t know what to do,” even if directions were just given.
A learner who just doodles on their paper instead of completing the task.
A child or young adult who is frustrated when trying to start their work.
• Interventions, Supports, and Strategies for Task Initiation •
Task initiation skills can certainly be improved with practice. Here are some activities, tasks, and ideas to help with task initiation needs in the classroom:
Teach task initiation and other EF skills explicitly
Practice brain breaks between tasks
Give choice for how to complete the task or demonstrate knowledge
Be explicit with directions and provide them orally and in writing
Incorporate areas of interest into the content and curriculum (i.e. the price of skateboards in math)
Train a peer mentor to help the student in need get started on tasks
Practice the rocket ship countdown (Say: 5-4-3-2-1 blast off… on “blast off”, get up and get going!)
Allow the student to work with a partner
Use a timer to countdown time to get to work
Have the student answer the questions before starting: What am I doing? What do I need? How can I start?
Make getting started like a race with a countdown
Pretend a set of assignments is like an escape room
Show a model of expected work prior to starting
Keep a reminder card on the student’s desk – “What should I be doing right now?”
Provide visuals with step-by-step directions for getting started
Identify which content areas are most challenging and reduce the difficulty to give momentum
Develop a work contract that highlights what the student should do during work time
Incorporate incentives and rewards for completing difficult tasks (use this free reward list to get some ideas)
Practice
problem-solving skills (i.e. “What could you do if you don’t know the answer to a problem?”)
Take turns writing out sentences or problems to get started together
Set up a clean and organized workspace without clutter
Reduce or eliminate distractions
Allow the student to complete every other problem or choose a certain number of problems
