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There are a few strategies mentioned in this article, but one strategy I thought would be helpful for scholars is to use some of the extra time to give them the chance to self-assess. It's important for students to be able to demonstrate what they learned not only to themselves but to other students. More than just show what they learned, I believe that we can use this time to give students a chance to self-reflect and think about the work they did, if they're satisfied with the results, what challenges they faced during their work, etc. Being able to summarize their learning and identify what worked well for them as well as the issues they had in the process will be an incredibly beneficial skill as they continue on into college courses. The article also talks about setting goals and inspiring motivation, which go hand-in-hand with this idea.

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In the quickly evolving workplace and at a time when graduates are competing for jobs and careers with others around the world, the capacity to change rapidly and apply new skills is paramount. Bottom line: Learning how to learn is a game changer in the global knowledge economy, and it's never too early to teach students how to begin to learn more independently.

Cultivating Independent Learners

Inspire student motivation for learning: Motivation to learn is key to success in school, after graduation in the global job market, and for life in a world of constant changes in technology.

Use the power of your relationship with students to show a passion for learning. When you embody passion for learning, your students are more likely to have a powerful, positive emotional connection to learning that will inspire their motivation to continue to learn. With teachers who release their passion for learning, students across all grades are free to learn new ways of learning with motivation and joy. Over time, expect self-motivation rather than compliance.

Guide students to imagine how they will feel when they learn something new. Allow volunteers to describe their feelings after they learned something. When appropriate, ask students to visualize what a finished project will look like.

Encourage students to tell a friend their learning goal and get their support. This allows students to verbalize their goal, which will help them internalize it. Students of all ages are inherently social, and getting support from a peer can be very motivating.

Coach students to set goals and develop a plan for learning: Support students in developing their own learning goals that are realistic yet challenging. Often the most motivating goals are those that allow us to use our personal strengths. Yet students often have goals set for them based on a one-size-fits-all curriculum or on their personal learning deficits-think individualized education program-which can be discouraging.

If you have students who currently lack motivation to learn, consider helping them to develop learning goals based on their personal learning strengths. For example, a personalized goal for some learners might be to design movement breaks for the class. Another student might set a goal to complete his or her appreciation or gratitude journal with photographs or illustrations. For another student, Pinterest offers ideas that might aid them in becoming curious about new topics to learn about. Teachers can support students in becoming aware of their strengths and figuring out how to set personal goals.

Teach students how to best structure their independent learning time. Our brains did not evolve to do several hours of physics without a break. We encourage students to plan a shift in focus after every 20 minutes of independent study. At least every hour or so, they should get up and move. When learning new material, they should utilize different locations. For example, we use an outside patio table, a particularly comfortable chair, an inside office desk, and different local cafes as places to work. Because memory for locations is powerful, using several locations for learning aids memory.

Encourage students to become self-disciplined learners. Support them in making a commitment to themselves to get started on achieving their goals. Assist them in affirming their commitment to organize themselves, manage their focus over time, and limit time-wasting distractions. Help students learn to consistently define themselves as people who commit to and achieve their goals. It will probably be necessary to remind them time and again that along the learning pathway, successful people forgive themselves when they make mistakes and then continue on.

Teach students to self-assess: Ask students to write a letter to a student who will be in the class the next year. Upon completion of a project, unit, or chapter, ask students to summarize what they have learned and tell the future student how they have overcome any learning challenges. This strategy provides an opportunity for student reflection on virtually any topic.

Have students pair up and take turns sharing what they have learned. This activity-we call it "brain buddies"-gives students opportunities to learn from each other. For example, each partner may remember different aspects of a lesson. And they may have different points of view, so when they share, each partner can learn to better understand a variety of perspectives.

As your students practice independent learning, encourage them to notice changes. For example, when we asked students to discuss changes in achievement, one student said, "Now I get assignments turned in on time, and my grades have improved." Another said, "I enjoy school now because I know how to make better grades." Over time, statements like these become a part of students' positive identity for school success.

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Guiding Students to Be Independent Learners

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In the quickly evolving workplace and at a time when graduates are competing for jobs and careers with others around the world, the capacity to change rapidly and apply new skills is paramount. Bottom line: Learning how to learn is a game changer in the global knowledge economy, and it's never too early to teach students how to begin to learn more independently.

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From a SPED perspective - independent work time can be a huge challenge/roadblock for students. Some need to be explicitly taught how to BE students and many, perhaps especially those that are fresh out of elementary school, haven't had opportunities or been taught how to be independent. It's important to be aware of this. We may need to provide some heavy supports in the beginning and slowly fade that support over time. Structure is super important. Making sure you are providing the appropriate accommodations (which is up to ALL teachers) is essential (your friendly neighborhood special education teacher will provide modifications - yes, there's a difference!) https://autismclassroomresources.com/why-structured-work-system/

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I once worked with a student who asked whether he got the right answer after ever single math problem he did. He would finish the problem, and look to a staff member for confirmation that he had done it right.

I've also worked with a student on a job site who needed someone behind her for every task telling her the next step. Fading that support on the job site made the difference of her keeping or losing that job.

Do you have students in your classroom like this? I bet you do or have in the past. These are the characteristics of students with autism and other disabilities that necessitate the use of independent work systems.

Over the years I've heard lots of objections to the use of structured work systems. People call them busy work or just something that takes up time. However, there is a growing research literature behind using them in classrooms for students in special education. In addition, they serve specific purposes, if done correctly, that are useful for our students.

Why is Independent Work Important?

1. EMERGING EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE

Both the National Professional Development Center and the National Autism Center indicate that structured work systems are an emerging evidence-based practice. But evidence-based practices only work if we implement them with fidelity. So much of this series is going to focus on how we can do that. We'll also focus on why certain things are set up the way they are.

2. Independence is a life skill

We can teach academics and we can teach life skills. But if the students still need support or supervision because we haven't taught them to work independently, we have failed. Independence is a door opener...prompt dependency is a door closer. More opportunities are open for those who can work independently than for those who can't.

3. Independence Needs to generalize across environments

We need to build independence that generalizes to larger, more complex environments. Work systems, if taught correctly, can be used a wide variety of environments and situations. They can transfer to new settings and structure the tasks. So in short, they can help students be successful in new environments.

4. Independence Needs to generalize to new materials

Our students also need to generalize their skills to different materials and material presentation. So if I teach a student how to identify pictures using flash cards, I also need him to be able to identify them in other instructional materials like books and file folders or worksheets. Independent work creates opportunities for practicing skills with different materials.

5. Helps maintain skills

Most of our students don't have "set it and forget it" learning. They don't learn something and retain it or use it in other settings successfully. So, they need to practice the skills. Practicing with different materials and in different situations is critical for maintenance and for generalization. If our skills don't maintain or generalize, they won't be useful. Structured work systems help to program that maintenance into the daily routine.

What's Next?

So this post kicks off a series on structured or independent work systems. We'll focus on how to do them right to have the best outcome for your students.

Want to know more about getting independent work systems set up in your classroom? Check out this free webinar.

Save Save Learn More

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5 Reasons You Should Use Independent Work Systems

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I once worked with a student who asked whether he got the right answer after ever single math problem he did. He would finish the problem, and look to a staff member for confirmation that he had done it right.

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Focus on tasks that give children the opportunity to read, write, and do word work. Gradually build and add on to centers over time. Start with centers such as independent reading and buddy reading. They require only a child and a book.

https://learn.cli.org › best-practices

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Use instrumental background music to indicate that students should be working independently. That way having music "off" will be a cue for students to bring their attention back to the teacher.

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https://medium.com/lalilo/5-ways-to-get-your-class-to-work-independently-8bbc477f4bf7

This strategy allows for independent choice, time management, task management, modeling (where the teacher chooses two tasks and the student chooses two tasks), and the development of soft skills such as self-determination!

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Use of timers, encouragement procedures, verbal feedback, have guiding worksheets during assignments with check ins and formative assessments. Formative assessments may help students stay on track. 

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Use of timers, encouragement procedures, verbal feedback, have guiding worksheets during assignments with check ins and formative assessments. Formative assessments may help students stay on track. 

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This article talks about the importance of shifting students' focus every 20 minutes during independent work time. It also recommends a movement break every hour. Stations can be a powerful tool to utilize in the classroom to allow for these shifts in focus and movement breaks.

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In the quickly evolving workplace and at a time when graduates are competing for jobs and careers with others around the world, the capacity to change rapidly and apply new skills is paramount. Bottom line: Learning how to learn is a game changer in the global knowledge economy, and it's never too early to teach students how to begin to learn more independently.

Cultivating Independent Learners

Inspire student motivation for learning: Motivation to learn is key to success in school, after graduation in the global job market, and for life in a world of constant changes in technology.

Use the power of your relationship with students to show a passion for learning. When you embody passion for learning, your students are more likely to have a powerful, positive emotional connection to learning that will inspire their motivation to continue to learn. With teachers who release their passion for learning, students across all grades are free to learn new ways of learning with motivation and joy. Over time, expect self-motivation rather than compliance.

Guide students to imagine how they will feel when they learn something new. Allow volunteers to describe their feelings after they learned something. When appropriate, ask students to visualize what a finished project will look like.

Encourage students to tell a friend their learning goal and get their support. This allows students to verbalize their goal, which will help them internalize it. Students of all ages are inherently social, and getting support from a peer can be very motivating.

Coach students to set goals and develop a plan for learning: Support students in developing their own learning goals that are realistic yet challenging. Often the most motivating goals are those that allow us to use our personal strengths. Yet students often have goals set for them based on a one-size-fits-all curriculum or on their personal learning deficits-think individualized education program-which can be discouraging.

If you have students who currently lack motivation to learn, consider helping them to develop learning goals based on their personal learning strengths. For example, a personalized goal for some learners might be to design movement breaks for the class. Another student might set a goal to complete his or her appreciation or gratitude journal with photographs or illustrations. For another student, Pinterest offers ideas that might aid them in becoming curious about new topics to learn about. Teachers can support students in becoming aware of their strengths and figuring out how to set personal goals.

Teach students how to best structure their independent learning time. Our brains did not evolve to do several hours of physics without a break. We encourage students to plan a shift in focus after every 20 minutes of independent study. At least every hour or so, they should get up and move. When learning new material, they should utilize different locations. For example, we use an outside patio table, a particularly comfortable chair, an inside office desk, and different local cafes as places to work. Because memory for locations is powerful, using several locations for learning aids memory.

Encourage students to become self-disciplined learners. Support them in making a commitment to themselves to get started on achieving their goals. Assist them in affirming their commitment to organize themselves, manage their focus over time, and limit time-wasting distractions. Help students learn to consistently define themselves as people who commit to and achieve their goals. It will probably be necessary to remind them time and again that along the learning pathway, successful people forgive themselves when they make mistakes and then continue on.

Teach students to self-assess: Ask students to write a letter to a student who will be in the class the next year. Upon completion of a project, unit, or chapter, ask students to summarize what they have learned and tell the future student how they have overcome any learning challenges. This strategy provides an opportunity for student reflection on virtually any topic.

Have students pair up and take turns sharing what they have learned. This activity-we call it "brain buddies"-gives students opportunities to learn from each other. For example, each partner may remember different aspects of a lesson. And they may have different points of view, so when they share, each partner can learn to better understand a variety of perspectives.

As your students practice independent learning, encourage them to notice changes. For example, when we asked students to discuss changes in achievement, one student said, "Now I get assignments turned in on time, and my grades have improved." Another said, "I enjoy school now because I know how to make better grades." Over time, statements like these become a part of students' positive identity for school success.

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Guiding Students to Be Independent Learners

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In the quickly evolving workplace and at a time when graduates are competing for jobs and careers with others around the world, the capacity to change rapidly and apply new skills is paramount. Bottom line: Learning how to learn is a game changer in the global knowledge economy, and it's never too early to teach students how to begin to learn more independently.

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This resource is valuable because it discusses setting norms, routines, and expectations. It also discusses what independent work should look and sound like, and the importance of practice, debriefing, and reflection.

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One-on-one conferences with students are a valuable use of class time-provided the other students are able to work quietly on their own.

©Shutterstock/Monkey Business Images

Student conferences are a valuable way to connect with students and target our teaching to the individual needs they have when it comes to developing the skills we're trying to teach in our classrooms. But one important logistical concern often gets in the way: Since we're talking with individual students during class time, how do we ensure that the rest remain on task?

Over the years, I've developed some ways to establish norms for independent work time, and while there's still the occasional student I need to redirect, I'm able to have productive individual conversations with my kids on a daily basis.

Students Don't Start Out Knowing Our Expectations

I've learned the hard way-and don't we all?-that I cannot assume my students know my expectations when it comes to their behavior in the classroom. Early in the school year, I discuss with my classes the different modes of activity we'll use in the classroom: whole class, small group, individual, and transitions. We write and talk about the purpose of each and come to a consensus on guidelines for each type of activity.

How I structure this process: I begin the conversation with my class with a five-minute quick write on the following questions: "What are the different types of work you normally do during English class? What makes that work easier or harder?"

As we talk about students' experience with things like reading, writing, and discussing in English class, I get to know them a little better-a crucial endeavor as I'm starting to develop relationships with them at the beginning of the year. And they begin to think about the purpose of what they'll be doing in my class and how to accomplish that better.

We then turn back to the four modes of activity. For each of these modes, we talk about the purpose of it and then brainstorm specific guidelines for best accomplishing that purpose. I have students create a two-column chart with the headings: "Looks Like" and "Sounds Like." Using this framing is important because it helps make the expected behaviors concrete and thus easier to understand and practice.

If students happen to miss a guideline that I think is important, I'll add it and explain to them why it will make the activity more effective.

Building Independent Work Norms
Independent work looks like:

Electronics turned off and put away, unless being used for a specific assignment, such as research, writing, or reading an ebook. (Depending on the activity, I may allow headphones, but this requires another conversation-some students focus better with music, using headphones, and others find it distracting.)

Heads up. (It's tough to tell if students are awake if they have their heads down on their desk.)

Focusing on an assignment we're working on.

Working on alternate assignments once we're finished with current assignments.

Hands up for questions.

Independent work sounds like:

Silence, unless conferring with teacher in a whisper voice.

Walking quietly.

Not making a lot of noise with food or school supplies.

Students understand that the independent work mode is for just that: working on something by themselves. They agree that they need to be able to focus and think, and for that to happen, certain guidelines need to be in place. Of course, this varies for different students, but we usually come to an understanding about guidelines.

Practice Is Key

Practicing the different modes is crucial. We'll do short bouts of each at first-10 to 15 minutes-and then reflect on how well we followed the guidelines and if we need to alter the list to make it more effective. For example, we demonstrate and practice what a whisper voice sounds like.

This does require a few weeks of work at the beginning of the year, but it pays huge dividends for the rest of the year because students require less redirecting and are much more productive.

Troubleshooting With Debrief and Reflection

What if the norms you've created aren't working? Teachers know that every new activity we use in the classroom needs fine-tuning. We need to occasionally redirect students and reach into our classroom management toolbox to deal with the little everyday challenges that arise when a group of diverse humans work together.

One of the best ways I've learned to make any new endeavor work in my classroom is to regularly debrief and reflect with my students. After establishing our norms and practicing independent work time for a short chunk of time, I'll have the students spend about three minutes writing about how it went and how we can make it work even better.

As we discuss their insights, I'll mention what I noticed, leading with the positive, and little by little, day by day, our classroom becomes a place where we think, and talk, and work together to make wonderful things happen.

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One-on-one conferences with students are a valuable use of class time-provided the other students are able to work quietly on their own.

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This article offers several suggestions to support independent work time... to make it more interesting to our students by giving them ownership of their learning experience.

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Technology News & Innovation in K-12 Education

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Time is such an abstract concept to many scholars. Through the usage of timers, it makes chunks of the lessons more finite.

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Often when we talk about behaviors in the classroom, we talk about the behaviors we want to decrease, but there are also so many behaviors we want our students to develop so they can reach their goals. This year, I have a lot of new students and one of the most important things you can teach is how to work independently. This is the foundation of any cluster program because you can pull small groups while other students are working on their own and you are teaching students independence which serves them in the long run. Here are five strategies I use in my classroom to help students to develop independent working skills...

1. Multiple Timing Fluency

Recently, I started using multiple timing fluency to have one of my students build momentum when he completed independent work tasks. This student was able to some work tasks with adult support, but when he would do the task by himself, he would move slowly or undo a task he just completed. I wanted him to build a good working momentum, where he was working consistently throughout the task. We used a multiple timing fluency in which he did part of task for three-15 second intervals, as fast as he could. This helped to "train" this student at the speed in which he should be working so he could feel how consistent working should feel. My paraprofessional then collected data on the total time it to the student to complete the whole task after the shorter timings. This resulted in the student completing the task at a more consistent rate.

My student is currently being timed on the larger format pegs in the pegboard during factory time so he is able to complete the pegs in the pegboard task box independently.

2. Imitation Instructional Programs

Imitation programs are essential for students in a cluster population because so much independent working and success is based on your ability to observe and do what the group is doing. There are three types of imitation I have taught in my classroom: fine motor imitation, gross motor imitation. The Autism Helper has two amazing blog posts (with videos!) about Fine Motor Fluency and Gross Motor Fluency. Currently, I am using more vocal imitation programs in my classroom because I have students who are younger and students who are blind. Using an vocal imitation program for students who are blind or have limited writing skills is essential because students can still learn a variety of skills (e.g. letter sounds, categories, personal information) without writing or visual cues.

Two, three and four word practice phrases for vocal imitation programs.

3. Prompting

I know, I know, this is an obvious one...but I wanted to bring it up because I wanted to talk about physical and partial physical prompting. I usually try to stay away from this type of prompting, because it seems like the most intrusive and the hardest to fade, but I find that it is effective when teaching students a variety of independent work skills. When you are physically prompting a student, it can help the student to develop a "muscle memory" of how doing the task should feel-specifically what speed they should be working, the steps of the task and what physical space they should put items. While this obviously works well for more hands-on tasks like sorting, I have also used hand-over-hand with students who already know how to writing so they get the feeling and cadence of a written skill. For example, I might do hand-over-hand writing with a student just learning tallys so they understand the rhythm of tallys ("one, two, three, four, cross") and can incorporate that as part of their muscle memory.

4. Visual Directions

I think the more we as teachers can factor ourselves out the better chance our students have of building independence. Visual directions are a great way to do this because while you can teach students how to use the directions using verbal prompts, you can easily fade to gestural prompting and just leave the visual directions at the station so that students are able to follow them without you or a paraprofessional. One of my favorite Autism Helper products for teaching and encouraging independent working is Visual Rubrics for Special Education, which includes seven rubrics that help students to see what the expectations of assignments and behaviors even if you are not right there.

5. Timers

I have used timers with my class ever since I have been teaching. This year is the first year I have used a timer system whole class in a cluster program. Before, it was very individual, but teaching students to refer to a timer helps them to learn time management and keeps them on-task. With the visual timer in my classroom now, I have taught students to refer to the timer with verbal prompts, which I will fade over time. For example, I might say, "I notice there is one minute left. This is a good time to start to put away your puzzle and wait in your seat until the timer goes off." For my students who need shorter, simple commands, I usually say, "Look at timer. Almost done. Clean up. Wait for buzz." Another option is a timer that goes off at various intervals to ensure students are on task. During my first few years of teaching, I found a kitchen timer that had a different beep that went off at 5 minute intervals. It gave students a little wake up call to get working before they actually needed to be finished.

I hope this helps you to teach your students to develop independent work skills in your classroom! Share the ways you teach and promote independence in the classroom.

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Focus on Five: Strategies to Develop Independent Working Skills - The Autism Helper

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Often when we talk about behaviors in the classroom, we talk about the behaviors we want to decrease, but there are also so many behaviors we want our students to develop so they can reach their goals. This year, I have a lot of new students and one of the most important things you can teach is how to work independently.

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This article talks about the importance of modeling positive work habits so students know what is expected of them during these times of the day.

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Independent Work Time is an essential component of the balanced literacy block during which important work is done for the purpose of strengthening all areas of children's language and literacy development (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). Independent Work Time also supports children's abilities to self-direct their learning.

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You can use google classroom to have students complete assignments (i.e. docs, slideshows, etc.) independently or in assigned groups.

Since the assignment is posted in your google classroom you can view what students are doing live on the documents as they work on them (even if the work has not been "turned in" yet). You would access this by clicking on the assignment in google classroom and then clicking on the number "assigned" to students this will open up the "Student Work" Page where you can click on each student's name and view their document.

This allows you to view the digital progress of students in completing the work assigned to them on your computer.

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Strategies to Help Support Independent Work Time

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Strategies to Help Support Independent Work Time

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We need to help guide students into being independent and critical thinkers. We can help students learn how to set attainable goals and to plan out what they want to do and how to do it. Figure out what their end goal is, then break it down into multiple steps to make it easier to visualize and complete. Students learning how to peer-review and self-assess can also be monumentally helpful in helping them become more independent and critical thinkers.

A great resource is: "10 Effective Ways to Foster Students' Independent Thinking Skills"
https://wabisabilearning.com/blogs/inquiry/10-ways-foster-independent-thinking-skills

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During work time periods, students might be collaborating/talking to their peers and the class volume can get loud.
This program will monitor the volume through your computer's microphone and the bouncing of the balls on the screen will indicate the volume.
You could project this program on your classroom screen while students work independently and norm with your students when the balls are bouncing too much (i.e. when the class volume is too loud).
This visual can help will classroom management and it make clear the volume expectations you have for students when they are working collaboratively.

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Bouncy Balls – Manage classroom noise with bouncing balls!

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A free classroom noise level meter, monitor and management tool. Perfect if your school kids are too noisy! Bouncing balls react to sounds from the microphone.

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Block scheduling means longer class periods!  This free tool helps you manage that time!  To manage independent work time, check out the Work Signals, Traffic Light, and Timer!