Are you looking for ways to teach kids to take pride in their classwork? If so, keep reading.
1. Along with instruction, give an incentive statement (e.g., “On occasions where you finish your work neatly, you may have free time.”).
2. Give the student an appropriate model of handwriting (e.g., other students’ work, teacher samples, commercial samples, etc.) to use at their desk.
3. Teach the student to practice basic study skills (e.g., reading for the main idea, note-taking, summarizing, highlighting, studying in an excellent environment, using time wisely, etc.).
4. Get the student to keep a chart representing the number of tasks finished and the accuracy rate of each task.
5. Praise those students in the classroom who turn in tasks that are legible.
6. Praise those students in the classroom who turn in tasks that are accurate and of high quality.
7. Minimize the emphasis on competition. Competitive learning activities may cause the student to rush through work. Learners who compete academically and fail to succeed may cease to try to do well and do far less than they are able.
8. If the student does not finish their work according to teacher instructions and expectations, it must be finished during leisure or break time.
9. Give the student evaluative feedback for tasks finished (i.e., find what the student did successfully, what errors were made, and what should be done to correct the errors).
10. Give a time during the day when the student can receive assistance at school if they have difficulty finishing homework tasks with minimal accuracy
11. Alter instructions to include more concrete examples to enable student learning.
12. Assess clarity and quality of directions, explanations, and instructions given to the student.
13. Get the student to question any directions, explanations, and instructions not grasped.
14. Acknowledge accuracy and quality (e.g., display the student’s work, congratulate the student, etc.).
15. Utilize adhesive content (e.g., tape, etc.) to keep paper positioned properly for handwriting.
16. Observe student performance to detect errors and determine where learning problems exist.
17. Talk with the student to explain (a) what the student is doing wrong (e.g., turning in work that has spelling errors or spacing errors, work that is illegible, etc.) and (b) what they must be doing (e.g., taking time to check for spelling, spacing errors, etc.).
18. Give the student chances for review prior to grading tasks.
19. Do not grade every task performed by the student. Assignments may be used to assess student capacity and ability or knowledge and give feedback. Grades may not need to be designated until mastery/minimal accuracy has been attained.
20. Give older students functional handwriting chances (e.g., job application forms, reinforcer surveys, order forms, check writing, etc.).
21. Consider using assistive technology designed to help students to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to concentrate. Click here to view list of assistive technology apps that we recommend.
