Differentiation tip 4
4. Staging of the task for your neurodivergent learners
If you want to know more about ‘staging of the task’ and how that helps neurodivergent pupils in a mainstream classroom, you have come to the right place!
What is ‘staging the task?’
This means laying out the task in an accessible manner so that it is clear to the pupil what they must do. It’s sort of like laying the table prior to a meal. When we arrive at a restaurant, the cutlery and plate, serviette and glass are all ready for us to receive the food and drink. We know, without thinking that we need to use a knife and fork to cut food and lift it to our mouths.
We lay the table in advance of meals because its quicker than trying to rush about with plates and cutlery once the food is ready.
Similarly, when we ‘stage the task’ we set out the tools for the task or activity in advance. In Early years this could be setting up a tuff tray with beads and laces for a threading activity. The laces are laid together, as are the beads.The instructions ‘Thread the beads’ are written on the tray. We may alsoprovide a picture of the end result, or an example.
In secondary maths it could be opening the textbook to the right page, attaching a sticky note with the number of the exercise to do and providing a protractor and ruler.
The purpose of staging the task is to free up working memory by lowering mental load. Making it obvious exactly what is expected of our pupils, helps them to initiate the task in a timely manner and thus improves executive function. See my blog here for more information about working memory https://neuroteachers.com/post/what-is-working-memory-how-can- allowing-more-processing-time-help-working-memory-issues/
Is it always that simple?
Like everything in teaching, it’s simple, but not necessarily easy. Most of the time you can set these things up ready before or after school and they take a few minutes but, crucially, they will save you time and cut down on low level disruption later. ( See my blog about dealing with low level disruption here)
In some cases, you will need to get work reprinted to a certain font size or style. For example, if a child has a visual impairment or other sensory need where this course of action is specified in their health plan. This must always be done in advanced of the lesson so that it is ready for the learner and, in the case a set texts and course books it is far better to get the recommended easy read version as specified by a specialist medical sensory or visual impairment teacher.
You can also change the layout by using technology. For example, by using the Padlet or poppet application to produce and interactive task (see more on this in part 6 coming soon)
Importantly for student motivation and attention you can create a themed background or placemats. The example I used in the original blog here (https://neuroteachers.com/post/dont-ditch-differentiation/) was that of Sophia, our budding palaeontologist. By creating a dinosaur themed background this tells Sophia 2 things; this is here work and ‘I understand that you need this’. This has the added bonus of giving Sophia a greater sense of belonging, which will help with your relational practice. For tip 5 click here https://neuroteachers.com/post/neurodiversity-in-schools-differentiation-tip-5
Why not buy our e book on reflective practice https://neuroteachers.com/product/neuroteachers-neurodiversity-and-reflective-practice-ebook/