Quick Tips to Help Students Who Have Difficulty with Organization, Attention, and Memory (Updated February 2021)

• Use class and individual schedules. Start and end each class session by reviewing.
• Check off tasks as they are completed.
• Set goals for how much of a task they can complete in an allotted time. Model setting goals for task completion in a given time. (“We have 15 minutes for you to work on this task with your partner. I anticipate you will complete Sections 1 and 2 in that time.”)
• As you model activities or problem solving, think aloud so students hear each step AND what you are thinking while you are doing the steps.
• Give students advance notice (a physical cue, special word) that you will be saying or showing key information. Use color codes to highlight key information, vocabulary, or directions
• Break assignments down into shorter segments.
• Alternate short work periods with teacher-controlled breaks - have this student be your official pencil sharpener, note-runner.
• Use physical, visual, or auditory signals/cues to redirect student to stay on task (e.g., move closer to the student, clap, touch your watch—whatever you and the student or students agree on)
• Use a digital, online timer during activities to help students better understand time.

• Free from distractions and clutter. Have the student remove all but the material with which he is working from his desk.
• Seat student in area free from distractions such as open doors or air conditioners.

• Provide a time weekly for organizing desks and notebooks.
• Use assignment books and calendars. Check that students keep them current.
• Have students "check" unneeded books and notebooks at the door. They can pick up their items as they exit class.
• Check homework daily.
• Send daily/weekly progress reports home.
• Provide advanced organizers or outlines of the content.
• Use checklists to help students remember the expected behaviors.

• Have students repeat directions.
• Check frequently that the student is following directions.
• Provide a completed example. Model or demonstrate each step. Have students check off each step as it is completed.
• Divide longer orally assigned tasks into shorter ones.
• Very gradually help the student learn to take orally presented notes.
• Give the student extra time to respond to oral questions.
• Provide practice in noticing, describing, and comparing details.
• Provide visual displays such as - flowcharts, webs, pictorials, pre-reading questions, and keyword note-taking organizers frequently to help students listen and follow directions.

• Provide the student with a written-out schedule of classroom routines and timelines.
• Use semantic maps and diagrams to help students remember the connections between concepts.
• Provide multiple active opportunities to respond for all students

Explicit Instruction—engaging and effective instruction - HLP 16 Checklist: Explicit Instruction

Videos - Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching (Video Clips: Elementary & Secondary)

Highlight Tool - HLP Highlight Tool – HLP 16: Use Explicit Instruction

Training - Recorded Webinars: Explicit Instruction Online Series- The Magic Is in the INSTRUCTION, Parts 1 & 2

Student Engagement and Opportunities to Respond -
Increasing Opportunities to Respond (Center for Promoting Research to Practice, Lehigh University)
Opportunities to Respond - Group Instruction (University of Louisville)
Providing Multiple Opportunities to Respond (Kaimuki Middle School)