The task strategy that will change your classroom (even if you’re running on fumes)
Ever feel like the second you set your students off on a task, it’s like you’ve got to split into ten different versions of yourself?
In this episode, I’m walking you through one of my favourite practical strategies of all time — the humble task card — and showing you exactly how this simple tool can reduce overwhelm, cut through the chaos, and stop the constant chorus of “Miss, what are we doing again?”
This episode is giving you a front-row seat to:
- The most overstimulating part of teaching (and how to fix it)
- Why instructions alone aren’t enough (and what to do instead)
- How a tiny piece of paper can help your students self-regulate, stay on task, and stop relying on you for every single step
- The exact elements to include on a task card that actually works (no Pinterest fluff here)
So if you're tired of repeating yourself on loop and want to feel like the calm, credible leader of your room again, this one’s for you.
What You’ll Learn:
- The real reason students disengage once a task starts (and why it’s not always behaviour)
- Why clear instructions are not enough
- How task cards increase engagement, autonomy, and differentiation without extra work
- 6 things to include on every task card to make your lesson run smoother
- How this tiny shift can give you your energy (and sanity) back
Have a question, comment, or just want to say hello? Drop us a text!
RESOURCES AND MORE SUPPORT:
- Shop all resources
- Join The Behaviour Club
- My book! It’s Never Just About the Behaviour: A holistic approach to classroom behaviour management
- The Low-Level Behaviour Bootcamp
- Free guide: 'Chats that Create Change'
Connect with me:
- Follow on Instagram @the.unteachables
- Check out my website
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Oh, hi there, teachers, welcome to the
Unteachables podcast.
I'm your host, claire English,and I am just a fellow teacher,
a toddler mama and a big oldbehavior nerd on a mission to
demystify and simplify thatlittle thing called classroom
management.
The way we've all been taughtto manage behavior and classroom
manage has left us playingcrowd control, which is not
(00:22):
something I subscribe to,because we're not dancers, we're
teachers.
So listen in as I walk youthrough the game, changing
strategies and I mean the thingsthat we can actually do and
action in our classrooms thatwill allow you to lean into your
beautiful values as acompassionate educator and feel
empowered to run your room witha little more calm and, dare I
(00:43):
say it, a lot less chaos.
I will see you in the episode.
Hello, teacher, and welcomeback to the Unteachables podcast
.
Welcome to session three of thekickstart focus here on the
podcast.
If you're coming in midway, Istrongly suggest you head back a
couple of episodes to presence,because we are going into the
(01:07):
third day today, which is task,and I really want you to follow
it along, because presence it isjumps.
I've structured it just as likethe natural flow of a lesson.
So checking in with ourpresence, you know, having a
strong entry routine we'rekicking into task.
Next week will be about rapport, then we're doing exit routines
, so it really does like followthe flow of a lesson um, very
(01:32):
intentionally so.
So it would be better if youwent back to the start and did
presence.
Of course, if you would like tofollow the like, join the
kickstart properly, you can doso by heading to the dash on
teachablescom forward slashkickstart, because then you will
get the presentations are only10 minutes long, but they're
super impactful.
You'll be able to see what I'mtalking about, which sometimes
doesn't necessarily it's not aseasy to translate into a podcast
(01:54):
.
You'll get, like, the visualsand all that kind of stuff, but
you'll also get all of theresources.
So everything that I teach youin the kickstart.
I give you then a resource totake away so you can make the
change in the quickest, easiestway possible.
If you haven't worked with mebefore, if you've been listening
to the podcast for a while andyou haven't jumped in to
actually do any work with me,this is the best place to start,
(02:18):
because I wanted to create I'vecreated the kickstart for two
reasons.
The first reason was I wantedto create a bit of a takeoff
platform, whatever you'd call it, like a.
I was going to say a landingstrip, but not land.
Yeah, I guess a landing stripfor the behavior club is inside
of the behavior club, becausethose five sessions give
(02:38):
ultimate clarity on where youcan start to improve your
practice.
And the second reason I wantedto create the Behaviour Club
Kickstart was to show teacherswho haven't worked with me
before what is possible withthis work, how those feelings of
hopelessness and not knowingwhere to go next and just not
getting like good advice orsupport or all of those things.
(03:01):
I wanted to make sure that Iwas able to put something
together that was quick, thatwas actionable, that you can go
crap.
This work works and this ischanging my practice.
And if I can do this in 10minutes, then what else is
possible for my practice?
I wanted to make sure I createdsomething that did both of
those things, and I'm justobsessed with the kickstart.
(03:24):
So come in and join me.
As I said, if you haven't doneany work with me before, this is
just the perfect place to start, and it's $1.
So, yes, come and join me.
I know, I am very confidentthat you will absolutely love it
.
So, without further ado, let'skick into day three of the
kickstart, which is all abouttask.
Teaching is overwhelming, rightIn so many ways, and I am
(03:47):
somebody that gets incrediblyoverwhelmed and overstimulated.
I get easily like full onsensory overload in a lesson.
There's so many things going on, they're coming at you from all
angles.
You've got the noise, you'vegot the pressures of having to
obviously do our job and teach.
You've just got everythinggoing on at once and I don't,
(04:10):
I'm, I'm, you know.
I know that I'm talking topeople who just get that so much
.
But in the classroom, the timethat I always feel this the most
is when I'm trying to setstudents off on a task and I
feel like, okay, I've nailed theinstructions, I've gone through
everything in depth, I've gotthe task there and doing all of
that.
And then all of a sudden, andwhen you're doing that, when
(04:31):
you're trying to give all ofthose instructions, when you're
doing that teacher ledinstruction part of the lesson
and we're not just doing thatlike you're managing the low
level disruptions, you'reputting out spot fires, you're
trying to stop students fromchatting away, you're trying to
get them to list, like it's.
It's so hard.
Even just that part there ishard right, and then you set
(04:51):
students off on a task and thenall of a sudden, you've got
disengagement.
You've got students lookingaround.
You've got students asking whatthey're doing.
They've got like their hands upmiss, what are we doing?
Or they're like they're justlooking at their paper.
They've got like their hands upmiss, what are we doing?
Or they like they're justlooking at their paper.
They've got their pen in theirhand, they're not doing anything
, they're not starting, andthere's just that awful limbo
(05:12):
every lesson where one half ofthe class were like halfway
through the task, then the otherhalf were only getting started,
or like still waiting there forme to get around to them,
because I had their hands up,and I just feel like obviously
things are different now and Ihave, obviously I'm teaching you
this strategy.
So I would like to think thatit's not like that now, but I
(05:39):
felt like I had to split myselfinto 10 different people just to
teach my class because I setthem off on a task and there
were just a million things Ineeded to manage.
You know, whether it's thebehavior, or you know helping
individual students get started,or you know like then there's
that guilt that comes with that,like the guilt of not being
able to support your class inthe way that you want to,
(05:59):
because you don't have theresources, you don't have the
help to do that.
You don't have.
You don't have 500 hands to beable to go around and show
students what they're doing.
So we need to overcome thatbarrier and do so in a way that
is going to work, that's goingto help us in those moments and
actually emulate us splittingourselves into 10 different
(06:20):
people or 30 different people.
That's the goal for thisparticular session.
I could talk all day about howunder-resourced we are and how I
think that we should have moresupport in the classroom.
However, we can't control thatright now.
We can't control that in thehere and now.
We are stuck in the situationthat we're in.
Whatever situation you're in inyour classroom, it's a
(06:44):
situation that you're in in yourclassroom, and you know, if
you've listened to this podcastfor any amount of time, that I
am all about controlling what wecan control, doing what we can
do, and not getting bogged downin the oh but, but, but but,
because that's not empoweringfor you and that's not going to
help you.
What is going to help you isthis tool that I'm about to
(07:06):
teach you, and it takes thepressure off us immensely.
And I am going to nerd out aboutthe good old task card, which I
have noted out before about.
But this strategy is just, it'smy favorite thing.
And at this point you'reprobably thinking you probably
don't share my enthusiasm.
I think many people wouldinitially share my enthusiasm
(07:26):
with task cards, but you willwhen you use them and see how
amazing they are.
So you might be thinking taskcards, really that's it.
You might've used them before,but when we use them really
strategically, they can be suchpowerful tools.
And I just want to quickly breakdown why that is the case.
What they are?
They are small, structuredprompts or questions or
(07:47):
activities that students work onindependently, in pairs or in
group tasks.
Each card focuses on a single,clear task, breaking down that
task or more complex activitiesinto bite-sized, chunked down
steps.
They offer a clear roadmap intothe task itself and provide
really clear information thatstudents can look at and you
(08:12):
know know how to get into thetask.
It helps them to navigate thelearning process with confidence
and it just provides them withthat structure and clarity they
need to stay engaged.
But task cards aren't justabout giving them instructions.
They communicate how studentscan be successful in a task.
They communicate time limits,they give them checklists.
(08:33):
All that play a crucial role inmaking this tool just so
fantastic for mitigatinglow-level behaviors and just
disengagement and just all ofthose things right.
And let me go through why.
I'm going to nerd out for alittle bit on the good old task
card.
The first thing is that theyincrease engagement because
students are tackling tasksstep-by-step.
(08:55):
I don't know about you, butwhen I write myself a to-do list
in the morning and I'm breakingthings down into smaller steps,
I'm like I can tackle that, butif I put like a really big task
on there I find it toooverwhelming to start.
So students are like lesslikely to feel overwhelmed by it
.
They're more likely to staymotivated on the task.
And the clear, concise natureof a task card just helps keep
(09:18):
students on track, minimizedisruptions and distractions and
just it promotes betterparticipation.
It makes tasks so much clearer.
So we all know that clearinstructions are essential but
we are constantly repeating themand when we're repeating them
it's not clear for students andit's not beneficial for us.
When we have a task card, we areoffering explicit and easy to
(09:41):
follow directions that studentscan refer back to constantly.
That means that when a studentpops their hand up and they say
what are we doing, instead ofyou having to go around and
explain things in 10 differentways to multiple students, you
just have to point to the taskcard and get students on track
with that particular part.
So if the first step on a taskcard is you know really stupid
(10:06):
example but like write your nameat the top of the page, they'll
be getting started rather thansitting there.
They'll be getting momentum.
They'll be, you know, read theparagraph first.
Like going in and reading thatparagraph and starting their
task instead of going hey, likego and complete the
comprehension activity, likeyou're breaking it down
(10:26):
step-by-step for students.
I know that's a really simpleexample, but I don't know what
you teach, so I want to makesure that you understand what
I'm talking about.
Please come and join thekickstart if you don't know what
I'm talking about, because Ihave visuals there for you.
The third reason why they'rejust so good at reducing low
level disruptions is theypromote autonomy, which is what
(10:47):
we're talking about here whenI'm saying I don't want you to
feel like you can't teachbecause you don't have 10 of you
in the room.
A task card is giving studentsa really tangible reference
point they can continue to relyon throughout that task.
So, instead of repeatedlyasking for help or not knowing
what to do next or not beingsure like where they can get
(11:08):
started, students canindependently access that
information that they need tomove forward, and it empowers
them to take charge of their ownlearning.
It reduces their reliance onthe constant guidance that you
are giving them and it helps youto get back to being present in
the lesson and actually likemoving around the room and then
(11:29):
putting out spot fires thatusually are bubbling up and
exploding over the corner whenyou are with certain students
constantly trying to supportthem independently.
When we talk aboutdifferentiation, this is what
differentiation is Effectivedifferentiation that doesn't
require you to like.
I've seen a lot lately aboutteachers talking about like
(11:49):
using AI to differentiatelessons.
True differentiation does notrequire you to create three
different tasks or threedifferent things.
It requires you to use toolsstrategically so every student
can access that particular task.
So this task card here is theperfect way to do it, because
(12:11):
here's what you can include ontask cards.
That makes it the perfectdifferentiation tool, but it
also makes it perfect forgetting students engaged and
empowered and helping like takethe pressure off your shoulders
in the lesson.
So this is what to include onyour task card.
It's really important.
(12:31):
If you want this to be effective, you need to embed all of the
key elements of a clear task.
The goal is to set students upfor success with minimal
intervention needed from you.
Ask yourself, what questions amI getting?
Or what am I constantlyrepeating myself on?
Or like what expectations arenot being met?
So you know a student'sfinishing a task really quickly
or you know all of those things.
(12:52):
So you don't have to includeall of these things necessarily,
but I try to include as many ofthese as possible because then
I'm not repeating myself, I amreinforcing expectations on what
students are doing.
So here's what I include.
The first thing is a successcriteria.
So clearly outline what successlooks like, so students can
self-assess, know they're on theright track.
(13:14):
It just prevents them fromfeeling like really unsure.
They can keep going back tothat success criteria and going
okay, like what actually do Ineed to include in this task?
If you want to include a smallexample of what that looks like,
or just anything that showsthem and points them to the
direction of what a qualityresponse looks like.
(13:34):
And that works for a variety ofreasons, and the first is that
it gives them clarity aroundwhat they are expecting from you
.
So, um, you know, if you'reexpecting them to be writing a
paragraph and not just a singlesentence, this is where that
communicates that clearly, soyou're not having to go around
and say, hey, no, that's not.
(13:55):
You know like deep, like you'renot going deep enough on that,
like you need to go back and domore on that, because you're
automatically communicating yourexpectations in that success
criteria.
So you're communicating yourexpectations and it's just a
guiding kind of compass for themon how they can feel successful
.
The second thing to include on atask card is a checklist.
(14:16):
So just breaking that task intomanageable steps with a simple
checklist.
It just allows students to thenwork through that task
autonomously, knowing exactlywhat to do next, without asking
for directions on where to go.
So that's where the chunkingdown of your task is really
important.
So just zooming down bird's eyeview of the task you want
(14:37):
students to do what are thecomponents of that task and how
can I break that down step bystep?
The next thing that I wouldalways include on a task is a
timeframe like 10 minutes, justin the corner.
I do like 10 minutes.
It sets really clearexpectations on how long that
task should take.
You know, if it takes 10minutes, then what am I
expecting from that student?
(14:58):
So to say for student put theirhands up and I'm done.
I would go over to that studentand say, okay, we're two
minutes into a task.
Can you tell me how long you'vegot for this task?
10 minutes, is that enough workfor 10 minutes?
Like, have a look back at thesuccess criteria.
Can you tick all of that off?
Where can you deepen thisresponse so you can then use
(15:18):
that as a tool to have thoseconversations with students
instead of saying not longenough.
Like it's a really goodindication for students on how
much effort or time or whateverthey need to put into that task.
Another thing that I put onto atask card are some prompts or
sentence starters.
Just include some clues orphrases to get students going.
If you're a math teacher, youcan also put like formulas there
(15:40):
or like just something to guidestudents, because that reduces
anxiety, it builds confidenceand guides students towards
completing that tasksuccessfully.
Again, anything that I can puton that task that acts as a mini
teacher to reduce the pressureon me and help students
autonomously attack that task,and the next thing I put on
(16:02):
there is an outcome.
So just something that helpsstudents understand what the
purpose of what they're doingeven is.
When they see the relevance andvalue of the task, they're more
likely to have the buy-in toengage, to put the effort in.
And if you haven't listened tothe last two kickstart sessions,
go back to the last one where Italk about learning maps,
because a learning map and atask card pretty similar, one's
(16:24):
for the whole lesson, one's justfor an individual task.
But in that session, in lastweek's episode, I talk more
about why outcomes getting clearon outcomes are really
important and not just somethingthat should be tacked on as
something that is dictated toyou by somebody, like in
leadership, like it should beactually a tool that you use.
(16:46):
That's really, really powerfulfor student engagement.
Okay, if you do join thekickstart, what you do get as a
resource is a task card template.
I wanted to make it a nobrainer for you.
Again, I just want to make surethat in these quick win
sessions, I want you to be ableto take it and run with it
without, like just the point,like what's it called the path
(17:09):
of least resistance, like I wantyou to go into your classroom
and do this and try it.
So I have given you a task cardtemplate that you can edit and
use immediately.
I usually sell this oneseparately for $5, like the
template separately for $5, andthe whole kickstart is $1.
So it's really a no brainerbecause you get everything else
in the kickstart, plus training.
(17:30):
But this is something I promiseyou are going to use day after
day after day after day.
I like yeah, it's.
And again, just like the um, thelike learning map that I was
speaking about last session,this is something that helps you
plan the task out and it justhelps you get really clear on
what you want students to do,and sometimes we can have a lot
(17:52):
of assumptions andmisconceptions and like sitting
down with a task card andplanning it directly onto the
task card.
So it's not something extrathat you have to do.
It is just again taking thepressure off our shoulders in
the moment in the planning I am,let me just yeah, I, I could
nerd out all day about taskcards.
I told you that, didn't I?
(18:12):
I've been speaking for 18minutes now about a piece of
paper.
So that is a clear indicationof how I feel about these tools,
because when we're talkingabout classroom management, we
are not talking about just thebehavior.
We're talking about all of thethings that we're doing in our
practice, all of the things thatwe can feel empowered to change
(18:34):
and to control what is in ourcircle of control.
A task card is, you know,whatever's happening in Billy's
life isn't so really thinkingabout how we can have super
strong classroom management,doing what we can control,
taking the pressure off ourshoulders?
But yeah, that's it, that's ourstrategy for this week.
(18:55):
Task card it is simple, butdon't let that fool you.
It packs a mighty punch, as youcan hear from how passionate I
get about it.
So if you're fed up withrepeating yourself over and over
and still hearing what are wedoing again, then give this a go
.
And if you do give it a go,please come and let me know how
that goes.
I would love to hear it.
But yeah, I'll leave it therefor the day, because 20 minutes
(19:16):
talking about a task card.
Who would have thunk it?
So if you want to come and joinus, head to the dash on
teachablescom forward slashkickstart.
I can't wait to see you there.
And next week we're talkingabout rapport and how that kind
of plays into it and some reallytangible things that we can do
to embed relationship building,community building, into the
everyday without taking up allof our learning time.
(19:39):
So that's going to be a crackeras well.
So I will see you there, butuntil then, have a lovely week
everybody, and bye for now.
Oh, hi there, teachers, welcome to the
Unteachables podcast.
I'm your host, claire English,and I am just a fellow teacher,
a toddler mama and a big oldbehavior nerd on a mission to
demystify and simplify thatlittle thing called classroom
management.
The way we've all been taughtto manage behavior and classroom
manage has left us playingcrowd control, which is not
(00:22):
something I subscribe to,because we're not dancers, we're
teachers.
So listen in as I walk youthrough the game, changing
strategies and I mean the thingsthat we can actually do and
action in our classrooms thatwill allow you to lean into your
beautiful values as acompassionate educator and feel
empowered to run your room witha little more calm and, dare I
(00:43):
say it, a lot less chaos.
I will see you in the episode.
Hello, teacher, and welcomeback to the Unteachables podcast
.
Welcome to session three of thekickstart focus here on the
podcast.
If you're coming in midway, Istrongly suggest you head back a
couple of episodes to presence,because we are going into the
(01:07):
third day today, which is task,and I really want you to follow
it along, because presence it isjumps.
I've structured it just as likethe natural flow of a lesson.
So checking in with ourpresence, you know, having a
strong entry routine we'rekicking into task.
Next week will be about rapport, then we're doing exit routines
, so it really does like followthe flow of a lesson um, very
(01:32):
intentionally so.
So it would be better if youwent back to the start and did
presence.
Of course, if you would like tofollow the like, join the
kickstart properly, you can doso by heading to the dash on
teachablescom forward slashkickstart, because then you will
get the presentations are only10 minutes long, but they're
super impactful.
You'll be able to see what I'mtalking about, which sometimes
doesn't necessarily it's not aseasy to translate into a podcast
(01:54):
.
You'll get, like, the visualsand all that kind of stuff, but
you'll also get all of theresources.
So everything that I teach youin the kickstart.
I give you then a resource totake away so you can make the
change in the quickest, easiestway possible.
If you haven't worked with mebefore, if you've been listening
to the podcast for a while andyou haven't jumped in to
actually do any work with me,this is the best place to start,
(02:18):
because I wanted to create I'vecreated the kickstart for two
reasons.
The first reason was I wantedto create a bit of a takeoff
platform, whatever you'd call it, like a.
I was going to say a landingstrip, but not land.
Yeah, I guess a landing stripfor the behavior club is inside
of the behavior club, becausethose five sessions give
(02:38):
ultimate clarity on where youcan start to improve your
practice.
And the second reason I wantedto create the Behaviour Club
Kickstart was to show teacherswho haven't worked with me
before what is possible withthis work, how those feelings of
hopelessness and not knowingwhere to go next and just not
getting like good advice orsupport or all of those things.
(03:01):
I wanted to make sure that Iwas able to put something
together that was quick, thatwas actionable, that you can go
crap.
This work works and this ischanging my practice.
And if I can do this in 10minutes, then what else is
possible for my practice?
I wanted to make sure I createdsomething that did both of
those things, and I'm justobsessed with the kickstart.
(03:24):
So come in and join me.
As I said, if you haven't doneany work with me before, this is
just the perfect place to start, and it's $1.
So, yes, come and join me.
I know, I am very confidentthat you will absolutely love it
.
So, without further ado, let'skick into day three of the
kickstart, which is all abouttask.
Teaching is overwhelming, rightIn so many ways, and I am
(03:47):
somebody that gets incrediblyoverwhelmed and overstimulated.
I get easily like full onsensory overload in a lesson.
There's so many things going on, they're coming at you from all
angles.
You've got the noise, you'vegot the pressures of having to
obviously do our job and teach.
You've just got everythinggoing on at once and I don't,
(04:10):
I'm, I'm, you know.
I know that I'm talking topeople who just get that so much
.
But in the classroom, the timethat I always feel this the most
is when I'm trying to setstudents off on a task and I
feel like, okay, I've nailed theinstructions, I've gone through
everything in depth, I've gotthe task there and doing all of
that.
And then all of a sudden, andwhen you're doing that, when
(04:31):
you're trying to give all ofthose instructions, when you're
doing that teacher ledinstruction part of the lesson
and we're not just doing thatlike you're managing the low
level disruptions, you'reputting out spot fires, you're
trying to stop students fromchatting away, you're trying to
get them to list, like it's.
It's so hard.
Even just that part there ishard right, and then you set
(04:51):
students off on a task and thenall of a sudden, you've got
disengagement.
You've got students lookingaround.
You've got students asking whatthey're doing.
They've got like their hands upmiss, what are we doing?
Or they're like they're justlooking at their paper.
They've got like their hands upmiss, what are we doing?
Or they like they're justlooking at their paper.
They've got their pen in theirhand, they're not doing anything
, they're not starting, andthere's just that awful limbo
(05:12):
every lesson where one half ofthe class were like halfway
through the task, then the otherhalf were only getting started,
or like still waiting there forme to get around to them,
because I had their hands up,and I just feel like obviously
things are different now and Ihave, obviously I'm teaching you
this strategy.
So I would like to think thatit's not like that now, but I
(05:39):
felt like I had to split myselfinto 10 different people just to
teach my class because I setthem off on a task and there
were just a million things Ineeded to manage.
You know, whether it's thebehavior, or you know helping
individual students get started,or you know like then there's
that guilt that comes with that,like the guilt of not being
able to support your class inthe way that you want to,
(05:59):
because you don't have theresources, you don't have the
help to do that.
You don't have.
You don't have 500 hands to beable to go around and show
students what they're doing.
So we need to overcome thatbarrier and do so in a way that
is going to work, that's goingto help us in those moments and
actually emulate us splittingourselves into 10 different
(06:20):
people or 30 different people.
That's the goal for thisparticular session.
I could talk all day about howunder-resourced we are and how I
think that we should have moresupport in the classroom.
However, we can't control thatright now.
We can't control that in thehere and now.
We are stuck in the situationthat we're in.
Whatever situation you're in inyour classroom, it's a
(06:44):
situation that you're in in yourclassroom, and you know, if
you've listened to this podcastfor any amount of time, that I
am all about controlling what wecan control, doing what we can
do, and not getting bogged downin the oh but, but, but but,
because that's not empoweringfor you and that's not going to
help you.
What is going to help you isthis tool that I'm about to
(07:06):
teach you, and it takes thepressure off us immensely.
And I am going to nerd out aboutthe good old task card, which I
have noted out before about.
But this strategy is just, it'smy favorite thing.
And at this point you'reprobably thinking you probably
don't share my enthusiasm.
I think many people wouldinitially share my enthusiasm
(07:26):
with task cards, but you willwhen you use them and see how
amazing they are.
So you might be thinking taskcards, really that's it.
You might've used them before,but when we use them really
strategically, they can be suchpowerful tools.
And I just want to quickly breakdown why that is the case.
What they are?
They are small, structuredprompts or questions or
(07:47):
activities that students work onindependently, in pairs or in
group tasks.
Each card focuses on a single,clear task, breaking down that
task or more complex activitiesinto bite-sized, chunked down
steps.
They offer a clear roadmap intothe task itself and provide
really clear information thatstudents can look at and you
(08:12):
know know how to get into thetask.
It helps them to navigate thelearning process with confidence
and it just provides them withthat structure and clarity they
need to stay engaged.
But task cards aren't justabout giving them instructions.
They communicate how studentscan be successful in a task.
They communicate time limits,they give them checklists.
(08:33):
All that play a crucial role inmaking this tool just so
fantastic for mitigatinglow-level behaviors and just
disengagement and just all ofthose things right.
And let me go through why.
I'm going to nerd out for alittle bit on the good old task
card.
The first thing is that theyincrease engagement because
students are tackling tasksstep-by-step.
(08:55):
I don't know about you, butwhen I write myself a to-do list
in the morning and I'm breakingthings down into smaller steps,
I'm like I can tackle that, butif I put like a really big task
on there I find it toooverwhelming to start.
So students are like lesslikely to feel overwhelmed by it
.
They're more likely to staymotivated on the task.
And the clear, concise natureof a task card just helps keep
(09:18):
students on track, minimizedisruptions and distractions and
just it promotes betterparticipation.
It makes tasks so much clearer.
So we all know that clearinstructions are essential but
we are constantly repeating themand when we're repeating them
it's not clear for students andit's not beneficial for us.
When we have a task card, we areoffering explicit and easy to
(09:41):
follow directions that studentscan refer back to constantly.
That means that when a studentpops their hand up and they say
what are we doing, instead ofyou having to go around and
explain things in 10 differentways to multiple students, you
just have to point to the taskcard and get students on track
with that particular part.
So if the first step on a taskcard is you know really stupid
(10:06):
example but like write your nameat the top of the page, they'll
be getting started rather thansitting there.
They'll be getting momentum.
They'll be, you know, read theparagraph first.
Like going in and reading thatparagraph and starting their
task instead of going hey, likego and complete the
comprehension activity, likeyou're breaking it down
(10:26):
step-by-step for students.
I know that's a really simpleexample, but I don't know what
you teach, so I want to makesure that you understand what
I'm talking about.
Please come and join thekickstart if you don't know what
I'm talking about, because Ihave visuals there for you.
The third reason why they'rejust so good at reducing low
level disruptions is theypromote autonomy, which is what
(10:47):
we're talking about here whenI'm saying I don't want you to
feel like you can't teachbecause you don't have 10 of you
in the room.
A task card is giving studentsa really tangible reference
point they can continue to relyon throughout that task.
So, instead of repeatedlyasking for help or not knowing
what to do next or not beingsure like where they can get
(11:08):
started, students canindependently access that
information that they need tomove forward, and it empowers
them to take charge of their ownlearning.
It reduces their reliance onthe constant guidance that you
are giving them and it helps youto get back to being present in
the lesson and actually likemoving around the room and then
(11:29):
putting out spot fires thatusually are bubbling up and
exploding over the corner whenyou are with certain students
constantly trying to supportthem independently.
When we talk aboutdifferentiation, this is what
differentiation is Effectivedifferentiation that doesn't
require you to like.
I've seen a lot lately aboutteachers talking about like
(11:49):
using AI to differentiatelessons.
True differentiation does notrequire you to create three
different tasks or threedifferent things.
It requires you to use toolsstrategically so every student
can access that particular task.
So this task card here is theperfect way to do it, because
(12:11):
here's what you can include ontask cards.
That makes it the perfectdifferentiation tool, but it
also makes it perfect forgetting students engaged and
empowered and helping like takethe pressure off your shoulders
in the lesson.
So this is what to include onyour task card.
It's really important.
(12:31):
If you want this to be effective, you need to embed all of the
key elements of a clear task.
The goal is to set students upfor success with minimal
intervention needed from you.
Ask yourself, what questions amI getting?
Or what am I constantlyrepeating myself on?
Or like what expectations arenot being met?
So you know a student'sfinishing a task really quickly
or you know all of those things.
(12:52):
So you don't have to includeall of these things necessarily,
but I try to include as many ofthese as possible because then
I'm not repeating myself, I amreinforcing expectations on what
students are doing.
So here's what I include.
The first thing is a successcriteria.
So clearly outline what successlooks like, so students can
self-assess, know they're on theright track.
(13:14):
It just prevents them fromfeeling like really unsure.
They can keep going back tothat success criteria and going
okay, like what actually do Ineed to include in this task?
If you want to include a smallexample of what that looks like,
or just anything that showsthem and points them to the
direction of what a qualityresponse looks like.
(13:34):
And that works for a variety ofreasons, and the first is that
it gives them clarity aroundwhat they are expecting from you
.
So, um, you know, if you'reexpecting them to be writing a
paragraph and not just a singlesentence, this is where that
communicates that clearly, soyou're not having to go around
and say, hey, no, that's not.
(13:55):
You know like deep, like you'renot going deep enough on that,
like you need to go back and domore on that, because you're
automatically communicating yourexpectations in that success
criteria.
So you're communicating yourexpectations and it's just a
guiding kind of compass for themon how they can feel successful
.
The second thing to include on atask card is a checklist.
(14:16):
So just breaking that task intomanageable steps with a simple
checklist.
It just allows students to thenwork through that task
autonomously, knowing exactlywhat to do next, without asking
for directions on where to go.
So that's where the chunkingdown of your task is really
important.
So just zooming down bird's eyeview of the task you want
(14:37):
students to do what are thecomponents of that task and how
can I break that down step bystep?
The next thing that I wouldalways include on a task is a
timeframe like 10 minutes, justin the corner.
I do like 10 minutes.
It sets really clearexpectations on how long that
task should take.
You know, if it takes 10minutes, then what am I
expecting from that student?
(14:58):
So to say for student put theirhands up and I'm done.
I would go over to that studentand say, okay, we're two
minutes into a task.
Can you tell me how long you'vegot for this task?
10 minutes, is that enough workfor 10 minutes?
Like, have a look back at thesuccess criteria.
Can you tick all of that off?
Where can you deepen thisresponse so you can then use
(15:18):
that as a tool to have thoseconversations with students
instead of saying not longenough.
Like it's a really goodindication for students on how
much effort or time or whateverthey need to put into that task.
Another thing that I put onto atask card are some prompts or
sentence starters.
Just include some clues orphrases to get students going.
If you're a math teacher, youcan also put like formulas there
(15:40):
or like just something to guidestudents, because that reduces
anxiety, it builds confidenceand guides students towards
completing that tasksuccessfully.
Again, anything that I can puton that task that acts as a mini
teacher to reduce the pressureon me and help students
autonomously attack that task,and the next thing I put on
(16:02):
there is an outcome.
So just something that helpsstudents understand what the
purpose of what they're doingeven is.
When they see the relevance andvalue of the task, they're more
likely to have the buy-in toengage, to put the effort in.
And if you haven't listened tothe last two kickstart sessions,
go back to the last one where Italk about learning maps,
because a learning map and atask card pretty similar, one's
(16:24):
for the whole lesson, one's justfor an individual task.
But in that session, in lastweek's episode, I talk more
about why outcomes getting clearon outcomes are really
important and not just somethingthat should be tacked on as
something that is dictated toyou by somebody, like in
leadership, like it should beactually a tool that you use.
(16:46):
That's really, really powerfulfor student engagement.
Okay, if you do join thekickstart, what you do get as a
resource is a task card template.
I wanted to make it a nobrainer for you.
Again, I just want to make surethat in these quick win
sessions, I want you to be ableto take it and run with it
without, like just the point,like what's it called the path
(17:09):
of least resistance, like I wantyou to go into your classroom
and do this and try it.
So I have given you a task cardtemplate that you can edit and
use immediately.
I usually sell this oneseparately for $5, like the
template separately for $5, andthe whole kickstart is $1.
So it's really a no brainerbecause you get everything else
in the kickstart, plus training.
(17:30):
But this is something I promiseyou are going to use day after
day after day after day.
I like yeah, it's.
And again, just like the um, thelike learning map that I was
speaking about last session,this is something that helps you
plan the task out and it justhelps you get really clear on
what you want students to do,and sometimes we can have a lot
(17:52):
of assumptions andmisconceptions and like sitting
down with a task card andplanning it directly onto the
task card.
So it's not something extrathat you have to do.
It is just again taking thepressure off our shoulders in
the moment in the planning I am,let me just yeah, I, I could
nerd out all day about taskcards.
I told you that, didn't I?
(18:12):
I've been speaking for 18minutes now about a piece of
paper.
So that is a clear indicationof how I feel about these tools,
because when we're talkingabout classroom management, we
are not talking about just thebehavior.
We're talking about all of thethings that we're doing in our
practice, all of the things thatwe can feel empowered to change
(18:34):
and to control what is in ourcircle of control.
A task card is, you know,whatever's happening in Billy's
life isn't so really thinkingabout how we can have super
strong classroom management,doing what we can control,
taking the pressure off ourshoulders?
But yeah, that's it, that's ourstrategy for this week.
(18:55):
Task card it is simple, butdon't let that fool you.
It packs a mighty punch, as youcan hear from how passionate I
get about it.
So if you're fed up withrepeating yourself over and over
and still hearing what are wedoing again, then give this a go
.
And if you do give it a go,please come and let me know how
that goes.
I would love to hear it.
But yeah, I'll leave it therefor the day, because 20 minutes
(19:16):
talking about a task card.
Who would have thunk it?
So if you want to come and joinus, head to the dash on
teachablescom forward slashkickstart.
I can't wait to see you there.
And next week we're talkingabout rapport and how that kind
of plays into it and some reallytangible things that we can do
to embed relationship building,community building, into the
everyday without taking up allof our learning time.
(19:39):
So that's going to be a crackeras well.
So I will see you there, butuntil then, have a lovely week
everybody, and bye for now.
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