The Unteachables Podcast

#137: Feel like you need to split into 30 trying to support the whole room? This tool changes everything.

• Claire English • Season 6 • Episode 137

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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!

👉 JOIN THE $1 KICKSTART! Click for more info and to jump in!

RESOURCES AND MORE SUPPORT:

Connect with me:


Speaker 1:

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 old behavior nerd on a mission to demystify and simplify that little thing called classroom management. The way we've all been taught to manage behavior and classroom manage has left us playing crowd control, which is not something I subscribe to, because we're not dancers, we're teachers. So listen in as I walk you through the game, changing strategies and I mean the things that we can actually do and action in our classrooms that will allow you to lean into your beautiful values as a compassionate educator and feel empowered to run your room with a little more calm and, dare I say it, a lot less chaos. I will see you in the episode. Hello, teacher, and welcome back to the Unteachables podcast.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to session three of the kickstart focus here on the podcast. If you're coming in midway, I strongly suggest you head back a couple of episodes to presence, because we are going into the third day today, which is task, and I really want you to follow it along, because presence it is jumps. I've structured it just as like the natural flow of a lesson. So checking in with our presence, you know, having a strong entry routine we're kicking into task. Next week will be about rapport, then we're doing exit routines, so it really does like follow the flow of a lesson um, very intentionally so. So it would be better if you went back to the start and did presence. Of course, if you would like to follow the like, join the kickstart properly, you can do so by heading to the dash on teachablescom forward slash kickstart, because then you will get the presentations are only 10 minutes long, but they're super impactful. You'll be able to see what I'm talking about, which sometimes doesn't necessarily it's not as easy to translate into a podcast. You'll get, like, the visuals and all that kind of stuff, but you'll also get all of the resources. So everything that I teach you in the kickstart. I give you then a resource to take away so you can make the change in the quickest, easiest way possible.

Speaker 1:

If you haven't worked with me before, if you've been listening to the podcast for a while and you haven't jumped in to actually do any work with me, this is the best place to start, because I wanted to create I've created the kickstart for two reasons. The first reason was I wanted to create a bit of a takeoff platform, whatever you'd call it, like a. I was going to say a landing strip, but not land. Yeah, I guess a landing strip for the behavior club is inside of the behavior club, because those five sessions give ultimate clarity on where you can start to improve your practice. And the second reason I wanted to create the Behaviour Club Kickstart was to show teachers who haven't worked with me before what is possible with this work, how those feelings of hopelessness and not knowing where to go next and just not getting like good advice or support or all of those things. I wanted to make sure that I was able to put something together that was quick, that was actionable, that you can go crap. This work works and this is changing my practice. And if I can do this in 10 minutes, then what else is possible for my practice? I wanted to make sure I created something that did both of those things, and I'm just obsessed with the kickstart. So come in and join me. As I said, if you haven't done any 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 confident that you will absolutely love it.

Speaker 1:

So, without further ado, let's kick into day three of the kickstart, which is all about task. Teaching is overwhelming, right In so many ways, and I am somebody that gets incredibly overwhelmed and overstimulated. I get easily like full on sensory 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've got the pressures of having to obviously do our job and teach. You've just got everything going on at once and I don't, I'm, I'm, you know. I know that I'm talking to people who just get that so much.

Speaker 1:

But in the classroom, the time that I always feel this the most is when I'm trying to set students off on a task and I feel like, okay, I've nailed the instructions, I've gone through everything in depth, I've got the task there and doing all of that. And then all of a sudden, and when you're doing that, when you're trying to give all of those instructions, when you're doing that teacher led instruction part of the lesson and we're not just doing that like you're managing the low level disruptions, you're putting out spot fires, you're trying to stop students from chatting away, you're trying to get them to list, like it's. It's so hard. Even just that part there is hard right, and then you set students off on a task and then all of a sudden, you've got disengagement. You've got students looking around. You've got students asking what they're doing. They've got like their hands up miss, what are we doing? Or they're like they're just looking at their paper. They've got like their hands up miss, what are we doing? Or they like they're just looking at their paper. They've got their pen in their hand, they're not doing anything, they're not starting, and there's just that awful limbo every lesson where one half of the class were like halfway through the task, then the other half were only getting started, or like still waiting there for me to get around to them, because I had their hands up, and I just feel like obviously things are different now and I have, obviously I'm teaching you this strategy. So I would like to think that it's not like that now, but I felt like I had to split myself into 10 different people just to teach my class because I set them off on a task and there were just a million things I needed to manage.

Speaker 1:

You know, whether it's the behavior, 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 in the way that you want to, because you don't have the resources, you don't have the help to do that. You don't have. You don't have 500 hands to be able to go around and show students what they're doing. So we need to overcome that barrier and do so in a way that is going to work, that's going to help us in those moments and actually emulate us splitting ourselves into 10 different people or 30 different people. That's the goal for this particular session.

Speaker 1:

I could talk all day about how under-resourced we are and how I think that we should have more support in the classroom. However, we can't control that right now. We can't control that in the here and now. We are stuck in the situation that we're in. Whatever situation you're in in your classroom, it's a situation that you're in in your classroom, and you know, if you've listened to this podcast for any amount of time, that I am all about controlling what we can control, doing what we can do, and not getting bogged down in the oh but, but, but but, because that's not empowering for you and that's not going to help you. What is going to help you is this tool that I'm about to teach you, and it takes the pressure off us immensely.

Speaker 1:

And I am going to nerd out about the good old task card, which I have noted out before about. But this strategy is just, it's my favorite thing. And at this point you're probably thinking you probably don't share my enthusiasm. I think many people would initially share my enthusiasm with task cards, but you will when you use them and see how amazing they are. So you might be thinking task cards, really that's it. You might've used them before, but when we use them really strategically, they can be such powerful tools.

Speaker 1:

And I just want to quickly break down why that is the case. What they are? They are small, structured prompts or questions or activities that students work on independently, in pairs or in group tasks. Each card focuses on a single, clear task, breaking down that task or more complex activities into bite-sized, chunked down steps. They offer a clear roadmap into the task itself and provide really clear information that students can look at and you know know how to get into the task. It helps them to navigate the learning process with confidence and it just provides them with that structure and clarity they need to stay engaged. But task cards aren't just about giving them instructions. They communicate how students can be successful in a task. They communicate time limits, they give them checklists. All that play a crucial role in making this tool just so fantastic for mitigating low-level behaviors and just disengagement and just all of those things right. And let me go through why.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to nerd out for a little bit on the good old task card. The first thing is that they increase engagement because students are tackling tasks step-by-step. I don't know about you, but when I write myself a to-do list in the morning and I'm breaking things down into smaller steps, I'm like I can tackle that, but if I put like a really big task on there I find it too overwhelming to start. So students are like less likely to feel overwhelmed by it. They're more likely to stay motivated on the task. And the clear, concise nature of a task card just helps keep students on track, minimize disruptions and distractions and just it promotes better participation. It makes tasks so much clearer. So we all know that clear instructions are essential but we are constantly repeating them and when we're repeating them it's not clear for students and it's not beneficial for us.

Speaker 1:

When we have a task card, we are offering explicit and easy to follow directions that students can refer back to constantly. That means that when a student pops their hand up and they say what are we doing, instead of you having to go around and explain things in 10 different ways to multiple students, you just have to point to the task card and get students on track with that particular part. So if the first step on a task card is you know really stupid example but like write your name at the top of the page, they'll be getting started rather than sitting there. They'll be getting momentum. They'll be, you know, read the paragraph first. Like going in and reading that paragraph and starting their task instead of going hey, like go and complete the comprehension activity, like you're breaking it down step-by-step for students. I know that's a really simple example, but I don't know what you teach, so I want to make sure that you understand what I'm talking about. Please come and join the kickstart if you don't know what I'm talking about, because I have visuals there for you.

Speaker 1:

The third reason why they're just so good at reducing low level disruptions is they promote autonomy, which is what we're talking about here when I'm saying I don't want you to feel like you can't teach because you don't have 10 of you in the room. A task card is giving students a really tangible reference point they can continue to rely on throughout that task. So, instead of repeatedly asking for help or not knowing what to do next or not being sure like where they can get started, students can independently access that information that they need to move forward, and it empowers them to take charge of their own learning. It reduces their reliance on the constant guidance that you are giving them and it helps you to get back to being present in the lesson and actually like moving around the room and then putting out spot fires that usually are bubbling up and exploding over the corner when you are with certain students constantly trying to support them independently.

Speaker 1:

When we talk about differentiation, this is what differentiation is Effective differentiation that doesn't require you to like. I've seen a lot lately about teachers talking about like using AI to differentiate lessons. True differentiation does not require you to create three different tasks or three different things. It requires you to use tools strategically so every student can access that particular task. So this task card here is the perfect way to do it, because here's what you can include on task cards. That makes it the perfect differentiation tool, but it also makes it perfect for getting students engaged and empowered and helping like take the pressure off your shoulders in the lesson. So this is what to include on your task card. It's really important.

Speaker 1:

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 up for success with minimal intervention needed from you. Ask yourself, what questions am I getting? Or what am I constantly repeating myself on? Or like what expectations are not being met? So you know a student's finishing a task really quickly or you know all of those things. So you don't have to include all of these things necessarily, but I try to include as many of these as possible because then I'm not repeating myself, I am reinforcing expectations on what students are doing. So here's what I include.

Speaker 1:

The first thing is a success criteria. So clearly outline what success looks like, so students can self-assess, know they're on the right track. It just prevents them from feeling like really unsure. They can keep going back to that success criteria and going okay, like what actually do I need to include in this task? If you want to include a small example of what that looks like, or just anything that shows them and points them to the direction of what a quality response looks like. And that works for a variety of reasons, and the first is that it gives them clarity around what they are expecting from you. So, um, you know, if you're expecting them to be writing a paragraph and not just a single sentence, this is where that communicates that clearly, so you're not having to go around and say, hey, no, that's not. You know like deep, like you're not going deep enough on that, like you need to go back and do more on that, because you're automatically communicating your expectations in that success criteria. So you're communicating your expectations and it's just a guiding kind of compass for them on how they can feel successful.

Speaker 1:

The second thing to include on a task card is a checklist. So just breaking that task into manageable steps with a simple checklist. It just allows students to then work through that task autonomously, knowing exactly what to do next, without asking for directions on where to go. So that's where the chunking down of your task is really important. So just zooming down bird's eye view of the task you want students to do what are the components of that task and how can I break that down step by step?

Speaker 1:

The next thing that I would always include on a task is a timeframe like 10 minutes, just in the corner. I do like 10 minutes. It sets really clear expectations on how long that task should take. You know, if it takes 10 minutes, then what am I expecting from that student? So to say for student put their hands up and I'm done. I would go over to that student and say, okay, we're two minutes into a task. Can you tell me how long you've got for this task? 10 minutes, is that enough work for 10 minutes? Like, have a look back at the success criteria. Can you tick all of that off? Where can you deepen this response so you can then use that as a tool to have those conversations with students instead of saying not long enough. Like it's a really good indication for students on how much effort or time or whatever they need to put into that task.

Speaker 1:

Another thing that I put onto a task card are some prompts or sentence starters. Just include some clues or phrases to get students going. If you're a math teacher, you can also put like formulas there or like just something to guide students, because that reduces anxiety, it builds confidence and guides students towards completing that task successfully. Again, anything that I can put on that task that acts as a mini teacher to reduce the pressure on me and help students autonomously attack that task, and the next thing I put on there is an outcome. So just something that helps students understand what the purpose of what they're doing even is. When they see the relevance and value of the task, they're more likely to have the buy-in to engage, to put the effort in. And if you haven't listened to the last two kickstart sessions, go back to the last one where I talk about learning maps, because a learning map and a task card pretty similar, one's for the whole lesson, one's just for an individual task. But in that session, in last week's episode, I talk more about why outcomes getting clear on outcomes are really important and not just something that should be tacked on as something that is dictated to you by somebody, like in leadership, like it should be actually a tool that you use. That's really, really powerful for student engagement.

Speaker 1:

Okay, if you do join the kickstart, what you do get as a resource is a task card template. I wanted to make it a no brainer for you. Again, I just want to make sure that in these quick win sessions, I want you to be able to take it and run with it without, like just the point, like what's it called the path of least resistance, like I want you to go into your classroom and do this and try it. So I have given you a task card template that you can edit and use immediately. I usually sell this one separately for $5, like the template separately for $5, and the whole kickstart is $1. So it's really a no brainer because you get everything else in the kickstart, plus training. But this is something I promise you are going to use day after day after day after day. I like yeah, it's.

Speaker 1:

And again, just like the um, the like learning map that I was speaking about last session, this is something that helps you plan the task out and it just helps you get really clear on what you want students to do, and sometimes we can have a lot of assumptions and misconceptions and like sitting down with a task card and planning it directly onto the task card. So it's not something extra that you have to do. It is just again taking the pressure off our shoulders in the moment in the planning I am, let me just yeah, I, I could nerd out all day about task cards. I told you that, didn't I? I've been speaking for 18 minutes now about a piece of paper. So that is a clear indication of how I feel about these tools, because when we're talking about classroom management, we are not talking about just the behavior. We're talking about all of the things that we're doing in our practice, all of the things that we can feel empowered to change and to control what is in our circle of control.

Speaker 1:

A task card is, you know, whatever's happening in Billy's life isn't so really thinking about how we can have super strong classroom management, doing what we can control, taking the pressure off our shoulders? But yeah, that's it, that's our strategy for this week. Task card it is simple, but don't let that fool you. It packs a mighty punch, as you can hear from how passionate I get about it. So if you're fed up with repeating yourself over and over and still hearing what are we doing again, then give this a go.

Speaker 1:

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 there for the day, because 20 minutes talking about a task card. Who would have thunk it? So if you want to come and join us, head to the dash on teachablescom forward slash kickstart. I can't wait to see you there. And next week we're talking about rapport and how that kind of plays into it and some really tangible things that we can do to embed relationship building, community building, into the everyday without taking up all of our learning time. So that's going to be a cracker as well. So I will see you there, but until then, have a lovely week everybody, and bye for now.

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Claire English

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