Setting Up an Independent Work Task Box System

 This one center in my classroom gets used more than anything else I have ever set up. If you've seen pictures of other teachers' independent work box systems and have wondered if it is right for you, the answer is definitely YES. It does not matter if you are in an elementary classroom or a high school classroom, or if your students are working near grade level or working on access skills- you can make this system work for you. 

So, what is an independent work task box system? It is a classroom center or station that houses closed ended tasks in a system that students can complete by themselves. The skills the students are expected to perform are all mastered, so that they can complete the tasks without adult support. The task boxes can be fine motor activities, matching, tracing, math or ELA practice, science or social students task cards, vocational training- the options are endless!

Why have it in your classroom? Independent work task box systems teach and practice executive functioning skills. These are the kinds of skills we need to help us with progress monitoring, task completion, organization, and follow multi step directions. When our students develop executive functioning skills, they can exert more independence in their lives. The beauty of this system is that as they are working on mastered skills, they are practicing and developing executive functioning skills in the process! 

The components of the independent work task box system might seem daunting, but it really comes down to 3 things:

1. There needs to be some sort of schedule, either visual or written, that tells students what to do in a sequence. The expectation is that students will then be able to follow the schedule, complete the tasks, and move on to the next activity without prompting. 

In the system I have, laminated pictures are put on a simple visual schedule shown above. The students take pictures from the schedule, match them to the corresponding box, and complete the task. I make my schedules with the option to have anywhere from 1-7 icons, depending on the student's stamina. 

2. The tasks inside the boxes. These need to be closed ended- meaning that there is a clear and definite end to the activity. A coloring page is an example of an open-ended activity because the student could be done after making one mark on the paper, or they may never feel that the picture is complete! A closed ended activity example would be lacing beads on a string, where the activity is definitely over when all the beads are on the string. 

 

Some examples of asks I have in my system include

• stringing beads on a string
• matching colored blocks to squares on cards
• colored paper clips on colored circles
• put "cookies" on "cookie tray"
• count and clip addition cards with visuals
• matching lowercase to uppercase letters
• sort colored counting bears into colored bowls
• match numbers using clothespins
• pushing cut up straws through an old plastic cheese shaker
• pinch pom-poms and drop into bowl
• sequence numbers written on legos

Many of the tasks I have were hand made. I do have some that I've printed from the Made for Me Literacy Level B units and from The Autism Helper. I would encourage you if you're just starting out to do a combo of handmade and purchased activities. It is hard to make all of them yourself, and you don't want this to bankrupt you either! Some of my most used tasks have been handmade from items I had lying around the house. 

3. The storage mechanism. How are you going to display and organize your tasks? For the kinds of things your learners are doing, does it make more sense to have them in clear boxes? In binders? in flash card boxes? Or on shelves? Any of these options would work- but you need to pick what works best for your learners. 

I started with a much smaller system at first, and that would be my recommendation if you're ready to dive into setting up an independent work task box system of your own. My first system had 3 clear bins, and I would trade out the activities in the bins depending on which learner was completing it. It had 3 colored circles on the front, and students matched the circle on their schedule to the circle on their box. The last icon on their schedule was a start, which I taught as a reinforcement exchange icon. When they handed their teacher the star, they could be all done. 

That bare bones system is roughly the exact same formula that my large independent work system runs on. I have 33 clear boxes, each with an animal, shape, number, or letter on the front that the students need to match. They look at their personalized independent work schedule, match the icons, do the tasks, and move on to the next activity. The star is still a reinforcement exchange icon, and that signals the end of independent work. 

I had these low bookcases with moveable shelves in my classroom already, but any shelf would suffice. Once you have figured out where you're going to set it up, you can start with the fun part- making the tasks! The tasks in my task boxes vary from very simple fine motor activities to more complex math and ELA activities. This is appropriate for my elementary sub-separate classroom with a wide range of learners- your classroom might need different skills in the boxes. The key is to have at least 3-4 that every student can do- and can do INDEPENDENTLY. Remember, the tasks aren't aspirational, they are what the students can do right now. 

Another key part of this system is a way for staff to reference what each student is capable of doing. I suggest printing off a list of all of the different tasks you have, making a column for each student, and then checking off when a box becomes mastered for each student. This is how mine looks like:

I made this in excel and it helps immensely. My staff can look at this quickly, set up the schedule, and the student can get going. No guessing what a student should do, no asking you a 1000 times what they should be doing with a student! It also helps with decreasing problem behavior at this center. Before I had this set up, staff would sometimes (very well intentionally) set up tasks that weren't mastered for a student, and the resulting frustration would cause problem behavior such as elopement and refusal. 

Another thing that might help this center run more smoothly is printing off a helpful hints guide and hanging it in the center. This will provide instructions and reminders for how to run the center. Think about when you have a sub coming in or a new staff starting with you. It is sometimes overwhelming the amount of information they need to know to be successful in a classroom like this. Anything you can provide that will help staff be independent and more successful is worth your time. Here is what my independent work guide looks like. 

These center guides are available as a freebie in my TPT store!

If you want more detailed help setting up the system, shoot me an email. I'd be happy to give any other advice that I've learned from setting it up and implementing it.