Do you have students who spend most of class time staring at an assessment, switching between tasks, or avoiding getting started altogether?
Procrastination isn’t always laziness or non-compliance. Often, it’s a sign of overwhelm. When students have multiple assessments, deadlines, or competing priorities, they may genuinely not know where to begin.
Starting is often the hardest part!
Try this simple strategy:
- Ask: “Which assessment feels the easiest to work on right now?”
- Once they have chosen an assessment, ask: “Which question feels like the easiest place to start?”
- Encourage them to focus only on that question for the next 5–10 minutes.
- After that time, check back in and ask: “What’s the next easiest question you could tackle?”
By breaking the task into small, manageable steps, students can build momentum and confidence. What felt overwhelming at the start often becomes much more achievable once they’ve begun.
Offering choice is key. It helps students feel a sense of control and ownership over their learning, rather than feeling like work is being imposed on them. At the same time, this strategy can help hold students accountable for what they are working on.
Sometimes, the goal isn’t to finish the assessment today; it’s to help the student take the first step!