A student does not begin an assignment after you give the direction. Another starts working but skips several steps. A third looks directly at you, says, “No,” and puts their head down.
All three students are not following directions, but that does not mean they need the same response.
One may not have heard the direction. Another may have misunderstood it, forgotten a step, or become overwhelmed by the amount of work. The third may understand exactly what is expected and be making a deliberate choice not to do it. If we treat every one of these situations as defiance, we may punish students who need instruction or support. If we remove the expectation every time a student struggles, however, we do not help students develop responsibility and independence.
Teaching students to follow directions requires us to determine what is preventing them from being successful, provide the support they actually need, and maintain reasonable expectations when a student is capable of meeting them.
Students need to learn to follow directions because directions are part of almost every area of life. They will need to listen to different teachers, complete tasks at work, follow safety instructions, and respond appropriately to people in authority. They also need to know how to ask questions, request clarification, and respectfully advocate for themselves when they need help.
The goal should not be to produce students who “behave” for one particular teacher.
Over the years, I have heard teachers say that a student only behaves for them almost as if it were a badge of honor. That may feel like evidence of a strong relationship, but it is not particularly helpful to the student long term. I often told my students, “I will not always be your teacher, and I will not be your boss someday.”
My students needed to learn to make responsible choices with other adults and in other settings. In my behavior program, the goal was not for students to stay with me forever. The goal was for them to develop the skills they needed to return to general education and succeed without me. I was most proud when I was not there and they still made good choices.
Following directions is a skill that needs to be taught, practiced, supported, and revisited. The strategies below help teachers determine why a student is struggling, make expectations easier to understand, and respond in ways that build responsibility without creating unnecessary power struggles.
Before deciding how to respond, try to determine what is getting in the way. Did the student hear the direction? Did they understand it? Can they remember the steps? Do they know how to complete the task? Are they overwhelmed, distracted, or afraid of making a mistake? Or do they understand the expectation and simply not want to follow it?
I try to begin by getting students’ attention before giving directions and making my expectations clear. For some students, I may ask them to repeat the directions back to me. If a student does not begin, I restate the expectation in a neutral voice and ask whether there is a reason they are not starting.
That question matters. We do not want to turn a misunderstanding into a confrontation.
If the student missed part of the instruction, I can repeat it or show them where the directions are written. If they do not understand a step, I can ask them to begin with what they do understand and request help when they reach the confusing part. If they understand the direction and are choosing not to follow it, I can calmly restate the expectation and explain what will happen if they continue to refuse.
The reason for the behavior should affect our response, but it does not always remove the expectation.
“Behave,” “make good choices,” and “do what you’re supposed to do” may sound clear to an adult, but they do not tell a student exactly what successful behavior looks like.
At the beginning of the school year, I discussed why rules were important and asked students which rules they thought we needed in our classroom. We wrote their ideas on the board and talked about what might happen if those rules did not exist. We also considered rules outside school, such as traffic laws and expectations in stores, and discussed what could happen if everyone simply made up their own rules.
Later, I introduced the point sheets we used throughout the day. The sheets included expectations such as following directions, remaining on task, cooperating with others, participating in class, and using respectful language. Each behavior was clearly defined so students and adults understood what it meant.
The expectations were also posted near the place where students lined up to leave the classroom. Posting them was not the same as teaching them, but it gave us a visual reference we could return to regularly.
Because students entered our behavior program throughout the year, we revisited the expectations whenever someone new arrived. I often had the current students explain the classroom procedures to the new student. They enjoyed being the teachers, and explaining the rules reinforced their own understanding. It also showed the new student that these were shared classroom expectations rather than a new set of restrictions created especially for them.
Rules are easier to follow when they tell students what successful behavior looks like. “Do not be disrespectful” identifies what an adult wants to stop, but it does not necessarily teach the replacement behavior. “Use respectful words and an appropriate tone” gives students an action they can practice.
Instead of “No running,” tell students to walk in the classroom. Instead of “Don’t interrupt,” teach them to raise their hands and wait to be called on. “Keep your hands and body in your own space” is more useful than simply saying, “Stop touching other people.”
Positive wording does not mean avoiding firm boundaries or consequences. It means defining the behavior we want students to use so we can teach it, prompt it, recognize it, and measure it.
Students should not encounter an expectation for the first time when they are already being corrected for missing it. Precorrection means reviewing the expected behavior before entering a situation in which a student may have difficulty.
Before watching a BrainPOP video, for example, I might ask:
“What materials do we need before we begin?”
“If you want to answer a question, what should you do?”
Before walking to the Media Center, I might ask students how we should look and sound in the hallway, what they should do, and what they should avoid doing.
This helps students actively retrieve the correct behavior before they need to use it. It can be particularly helpful for students who make impulsive choices because it does not leave as much opportunity for them to “forget” the expectation in the moment.
Having students state the expectations also makes them active participants. They are doing more than listening to another adult repeat a rule they have heard many times. They are recalling, describing, and mentally rehearsing the behavior themselves.
Precorrection works best when it is brief, specific, and closely connected to the situation that is about to occur.
Some students struggle because adults use too many words.
I once entered a classroom at the end of the day while a teacher was explaining homework to one of our students. She told him that he had math homework, that he could take the book home but would need to remember to return it, that he would also need paper, or that she could copy the pages so he could write on them, but then he would not have the book to look back through if he needed help.
The student looked completely overwhelmed.
I walked over and asked, “Too many words?”
He said yes.
I then asked, “Book or copy?”
“Copy, please,” he answered.
That was all he needed. He was a smart student, but he had language-processing difficulties. When adults gave him too much verbal information at once, he could become overwhelmed and frustrated, which sometimes led to an angry outburst.
This was not a matter of lowering the expectation. It was a matter of presenting the information in a way he could process.
There is also a difference between using too many words and giving too many steps. Many students cannot retain and complete three- or four-step verbal directions without support. Following longer sequences can be practiced, but the middle of an important assignment is not necessarily the best time to test how many steps a student can remember.
When task completion matters, break directions into manageable parts and provide written or visual directions when appropriate.
Writing directions on the board or providing a visual does not automatically mean a student knows how to use it. The same is true of academic tools.
A student may have access to a number line, multiplication chart, formula, worked example, word bank, or list of alternatives to the word “said.” That does not mean they know which tool fits the problem, where to find it, or how to apply it.
When a student says, “I don’t know what to do,” I may ask:
“What is the first step?”
“What do you do next?”
“Where could you look for that information?”
“Which of your tools might help?”
These questions help me identify where the breakdown occurs without taking over the task. If the student can complete several steps and then becomes confused, I have found the part that needs clarification.
Some students wait for an adult to do the thinking for them. I have had students tell me, “You’re not helping me,” when what they meant was that I was not giving them the answer. I would explain that I already knew how to complete the task; this was their opportunity to learn. Helping does not mean taking away the student’s chance to think.
We can look back at the lesson, examine a similar example, or use an appropriate tool. The student still needs to participate in the learning.
Sometimes a student understands the direction but feels overwhelmed by the amount of work in front of them.
If a full page of math problems feels unmanageable, I might ask the student to complete the first row and then raise their hand so I can check it. I may use a blank sheet of paper to cover the portion they are not working on yet. The assignment has not disappeared, but the student can focus on one attainable part at a time.
If a student is afraid of making a mistake, I might complete an example with them, remind them that mistakes are part of learning, and check in periodically while they continue.
There are also days when a task turns out to be more difficult than I anticipated. A skill may not be sticking, or a student may work much more slowly than usual. If the student is genuinely working, asking for help, and using available tools, I may allow them to finish the assignment the next day without treating it as incomplete work or withholding a reinforcer.
“Unfinished” does not always mean “refused.”
Punishing a student who worked throughout the available time does not teach responsibility. It may teach them that effort does not matter unless they finish at the same speed as everyone else.
Students should be held accountable for work they can reasonably complete with the instruction, accommodations, and support available to them.
My behavior program was a multigrade classroom, so students’ assignments were already differentiated. Some instruction occurred in a large group, some in small groups, and some independently. The work expected from each student was based on their instructional level and what they could reasonably accomplish.
It would not have been appropriate to withhold an earned activity because a student reading at a third-grade level had not independently completed a fifth-grade assignment.
At the end of the day, students who had finished their assigned work could play Prodigy Math. On Friday afternoons, we had Fun Friday, which included Prodigy and other preferred choices. Students whose reasonable weekly work was complete could participate.
This added access to something students wanted rather than taking away recess. Keeping students from recess may ensure that they miss recess, but it does not ensure that they complete or learn from the work. It may also remove an important opportunity to move, regulate, and return to class ready to learn.
A reinforcer is only a reinforcer when the student can realistically earn it.
Following directions does not mean students should never ask questions, request clarification, or say that they need help. Appropriate self-advocacy is one of the skills we should teach.
My students learned how to raise their hands, ask questions respectfully, and request a break appropriately. Some students used an “I Need a Break” card while they were learning how to communicate that need.
A break did not automatically eliminate the expectation. It might change when, where, or how the work was completed.
Some students needed five minutes to regulate and then return. Another student might need to talk with the counselor, visit the nurse, or receive additional support. Patterns also mattered. If a student regularly requested a break whenever a particular assignment appeared, we needed to determine what was happening. If a student who normally worked successfully was having an unusually difficult day, I might excuse the assignment for that day and assign it again tomorrow.
Supporting self-advocacy and maintaining accountability are not opposites. Students can learn to communicate what they need while also understanding that responsibilities do not automatically disappear.
When a student understands a reasonable direction and deliberately refuses, repeating it more loudly is unlikely to help.
I try to keep my voice and facial expression neutral even when I am frustrated. Remaining unemotional prevents many power struggles and discourages students who are trying to get under an adult’s skin. Their choice and the result of that choice belong to them.
I might say:
“The expectation is that you complete this math assignment. If you do not complete it now, you will work on it during ___ while the students who are finished are ___.”
If a student refused the same assignment repeatedly, I sometimes made it clear that the refused task would remain their next assignment. The rest of the class might move on, but the student would not avoid math indefinitely by refusing it each day.
This does not require an argument. The adult can hope the student makes a good choice, offer appropriate support, and calmly maintain the expectation.
It is also important not to threaten consequences you cannot enforce. Telling a student they will be suspended when that is an administrative decision damages your credibility. Directions and consequences should be reasonable, related, and within your authority.
Adults should also avoid inappropriate ultimatums such as, “You cannot eat lunch until you finish this assignment.” Do not create a standoff around something you cannot or should not withhold.
I once had a student in a behavior program who reminded me of a little George Jefferson. When I gave him a direction, he would grumble under his breath about how he was not going to do it—and then immediately go do exactly what I had asked.
The grumbling was not ideal, but it was quiet, it did not disrupt the class, and he completed the task. Turning it into a major confrontation would not have helped either of us.
That did not mean I pretended he had met the full expectation. Our point sheet defined accepting directions and corrections appropriately as doing so immediately and without arguing, complaining, or talking back. He might not earn full points for that period, and I would explain that he needed to work on the way he responded because other teachers might react more strongly to it.
The feedback was enough. It did not need to become a fight.
Choosing not to battle over every behavior does not mean lowering the expectation. Sometimes the appropriate response is a calm conversation and a small, predictable loss of points rather than an additional consequence that turns a minor problem into a major event.
If a student misses a step, I may begin by recognizing what they completed correctly and asking whether they can determine what is missing. If they genuinely forgot, I can remind them and still expect them to finish or correct the work.
When students rush, I restate the expectation that their work needs to be complete, correct, and readable. If I notice the rushing before they finish, I may remind the individual student—or the class—that rushing through the task and correcting it later often takes longer than doing it carefully the first time.
Students also need to develop attention to detail. I have had students accidentally complete the wrong lesson or page. If it happened once and appeared to be a genuine mistake, I might accept it and remind the student to check more carefully the following day. If it happened repeatedly because the student was not slowing down long enough to verify the assignment, I would explain that, although they had worked, the assigned task still needed to be completed.
I often felt as though I was conducting small functional behavior assessments throughout the day: looking at what happened before the behavior, what the student did, and what they gained or avoided as a result.
If the problem is a misunderstanding, fix the misunderstanding. If the student made a deliberate choice to do something other than the reasonable task they were assigned, the original expectation does not automatically change.
Students may follow directions successfully with one teacher but struggle with another adult, during transitions, or in less structured settings. Rather than immediately deciding that the student is “choosing when to behave,” observe both situations and look for meaningful differences.
Consider the subject, teaching style, time of day, nearby peers, level of structure, amount of verbal language, and support available. Students who succeed during structured instruction may have difficulty during specials, recess, or transitions because the expectations are less obvious and distractions are greater.
The solution may include precorrection, additional structure, environmental changes, or a simple practical support. For example, a student who frequently touches peers while walking through the hallway may benefit from carrying something to the destination. Keeping their hands occupied can help them meet the expectation while they develop greater self-control.
In my self-contained classroom, some students decided they would work with only one particular adult. All the adults worked to use the same expectations, and I referred to the paraprofessionals as teachers so students understood that their directions carried authority too.
Students did not get to shop around for a different answer. If one teacher gave a direction, asking another teacher did not change it. If a student refused to work with one adult, they generally received additional opportunities to work with that person until they could do so appropriately.
The goal was not dependence on one preferred adult. It was learning to work successfully with different people.
Point sheets can help teachers provide consistent feedback and collect useful information, but only when the behaviors are clearly defined and the sheet is used as part of instruction.
Our point system was based largely on the number of prompts a student needed. If I had to remind a student three times to remain on task, that was observable and difficult to dispute. It was more useful than a vague judgment that the student had a “bad attitude.”
We reviewed what went well as well as what needed improvement. Students should not feel that adults notice only their mistakes. They need specific recognition of the skills they are already using and the progress they are making.
These conversations included questions such as:
Why was reading difficult today?
What helped you during math?
What could you try tomorrow?
Do you remember what we discussed yesterday?
What support would make it easier to meet this goal today?
If students could identify the problem, we involved them in finding a solution. If they genuinely could not, we helped them understand what happened and what they could do differently.
One difficult period also did not ruin the entire day. A student could struggle during reading and still make more successful choices during math, lunch, and the afternoon. Dividing the day into periods gave students repeated opportunities to recover and be successful.
Different students may benefit from different formats: a simple traffic-light visual, smiley faces, a student self-monitoring chart, or a more detailed daily point sheet with graphing. The format should fit the student’s age, abilities, and goals. The underlying process remains the same: define the behavior, teach it, collect simple information, recognize progress, identify patterns, and problem-solve with the student.
Students should be compared with their own previous performance, not with the classmate who seems to do everything perfectly. Successive approximations matter. A student who once needed ten reminders and now needs three is making meaningful progress, even though the skill is not yet independent.
Students need opportunities to practice following directions before their academic success or access to a preferred activity depends on it. These following directions activities allow teachers to isolate particular skills, such as listening for important details, remembering multiple steps, asking for clarification, and checking completed work.
The purpose should be practice rather than catching students making mistakes. Tell students which skill they are working on, provide the appropriate level of support, and gradually increase the complexity as they become more successful.
A following directions drawing activity is an easy way to practice listening without adding difficult academic content. Give each student a blank sheet of paper and explain that you will read a direction aloud. Students should listen to the entire direction before they begin drawing.
Begin with one-step directions. You might ask students to draw a large square in the middle of the page, draw a triangle above the square, and then put a small rectangle inside the square. Once students understand the routine, combine familiar actions into two- or three-step directions.
For example, ask students to draw two windows inside the square and place a small circle in each window. They might then draw a tree beside the house, add three branches, and put a bird on one branch. Another direction could ask them to draw two clouds above the house and place a sun between them.
Afterward, read the directions again and have students check their drawings. The pictures do not need to look identical. The goal is to determine whether students heard, remembered, and completed each part.
Differentiate the activity according to the skill being taught. Some students may need to repeat each direction before drawing, while others may use a visual checklist or hear the direction twice. Students who are ready for a greater challenge can follow longer sequences or take turns creating directions for their classmates.
Make it clear whether repetition is available before beginning. A student practicing how to request clarification should be allowed to ask for the direction again. A student whose specific goal is retaining two-step verbal directions may need to try the activity without repetition. The support should match the skill you are teaching.
Blocks, pattern blocks, counters, classroom objects, or simple craft materials can be used for a hands-on following directions activity. Ask students to place a blue block beside a red block, put two yellow counters above the blue block, or make a tower with a green block on the bottom, a red block in the middle, and a blue block on top.
Students can compare their finished arrangements with a model after completing the directions. This provides immediate feedback without requiring the teacher to announce that someone was wrong.
The activity also helps teachers see where the difficulty occurs. A student may understand the vocabulary but forget the second step. Another may remember the objects but misunderstand words such as “above,” “between,” or “beside.” That information helps the teacher decide whether the student needs more practice with listening, memory, sequencing, or positional language.
Students can eventually work with partners. One student gives the directions while the other builds. The student giving directions learns that instructions need to be clear, complete, and presented at a reasonable pace.
Before a classroom activity or transition, ask students to describe the expectations they will need to follow. This turns precorrection into a brief, participatory classroom routine.
Before watching a video, ask what materials students need, how they should respond to a question, what they should do if they need help, and what will happen when the video ends. Before walking to the library or Media Center, ask what the transition should look and sound like and what students should do with their hands, voices, materials, and personal space.
Having students state the classroom expectations themselves helps them retrieve and mentally rehearse the behavior. Keep the routine short; students should be doing most of the remembering and explaining.
Students are more likely to understand classroom rules when they know why the rules exist. Write several classroom expectations on cards and create a second set of cards showing their purposes or possible outcomes.
Students might match “Walk in the classroom” with preventing injuries, “Raise your hand and wait” with allowing everyone an opportunity to participate, and “Keep your hands and body in your own space” with helping classmates feel safe and comfortable. “Bring the necessary materials” can be matched with beginning learning on time, while “Use respectful words and tone” helps create a classroom where people can learn together.
Students can complete the activity with partners or in small groups and explain their reasoning afterward. Some rules may serve more than one purpose, which can lead to a useful discussion. The activity moves the conversation beyond following a rule simply because the teacher said so.
Give students examples of directions and ask them to decide whether each one provides enough information. Compare vague statements such as “Get ready,” “Do what you are supposed to do,” or “Clean this up” with directions such as “Take out your math book and turn to page 42” or “Return the markers to the container and place the container on the art shelf.”
Ask students what information is missing from the unclear directions and invite them to rewrite each one. This teaches following directions while also helping students recognize when they genuinely need clarification. It can be eye-opening for adults as well because students sometimes fail to follow directions that were not as clear as the adult believed they were.
Students need to know what to do when they do not understand a direction. Provide short scenarios in which a student missed the page number, understands the first step but not the second, cannot remember the final step, does not know which tool would help, or feels too overwhelmed to begin.
Students can practice responses such as, “Could you please repeat the page number?” “I understand the first part. Can you explain what I should do next?” or “Could I complete the first row and check in with you before I continue?”
This is also an opportunity to teach the difference between requesting help and waiting for an adult to take over. Appropriate help should enable the student to continue thinking and working.
A whole-group following directions game can give students repeated practice in a low-risk setting. Ask students to clap twice before touching their heads, stand beside their chairs and place one hand on the back, or pick up a pencil, place it across the top of the paper, and fold their hands.
Begin with simple directions and increase the number of steps gradually. Avoid making the game primarily about tricking students. The objective is to help them become more attentive and accurate, not to embarrass students who process language more slowly.
Pause periodically and ask what helped students remember. They might repeat the steps silently, picture themselves completing the actions, listen for sequencing words, or complete one action while holding the next one in mind. Discussing these strategies helps students become more aware of how they learn.
A read-aloud allows students to examine rules and directions through a character’s choices rather than beginning with their own behavior.
That Rule Doesn’t Apply to Me! by Julia Cook is a useful choice because Noodle believes that rules should not always apply to him. His experiences create opportunities to discuss why rules exist and what happens when individuals decide that shared expectations are optional.
Before reading, ask students why homes, classrooms, stores, roads, and communities have rules. During the story, pause to consider what Noodle wants, how his choices affect other people, and whether a rule can still be important when someone dislikes it.
After reading, students can identify rules from different settings, match rules with their purposes, rewrite negatively stated rules as positive classroom expectations, and examine situations in which someone followed or did not follow a rule. Help students connect each rule with safety, fairness, learning, or shared responsibility rather than simply asking them to list rules.
Teachers who want more structured practice can extend the lesson with discussion prompts, scenarios, writing activities, and opportunities to apply the ideas to classroom expectations. The [That Rule Doesn’t Apply to Me! interactive read-aloud companion] can support this instruction across whole-group, small-group, and independent activities.
For additional options, the companion post, Following Rules and Directions: 7 Books That Help Kids Learn to Listen, includes books that address listening, self-control, responsibility, and the purpose of rules.
The drawing activity can be adapted for different seasons and holidays without changing the underlying skill. A Christmas following directions activity might ask students to decorate a tree, arrange presents, or complete a winter scene according to verbal or written directions.
Students might draw a star at the top of the tree, place three round ornaments on the left and two square ornaments on the right, draw two presents beneath the tree, and add a striped bow to the smaller present. The activity can incorporate positional words, listening comprehension, sequencing, drawing, and written directions.
The same format can be adapted for winter, spring, fall, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Lunar New Year, or a general celebration theme. Holiday-neutral options allow teachers to choose activities that fit their students and communities. Older students can write directions for a partner and then evaluate whether their instructions were sufficiently clear.
Teaching students to follow directions is not about demanding cheerful, unquestioning obedience. It means teaching them to listen, understand what is expected, use available supports, ask appropriate questions, and make responsible choices.
Sometimes students need clearer language, fewer steps, a visual, additional processing time, or a break. Sometimes they need an adult to maintain a reasonable expectation without arguing or taking over the task. Determining which response is appropriate requires us to look beyond the fact that the direction was not followed and ask why.
When students understand what to do, know how to get help, and experience predictable follow-through, they have a better chance of becoming independent. That is the real goal: not students who follow directions only when one particular teacher is watching, but students who can make thoughtful choices and live with the results of those choices wherever they go.
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