-Daily Task Worksheets

When working in schools, there is a constant need to collect and analyze data.  In doing so, I also feel the need to constantly evaluate my students’ skills in other areas as well.  I always try to assess or reassess skill(s) during each session.  I began creating Daily Task Worksheets.  I typically work with an older population [middle and high school] so that vocational skills also enter into the therapy session.  My thought was to get my students used to using and finishing a checklist in a timely fashion.  I now keep my forms in Microsoft OneNote so that my students’ work was organized and they can use technology while completing a number of tasks assigned on any given day.  Students were assigned to one of my computers [they all had names] and asked to open their own notebook.  Since many of my students are seen in groups at this age, it is important to create an individualized plan for each student that encompasses their goals and promotes a sense of independence.  My students love working on daily task worksheets.

My students were able to complete tasks independently or with very little assistance.  At the same time, I would be assessing activities of daily living [tie your left shoe], left-right discrimination, handwriting, following written directions, and any other number of skills.  Since each of the worksheets were created for individual students, I could easily include activities that would measure goal progress and, of course, explore daily progress on anything related to those darn standardized assessments.  If the worksheet is completed on a tablet, a stylus is offered to the student for handwriting.  Sometimes that portion of the worksheet was printed so that the student could complete it on paper.  I always worked on a student’s signature, whether or not is was a goal and had them sign in daily [this just supported my billing].  It was the very first part of the therapy session.  Students were required to keep an agenda for school, so I used that agenda to further increase their independence by applying a label for OT, which they applied to the correct date and added a period #.  I found that students with transition issues were able to get so much more work accomplished than when they did not have a worksheet.