As with attention and memory, good study skills are also critical traits of a successful student. However, students with disabilities and those at risk for failure in school often lack these skills and benefit from explicit instruction and practice (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2017). Personal organization skills, such as knowing about class times and schedules, using assignment notebooks and monthly planners, and organizing assignments using task analysis, are important for success in school and can be effectively taught to students with special needs.
Good listening skills are also extremely important. "Many students, however, especially younger elementary-age children and students with disabilities and attention deficit disorders, lack good listening skills" (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2017, p. 277). Because of this, they require direct instruction to acquire the skill. Begin by determining whether students have the requisite listening skills, whether an attention problem exists, if students understand the speaker, and whether students can recognize and select important points from lectures or presentations. Strategies to help students then become better listeners include setting the purpose for listening, modeling, use of topics that are interesting and fun, providing outlines to follow along, and asking questions before the lesson to name a few.

Students with special needs also benefit from explicit instruction in note-taking skills. According to Carter, Bishop, and Kravitis (2011), "note taking provides students with a greater depth of processing of information, and can be used to review information presented orally" (as cited by Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2017, p. 281). As students get older, this skill becomes more important. Teaching students ways to take notes, including being prepared, writing short summaries, abbreviations, using specific note-taking formats, teaching speed and accuracy techniques, teaching how to study using notes, and specific note-taking strategies such as strategic note-taking and apps for technology, help facilitate learning from lectures and presentations.

In your discussion board post, explore the following concepts:

Discuss the importance of teaching students to be independent learners and develop personal organizational skills.

Next, select a grade level you teach or will be teaching.

Envision a student who has difficulties with study skills, organization, listening and note-taking. This student could be real or imagined.

How can you help this student?