Teacher
Guide to Following Written Directions
As a kid, people are always giving you directions. Teachers want you to follow their directions in school and at home parents direct you to finish your chores, homework, or eat your dinner. Sometimes the directions you are supposed to follow are written down.
Sometimes you are told to do something and this means the directions are verbal. And sometimes you will need to pay attention to signs or signals that are being given and this means the directions that you will be following are visual.
Whatever directions you are supposed to be following, one thing will always be the same. Teachers, parents and other people giving the directions will be upset if you don't follow them. If you can't follow directions there will be lots of parent-teacher conferences in your life that end up with you being grounded or having to do extra work. Let us help you learn how to follow directions by giving you a few tips on written directions.
Tips for Following Written Directions
Written directions are the easiest to follow. For one thing, the directions are written down and you can check them several times to make sure you did all of them. You don't have to remember anything, all the directions are right there on the paper.
Tip #1: Put your name on it.
This should be the first thing you do whenever you are given a work paper
to do. It is the first thing you do if you take out any piece of paper.
Put your name on it. If you write your name on the paper as soon as you
have it in your hands it will become a habit. Turning a paper in without
your name on it is probably the number one complaint on following directions.
Why would you want to do all that work and not get a grade on it? So commit
this one to memory. Paper, name. Paper, name.
Tip #2: Read all the directions on the paper before you start the work.
Then read them again and use your pencil to number each step if the steps
aren't numbered already. An example of this would be a sentence at the top
of the math paper that directs you to: Arrange the following numbers in
order of smallest to largest. Then add the numbers together and circle the
answer.
It is important to break the above directions into each part so you can make sure you finish that part before doing the next step. Use your pencil to mark a 1 beside, "Arrange the following numbers in order of smallest to largest." Now mark a 2 beside "Then add the numbers together." And put a 3 beside, "Circle the answer."
Now you are ready to do the work. In the example I gave you this means you would arrange the numbers in order from smallest to largest. Once you did this you would draw a line through the number 1 you put in front of the direction. You know the next step, you numbered it with a 2. When you finish it you draw a line through the 2 and move to the next step. By following this tip you will make sure you do each and every step that is given in written directions.
Tip #3: The final tip on how to follow written directions is to start
at the beginning.
Don't skip ahead or you might forget to go back. Follow the directions in
the order they are written on the paper.