The PBIS World Book

Visual Schedules

Why should I do it:

  • Provides students with organization and structure
  • Increases on task behavior
  • Improves productivity
  • Increases students’ independence and responsibility
  • Teaches students to use time more efficiently
  • Helps visual learners

When should I do it:

  • With students who have ADD/ADHD
  • With students on the autism spectrum
  • With students who are disorganized
  • With students that have trouble managing time and assignment completion
  • When students are wandering, off task, or lagging behind the rest of the class
  • When students exhibit poor executive and decision making skills
  • When students have trouble with unstructured time
  • When students have difficulty with transitions

How do I do it:

  • Visual schedules can vary a great deal and may be more or less complex
  • Use pictures, images, and graphics to represent periods of the day, subjects, tasks, transitions, etc.
  • Order these visual elements on a paper, board, etc,
  • You may write descriptions below or beside each image
  • The schedule may be placed in a central location for the entire class, or for individual schedules, on the student’s desk
  • Some schedules may have movable images and graphic or visual elements that can be moved from a “to do” side to a “done” side
  • Other schedules may be more static without moving visual elements, but instead be laminated so a dry erase marker can be used on them to check each task or period off, or a page that is copied with a new schedule to write on each day
  • The examples below will provide additional explanation and examples

Resources & Support for technique: