How to Double...No, Triple Your Locker Space

School lockers have traditionally been tall and narrow. Books find themselves stacked one on top of the other. The needed book is always the one on the bottom of the pile. Meanwhile, the upper two-thirds of the locker is nothing but wasted space. At best, the student uses the hooks at the top of the locker for a jacket during colder months.

I have always been a fan of locker dividers. A little taller than the height of a textbook when stood on end, the locker divider provides a shelf, a second flat surface upon which books can rest. The locker divider, in essence, doubles the amount of usable space in the locker.

Recently, I observed an ingenious idea. A middle school student was using two locker dividers. One was sitting on he floor of the locker. The other was turned upside down and was hanging from two coat hooks located at the top of the locker on each side. This student had tripled the usable amount of locker space.

Simple solutions are often the best solutions. In this case, it worked perfectly. Now why hadn't I thought of that when I was that age?

Every year, "get organized" is at the top of the list of New Year's resolutions. This trick is one small step that can make the second half of this school year easier each time the locker door opens.

Productivity is Not Just for Adults

Talking with elementary students after a workshop on student planners.

A child's to-do list
via Carissa GoodNCrazy

While we see examples of successful adults who did not experience much success in their formative years, those stories are the exception rather than the rule. Even then, success did not come because of the mistakes made early on, but in spite of them. Success in one's youth opens doors and puts a young person in a position for later success.

Teachers will tell you they see their share of students who have more than enough ability, yet poor organization holds them back. At the same time, many other students of lesser ability make school look easy. Organization is a gift we can give young people that will benefit them long after their school days are behind them. In fact, how many times do we hear adults talk about being thankful for good habits, instilled early, which pay dividends now. 

Writing things down, and having one place to record them, is the single most important step for a person to get organized. When it's all written down in one place, it's easy to decide what needs to be done next, regardless of your age. The excuse of, "I forgot" becomes a thing of the past. Prioritizing becomes easy, planning becomes easy, goals start to be accomplished, productivity goes up, and stress goes down.

It Starts in Elementary School

As a former elementary principal, providing students with a planner (starting in first grade) was a priority. That single notebook was the one-stop-shop for students to record homework, tests, school events, and happenings outside of school. It also served as the perfect place for writing communication from school to home. Parents only have to look one place to see everything.

Does your child's school use student planners? If not, purchase your own in the school supply section of most any store. Encourage its daily use and take a moment to look at it each day. That one tool, used consistently, makes a huge difference. 

The to-do list from a younger child.
via tumblrisforlulz

Too Cool for High School?

The high school years bring a flurry of activity. For a planner to work, it has to be with the person, and teenagers often don't want the bulk of a notebook-sized planner. Day-Timer and Franklin-Covey manufacture excellent spiral-bound pocket-sized planners that fit in a back pocket or purse.The best style is one which features two pages per day. The left-hand page features a spot for appointments and a section for to-dos planned for that day. The right-hand page provides a place to record anything which comes up during the day: homework, announcement of long-term projects such as term papers, or pertinent items from the daily public address announcement.

After school, the student has one responsibility: handle what is written on those two facing pages. Do what is in the "to-do" section on the left-hand page. Clarify what has been written on right-hand page. If the teacher announces a term paper will be due two months from next Wednesday, the student quickly jots that announcement on the right-hand page. That evening, the student breaks down that big project into its components and puts dates and to-dos on the appropriate pages.

Smartphones are Way Cool

For those of you who don't read "5-year-old," the list reads:
"Find a Bad Guy" and "Be Wolverine."
via imgur for werewolf

Not only are they cool, but smartphones serve as fantastic organizational tools. Mobile phones have become ubiquitous, and sales of smartphones now outnumber those of other cell phones. A smartphone does not magically make one organized, but it makes organization easier, allows for far more detail about any responsibility, and makes retrieval a breeze. I keep my calendar on Google Calendar, store a very-complete contacts set on Google Contacts, house a wealth of reference information in Evernote, and keep up with every single to-do for now or the future in Toodledo.

The great thing is that every one of these items synchronizes across devices. A student can add to or retrieve information from these sources from a smartphone, tablet, or any computer that has Internet access.

I wrote about Toodledo in a six-part series on my blog beginning with this post. Having been an Outlook user for 10 years, Toodledo gives me all of the power I enjoyed in Outlook, and will handle the workload of the busiest executive. Yet,it is simple enough a student can use it. Toodledo offers two types of accounts. I use the free option, and feel that will suit the needs of most people.

We want students to acquire skills which are relevant for later life. Organization is one of them, and it's an amazingly simple one to acquire.

"Planning is bringing the future into the present
so you can do something about it now."

                                                       --Alan Lakein

Organization Starts Early

Foyer at Raymond L. Young

Good organization pays off at any age. It starts with developing the habit of writing down the things you have to do, and having one tool that holds everything you write. That was the message delivered to 4th, 5th, and 6th graders at Raymond L. Young Elementary School. Like many schools, the students have planners supplied by the school. Unlike many schools, the faculty realizes the importance of devoting time to how to use them effectively.

A packet of letters arrived in my mailbox, and here are some of the things students had to say:

• You gave me a lot of information and inspiration to make my life and my parent's lives a lot more organized.
• When I got home Friday, I got organized ASAP!
• I never thought you could stay so organized when you have so much to remember.
• My favorite part was when you told us we could write non-school things in our planner.
• I used to put school stuff in my planner. Now I put birthdays, holidays, when we're out of school, and lots of other stuff in there.
• Finally I cleaned up my room and closet and that's very unlike me. I also cleaned out my drawers and found out that's why I couldn't find my clothes.
• I'm writing down everything I need to know. I'm forgetting less now so that's a good sign. Life is certainly easier!
• School is a lot easier when you are organized.

A thank-you gift

"In the First Place"...Tricks to Help You Remember

It is often said that necessity is the mother of invention. A challenge sits before us, and none of the tools in our bags of tricks seems adequate to handle the job. That was certainly the situation for me in one particular college class many years ago. Meeting that challenge changed the way I approached studying for every test ever since.

The class was called "School and Society," basically a history of education. The professor was exceptional. The class was extremely interesting. It was also extremely intense. But one thing was odd. Class meeting after class meeting came and went with no mention of a test.

Finally, the day came when a test was announced, a test which would consist of one question. When the professor gave examples of questions from past tests, it was obvious that a general knowledge of the material would not be enough. To be prepared, I would need to be able to recite all of my notes from memory from beginning to end or from any starting point in the middle. I counted the pages. There were 57 of them, and the information was pretty detailed. While I had always been good at memorization, nothing had prepared me for this. I needed a new approach.

As luck would have it, I ran across a little paperback entitled The Memory Book. The first page of chapter one was designed to begin a discussion of memory systems throughout the ages. It took only one page to give me what I needed to approach not only this test, but every single exam I faced through every collegiate program thereafter.

Authors Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas talked about a technique used by the ancient Romans and Greeks when they delivered long speeches from memory. The orator prepared the speech by associating each part of it with a place in his home. The first point would be associated with the front door, the next point with the foyer, etc. As the orator delivered the speech, he would take a "mental trip" through his house, talking about each room as he came to it. This technique was called "loci," or "places." It is from this early memory technique that the expression "in the first place" originated.

I read no further. Starting at the beginning of the 57 pages, I began associating each major topic with a room. I visualized certain people in each room, people discussed at that point in my notes. I mentally placed pictures and posters on the walls, each reminding me of details about that topic.

As it turned out, I needed more than the rooms in my house. I included the music building and the church I attended at that time. But when all was said and done, I could literally recite the entire 57 pages as I mentally walked through each room in my house, the music building, and the church. Now I was ready!

The one-question test required me to discuss the history of American education from its beginnings to the point where our class discussions had stopped. That material turned out to be the final 10 pages of my notes. I was able to supply every detail about those 10 pages.

I made an "A," but more importantly, I had a technique that would serve me well through four graduate programs and all of the exams and "comps" that would accompany them. After learning about "places," the lowest I made in any class was an "A."

I have thought a great deal about The Memory Book since that experience 30 years ago. I was delighted to have found something so simple that made such a huge difference. Maybe it could make a difference for you as well.

Mnemonic Devices

Mnemonic devices are artificial memory aids. They can be great time savers for students attempted to commit their notes to memory. Here is a site which provides mnemonic devices in a number of categories:

http://www.eudesign.com/mnems/_mnframe.htm

I would be interested in any feedback that you have after looking at the site.

Macomb Intermediate School District

Thanks to everyone who attended today's workshop "5 Habits to Help Students Get Their Act Together."

To download the digital version of the handout, complete with clickable links, go to my website and click the Free Resources link. You will see the handout at the top of the right hand column. This link will also download the handout. Remember to use the password we gave you during the workshop.

If you are interested in adding to your iGoogle page some of the same gadgets I have on mine, here is an easy way to get them. As you click each link, you will be taken to a page that describes the gadget and let's you click a button to automatically add it to your iGoogle page.

Google Bookmarks
Google Reader
Yahoo News
Twitter
Facebook 
Dropbox
Bit.ly URL Shortener
Weather
CNN.com
CNN Technology
reQall
People.com
ESPN.com
MapQuest Driving Directions
Area/Zip Code Lookup
Music
YouTube
Document to PDF
Movies
GoogleDocs
GoogleCalendar
Google Map Search
Portfolio Monitor
Calculator
Stopwatch
Flight Status
Wolfram/Alpha

Want to set up a Dropbox account? Here is an easy way for you to set up an account and get an extra 250MB of free storage for both you and me. Click here to sign up.

We mentioned briefly about students being able to take tests on the computer which are instantly graded and item analysis conducted. Here is a post that goes into more depth on that concept.

If you are a first-time visitor at this blog, you will find 6 years of posts here designed to help you organize your life (with technology being a big part of it) and have more fun along the journey.


The right-hand column of this blog gives you the opportunity to subscribe, so that with every time there is a new post, you get the information in your e-mail. You can also sign-up for a free monthly e-mail newsletter, examine free resources on the website, or follow me on Twitter.

What did you think about today's experience? I would love to hear your comments!

Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers are great instructional tools. There is an old adage that "a picture is worth a thousand words." Graphic organizers provide that picture. Write Design Online provides examples of many varieties of graphic organizers. the site is well worth viewing.

Who Can Help? The Art of Delegation

Some teachers are masters of delegation. Simple classroom jobs are delegated to students. These teachers realize two important concepts:

A teacher cannot do it all. Delegating those things which a student can do and do well leave more time for the teacher to do those things which require his/her expertise.

Allowing students to help with running the classroom gives them a "stake in the program," gives them a sense of ownership, and builds responsibility.

In Organization Made Easy!, the chapter entitled "Focused or Fragmented" examines this concept. Read about how two elementary teachers structured systems giving every student responsibility. Read tips on how something similar could be used in secondary schools.

Organzing Your Students

Organization is a gift that wise teachers give their students, and it is a gift that is useful long after the goodbyes are said in May. In Organization Made Easy!, we devote an entire chapter to organizing students.

One of the central topics is the use of student planners. While some schools have adopted and then left the idea, we explore the subject in enough depth and emphasize the follow-up that is needed from teachers to make the tool work.

We also look at habits and techniques that increase productivity and decrease stress for students:

• Writing it down
• Breaking goals into little parts
• Getting the book bag empty daily
• Learning to deal with papers
• Getting everything ready the night before
• Organizing the locker
• Using the "one-binder" method

Cramberry--Site for Online Flash Cards

I am impressed with Cramberry, a free online source for flash cards. You create a free account. From there you can either create your own deck of flash cards or browse decks that others have created. When you find one you like, you simply "add to your set."

The thing I like about this site is that there is no multiple choice involved. You are presented with the question and have to come up with the answer out of your head. When you click the mouse, you see the correct answer and rate yourself as being correct or incorrect. Incorrect answers cause that question to be recycled so that you get another chance at it later.

This one is definitely worth a look.

Organizing Your Locker (Part II)

Here is a very good YouTube video which talks about locker organization:

Organizing Your Locker

Whenever we talk about transition from elementary to middle school, the topic is never complete without a discussion of the locker. A well-organized locker makes the middle school experience more pleasurable. For a discussion on this topic, I invite you to read the thought of Kerry Palmer, middle school principal at Trinity Presbyterian School (Montgomery, AL)as he talks about "Organizing Your Child's Spaces."

Managing School the Easy Way (Part V) Get Everything Ready the Night Before

Forgotten items, missed school buses, and frazzled nerves can so often be traced back to one simple problem—assuming Rome can be built between the time the alarm clock goes off and the school bus pulls up. Morning is a terrible time to do that last bit of homework, finish that poster, or get those papers signed. Without fail, that book we just knew was on the coffee table is nowhere to be found and it’s already time to pull out of the driveway. Get it all ready the night before and mornings become more peaceful.

Students can make the decision on what they will wear the next day and have it already laid out. They can pack the book bag before going to bed. They can gather anything else going to school and place it beside the book bag. In the morning, leaving the house is a simple matter of grabbing the book bag and whatever is around it, and heading out the door.
Therefore, the fifth step towards managing school the easy way is to get everything ready the night before.

I hope you have enjoyed this “Managing School the Easy Way” series. A little organization can go a long way towards making school (and life) more stress-free and enjoyable!

Managing School the Easy Way (Part IV) Learn to Deal With Papers

So much of the information exchanged between the home and the school happen through written communication. Report cards, weekly folders, notes from teachers, field trip permission forms, and newsletters are examples of information which comes via paper. Some students seem to have no problem getting papers home and back on time. Other students never seem to be able to get anything home. Papers get wadded up in pockets, stuck inside textbooks or notebooks, or placed inside desks. By the time the student gets home, where to find that paper is anybody’s guess (assuming she remembers she had a paper to delivery at all)! Having a simple plan puts an end to a great deal of unnecessary stress.

Students need a place at school to put the papers for Mom or Dad and put them there every time. Some classes may have a special folder which goes home each night. If not, sliding the papers in the planner right at this week’s page will work. When the student opens the planner at home, he is looking right at the papers, an instant reminder that they need to be handed off to Mom or Dad.

Students need a spot at home where papers for Mom or Dad will go. The last thing a parent needs when getting home from a busy day at work is to have a fistful of papers shoved at him. Nor does she need to go on a safari through the home looking for papers which may have been scattered in the most unlikely of places. Conducting an excavation inside a book bag is no fun either. Children don’t have it any easier. They don’t always know when parents are ready to focus on papers from school. Having one spot to put everything for Mom or Dad’s review at their convenience makes life easier for all concerned.

Therefore, the fourth step towards managing school the easy way is to learn to deal with papers

Managing School the Easy Way (Part III) Empty the Bookbag Every Night

For some students, the book bag is a big black hole into which papers go and are never seen again. When the student finally cleans out the book bag in May, one can only imagine what lurks at the bottom. That permission slip he never could find, the homework paper she was sure she did, and that half-eaten banana are among the treasures awaiting you at the bottom of the bag.

When you get home, empty your book bag totally. After all, everything in there is something you thought you would need when you got home. Put it in a pile and start working through it. If you brought home the math book in order to do your math assignment, go ahead and get the assignment knocked out. The math book can then go back in the bag. If you have papers for your parents, go ahead and move those papers to a spot you and your parents agree is a good place for papers which need their attention. We will talk more about this point next time.

The problem so many students face is that they put things in the bookbag which do not necessarily need to be taken home. They load the book bag down with every book in their desks whether they need them at home or not. Emptying the book bag and then handling every item in the pile quickly identifies anything which has gotten a free ride home.

Therefore, the third step towards managing school the easy way is to empty the book bag totally every night.

Managing School the Easy Way (Part II) Break Big Projects Down into Little Parts.

As adults, we remember fondly the English teacher who assigned the term paper (due 2 months hence), and then said, “I want you to turn in your topic this Friday, and outline the next Friday, a dozen note cards the next Friday...” That teacher knew that left to our own devices, we would put off the seemingly overwhelming task until the last minute and then throw something together. She made us break the big job into manageable parts. What are the big projects for our students? Perhaps making the Accelerated Reader “100 Club,” earning the badge in scouting, or making a sports team are a student’s goals. For each one, there is a very next step. When the little steps are defined and handled, the big projects fall into place.

A student planner is the perfect tool for project planning. Begin by turning to the date the big project is due. Put that due date in the planner. Now start working backwards from that date. Assign a date for each step along the way and write in the appropriate square in the planner. Before you know it, you will have working your way to the beginning of the project and have deadline for taking that first step. As the old saying goes, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Therefore, the second step towards managing school the easy way is to break big projects down into little parts.

Managing School the Easy Way (Part 1)

A number of years ago, I composed an article for a parent newsletter entitled "Managing School the Easy Way" when I was serving as principal at Graham Elementary School. Two years ago, I broke that article down into 5 relatively short posts. Over the next two weeks, I will be re-posting those hints for getting the school year off to a good start and keeping it going.

Managing School the Easy Way (Part I)

Experienced teachers will tell us that school success and intelligence do not always go hand-in-hand. Often, very bright young people don’t remember to do assignments, lose their work, and spend inordinate amounts of time frantically looking for things on a messy desk.

At the same time, other students breeze through school. They seem to make school look easy, but not because they are necessarily smarter than their peers. They have acquired some very easy, very teachable habits. Over the next several weeks, I will share some suggestions which make navigating school much easier.

The first of these tips is to write down the things you have to do as soon as they occur to you. Try to simply remember everything you have to do and you are headed for trouble. Even young people today have many activities on which you must focus your attention—homework, athletic practices, family activities, and chores are just some of the obligations you have. The easy thing to do is let pencil and paper do the remembering. 

Get it on paper and you can get it off your mind! A student planner is the perfect tool for this purpose. The big advantage of using such a book is that all commitments are in one place.

The planner should not just be for school assignments. It can and should be the one place which traps every responsibility you have. As you list athletic games and practices, after-school activities, school projects as well as day-to-day assignments, you begin to see the big picture and can begin to budget your time.

Therefore, the first step towards managing school the easy way is to write down things you have to do as soon as they occur to you.

Google 411

Every time I present a workshop, I wind up learning something new. The day I spent at the Jacksonville State University Regional Inservice Center was no exception. Google 411 is a free alternative to the regular 411 we are used to. In addition, it offers more features.

Check out this demo of how it works:



Add the phone number to you contact list in you cell phone: 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411)
You are ready to start using this free service.

Back to School!

School is starting and students are looking forward to the perfect school year. Notebooks are brand new. Bookbags are neatly organized. All is looking good for the first day of school. For all too many students, the opening-day euphoria is gone after just a few days as bookbags become large black holes and frustration replaces the first-day enthusiasm.

About this time a year ago, I composed a five-set post entitled "Managing School the Easy Way." Now is probably a good time to review that set:

Write it down

Break big projects down into little parts

Empty the bookbag totally every night

Learn to deal with papers

Get everything ready the night before

School need not be an ordeal. Half of school success (and maybe a while lot more) boils down to organization. Welcome back to school!

Charging Lunch (and the Teachable Moment)

This morning I was reviewing a blog I maintained for my teachers during my final year as a principal. Just as I had suspected, I found a few gems that I want to share with teachers throughout our school system via a blog we have for that purpose. Here is one that I think speaks to students everywhere:

We are likely to have a Board policy which will limit the number of days a student may "charge" lunch for only one day. This really should not pose any student or family a problem, although we know that "should" and "do" are often two different things. Just as you and I put gas in the car when the needle approached empty rather when the tank is bone dry, the prudent thing for a family to do is regularly add money to the lunch account when it begins to get low. That way, if something happens and the plan doesn't go exactly as expected, they have a buffer of a few days before their child reaches a zero balance.

I realize this concept would not occur to some folks. After all, I am one who believes that the time to add "toothpaste" to the grocery list is when you pull the last unused one from under the counter, not when I realize I can't squeeze any more out of the very last tube in the house. That way, getting toothpaste never becomes a crisis. Buying toothpaste sometime within the next month will do instead of having to go to the store before I can brush my teeth again.

We can help students avoid the situation of having to charge lunches by doing two easy things:

1) Use analogies such as what I have listed above.

2) Stress to students that when they realize they are out of money, get that thought on paper ASAP. The student planner is the tool for that. Writing it down works. Trying to remember everything does not.

We need to teach students to handle routines rather than hop from crisis to crisis. Very few of us had anybody teach us these kinds of things as children, and as we grown up in the world that has become increasingly complex, far too many adults are eaten alive by the little details that tugs at their lives day after day. What do we think the world will be like for the children in our classrooms now? Less complex? Not a chance! We have the opportunity to do teach them the basic organizational skills that will spell major differences in what they are able to accomplish and their ability to avoid the plague of stress years down the road.