When I used to teach seminars to homeschoolers, I noticed that year after year the students who were organized—who could pull a composition from their back packs rather than digging though a pile of crumpled papers, who were never surprised by a test I had announced the previous week, who kept vocabulary words on notecards—were always several steps ahead of their fellow classmates. They were players in the game whereas their disorganized counterparts always seemed more like spectators.
In That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week: Helping Disorganized and Distracted Boys Succeed in School and Life, Ana Homayoun gives readers many fine suggestions for helping boys get their acts together in the classroom and in the world at large. (The book would work for girls as well, but Ms. Homayoun recognizes, as do most teachers, that boys tend to be more disorganized than girls.) If you think your daughter or son needs help with organization, then this is the book for you.
Meanwhile, you’ll find below several tips of my own for students about organization.
For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned. Benjamin Franklin
Meanwhile, you’ll find below several tips of my own for students about organization.
- Keep a calendar of your school assignments. When the teacher makes an assignment, write it down on the calendar. If the teacher uses a syllabus, as I did, then be sure to mark changes on the syllabus. Don’t be caught off-guard.
- Clean out your backpack weekly. Throw away that half-eaten ham sandwich, the chewing gum wrappers, the empty water bottles. Carry only the books, notebooks, pencils, and other equipment you need.
- Keep your papers and any other work that the teacher plans to read in sterling condition. Stains, dog-eared corners, and crumpled papers automatically cause the teacher to judge your paper unfavorably before reading the first word. That judgment may seem unfair to you, but that’s human nature at work. I can guarantee you the teacher will be disappointed.
- Bring your tools to class. A carpenter doesn’t leave home for work without his toolbox. You’re a student. To arrive in class without paper, pencils, pens, and so on tells the teacher you are not serious about your work, especially when week after week you have to borrow paper and a pencil from your classmates.
- Make writing legible notes to yourself a priority. Some of us—and I definitely include myself—have poor handwriting. Sometimes I have written reminders to myself, only to review them and find that either my handwriting is unreadable or that I am baffled as to the meaning of the cryptic note. (An example: on my desk is a sticky note with the words “Julia Steicowitz.” Who is Julia Steicowitz and why did I write her name? No idea.) Write so that you can read what you’ve written.
- Organize your home study life. As a homeschooler, especially for those in high school, you probably have a voice in planning your school day. Here are a few tips for you. Start school at the same time every day. Lay out a program of study and stick to it. There will be interruptions, but as much as possible, follow a study schedule. Try to find a quiet place and focus on the subject at hand.
- Store your books and other educational materials in the same place after each study session. Long ago, when I was homeschooling my daughter, we often spent valuable minutes looking for a spelling primer or her Saxon math book. It finally occurred to me—I am a slow learner—to purchase a plastic bin for school supplies storage. We put the books and supplies in the bin when we finished school for the day and so got off to a fast start the next morning.
- If you are taking a class or seminar outside of your home, pack up your books and materials the night before the class. That way, you are ready to go. Take inventory as you pack. Do you have writing implements? Paper? Notebooks? Snacks? Gum?
- Look sharp, be sharp. Imagine you’ve gone to a bank to open an account. You meet with a young man wearing ragged jeans, a Grateful Dead t-shirt, and a red bandana. He has his feet up propped on the desk, gives you a fist bump instead of a handshake, and says, “Hey, dude, how can I help you?” Not too impressive. Dress as if you look organized, as if you have a handle on school and life. It’s the old philosophy of “fake it till you make it.
- Organize your time. See number 6. I’m repeating this admonition here. Follow a schedule. Make procrastination your enemy. DON’T put off that paper that is due in two weeks until the night before class. Bring that willpower into play and get in the game.
For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned. Benjamin Franklin