Last fall, I was fortunate and honored to spend a few afternoons with kids and teachers at a local high school assisting some freshman with their Togetherness skills. While I plan to write about a few different methods each kiddo chose to assist with their planning and organization, the kiddos themselves had some ideas of what their teachers can do to support Togetherness. The good news is all of these ideas are pretty easy to implement, cost little to nothing, and are amazingly helpful when a grade level or department agrees in advance to implement.
- Visual calendars posted in classrooms. Kids loved seeing a full month in Ms. Crowe’s math classroom. They said the reminders of assessments and assignments down the road helped them plan ahead.
- Consistency between learning platforms. Students prefer when teachers use various learning platforms in similar ways. They report it gets challenging when they have multiple places to look for assignments, due dates, and class materials. Bonus points if the grading system lives in the same place!
- Clear naming conventions on documents. This one surprised me, but learners love when teachers, like Taylor Wright, have clear naming conventions within documents. Mr. Wright says his Google Classroom assignment naming convention has3 parts: a number; a label for an assessment; and a title for the topic. Students said it made it easier for them to locate items when completing homework, catch up when they were absent, etc.
- Syllabi are helpful. This came up when I wrote the chapter in The Together Teacher on student organization (great examples in the book!), so no surprise that it came up again here. Students especially loved when teachers had suggested pacing to complete readings, and suggestions on how to map out longer-term assignments.
- Pause at end of class. This one is so easy, and so genius. The students said, “If all teachers can pause at the end of class and say, For the next 30 seconds, please write down your homework in whatever space you do this.” They said to make sure you have time to write it down.
Secondary teachers, sound off! What other easy and quick things do you do to help students stay organized
