Download - Organization Tips and Tricks for Secondary Students

Beth Poss, Assistive and Educational Technology [email protected]

Beth Poss 1/8/09 [email protected]

Organization is the process of

developing a plan for one’s space, one’s materials, one’s assignments, one’s time and a whole range of activities that benefit from a systematic approach to task completion. The goal for organization is to eliminate tardiness, forgetfulness, lack of preparedness and procrastination.


My student does not know where to start with studying or with an assignment

My student has great ideas, but can never seem to get them on paper

My student never has the materials she needs from school to do her homework

My student never remembers that work needs to be done until the last minute

My student sits forever doing work, but never seems to get anything done


Know what kind of learner they are A workspace with needed materials Organized notebooks Time management strategies Pre-planned breaks Set Goals and rewards Reading for a purpose Pre-writing/planning strategies Use of graphic organizers Editing strategies


Visual Auditory Kinesthetic Combo

Strengths and Weakness Handwriting Artistic Memory Spelling Reading Attention


Create a space for materials and resources One central location, close to where work is

done Provide all materials you can think of that

might be needed▪ Pencils, erasers, pens, colored pencils, markers▪ Ruler, protractor, compass, calculator▪ Lined paper, unlined paper, graph paper▪ Post It notes of various sizes, index cards▪ Stapler, paper clips, glue, glue stick, tape, scissors▪ Dictionary, thesaurus, style guide, subject specific

referencesBeth Poss 1/8/09 [email protected]

Decide on 1 large binder, or subject specific binders Personal choice/teacher directed

Color code binders, composition books and folders based on subjects


Where to startNotesOutlineGraphic Organizers


Guided NotesPodcastingHighlightingRewriting notes


Creating Guided Notes

First create your content. This can be done in PowerPoint or in MS Word.

o When using PowerPoint, use slide layouts and be sure your text is typed into text boxes. When you have finished creating your presentation, go to File → Send to → Microsoft Office Word → Outline Only. You will want to check and edit the formatting.


Once your instructional content is in MS Word, you can create leveled notes:

o Full version of notes: Be sure to save the full version of your notes. Some students may need this type of accommodation.

o Highly supported notes: Go to File → Save as → and rename your file. Then strategically replace key words in your document with some fill-in-the blank underlines. This provides a high level of scaffolding. (Limit the number of fill-in-the blanks at this level.)

o Moderately supported notes: Go to File → Save as → and rename your file again. Then strategically replace more key words and phrases in your document with fill-in-the blank underlines. This provides a moderate level of scaffolding.

o Outlined notes: Go to File → Save as → and rename your file again. Eliminate most of the text so that you have just the major headings. Outlines are best used with students who have learned how to summarize key constructs.


Students with writing difficulties typically spend less than one minute planning (Englert et al, 1988), and

less than 6 minutes writing (Thomas et al,1987).


Post It/Sticky NotesPlanners Idea notebooksFlash CardsHighlighter tapeHighlighter pensDry Erase BoardsTimers


Post It Note Organizers Easily moveable Use different sizes for different tasks Use color coding for different parts


A way to help students plan and organize their ideas in advance of writing

Using this strategy, students are encouraged to write a key phrase or sentence starter on a mini sticky note (one idea per sticky note).

Once sufficient ideas have been generated (topic introductions, details, closing statements, etc.), the sticky notes are arranged in order on a piece of paper.

Students then use the sticky note outline to write their paragraph(s).


Main Idea

Support Support

Conclusion


Read for a purpose Looking for specific language Evidence to support an idea Examples of character traits Plot sequence Facts or data to find

Use Post It flags to indicate where something important that could be used as text support in written work—leave the flag hanging out of the book to mark the spot.

Saves searching for text evidence when it is time to write


InspirationWord Tools (Smart Art, Flow Charts,

color models, etc)Bubbl.us


Character’s


Planning Bulleted ideas don’t need complete sentences

Drafting Use colors/highlighting

Writing Just get it down

Read Aloud Text to speech supports

Editing Copy/cut/paste Track changes

Final Add graphics, cool fonts, other fun stuff as a reward


Auto summarizeRight Click

▪ Look up▪ Synonyms

Find/replaceSpell Check


Color code words to be changed/fixed

Find toolTrack ChangesThesaurus and Dictionary ToolsSpell Check Editing Tom Sawyer essay


Cell Phones Calendars Set reminders/alarms

iPods Calendar Audio books

Remember the Milk.com iGoogle, Google Calendar Digital Timers on the Computer Email/IM
