System of Organization, but....

"Take out your agendas!"


I used to cringe when we would discuss requiring every student to fill out their agenda in a "cookie cutter" fashion.  Some teachers proposed that we initial everyone's agenda each day to ensure they wrote the assignment or lesson in their agenda.  This always seemed odd to me.  First off, it seemed to be a waste of five minutes of class time.  Secondly, and most importantly, we had a LOT of students that were doing really good in class and turning everything in on time, yet we continued to make them do this.  What if they have a different system of organization?  As a student, I would not have liked being required to do this, because it is not how I would have organized my work.  Some students use their cell phone, some have a folder system, some use their notebook, others just remember.  I believe strongly that students should be able to use whatever system of organization works best for them.  With this being said, there are many students that are not ORGANIZED or RESPONSIBLE.  They need a system.  Rather than pick the system for them, and put them in an awkward position of "you will do it because I said so", we should have days in which students showcase their systems of "organization".  If other students saw how their classmates were staying organized, they may pick up ideas that would help them. This is "visible thinking".  If a student continues to have missing work or is being irresponsible, meet with them and let them have some autonomy on choosing a method they would like to use.  Check back with them in a couple weeks to see how it is going.  It may not always work, but by "making them" do something against their will, you are not instilling anything in them and you are making them hate your classroom.

Just my 2-cents.

Oliver Schinkten
oliver.schinkten@oshkosh.k12.wi.us
Twitter:  @schink10