Student Planners - How Do Your Students Use Them?

[songsparrow]

I want to get my middle schoolers in the habit of using a planner to stay organized.  Before I buy one or print one up, though, I want to determine how we want to use it - what types of things we want to record, and thus what types of pages we want to include.  

 

My primary purpose in using the planner is to help them organize their homework.  At the beginning of the year, I plan to give them their homework broken down into daily assignments and have them record their assignments in their planner, and then over the course of the year gradually change to giving them bigger chunks of homework (e.g., by the week) and help them learn how to break it down into daily goals.  So, obviously we will need calendar pages with plenty of space to write in homework assignments / to do lists.

 

I'm thinking perhaps they should also get in the habit of recording appointments, like extracurricular activities and social plans.  Do your students only write down their activities, or do they also note family activities that will affect them (e.g., if they need to go to their sibling's extracurricular activity and wait)? 

 

Are there other things we should use the planner for?  How do your kids use their planners?  

[Arcadia]

My kids use something similar to the undated weekly page template on below link

http://www.meadonline.com/Students/Downloads.aspx

 

They write down their assigned task, personal interest tasks, outside activities (including sibling's that they tag along), wish lists and sometimes grocery lists.

[Momling]

I have my daughter write down the plan for the day in her planner.  I think it's helpful for her to stay organized and be ready for the day whether I'm around or not.

[coffeegal]

My kids each use a different student planner. My oldest uses a simple journal and writes down everything he wants to do each day. I believe he uses a page per day.

 

My second child prefers a simple chart: days of the week on top and subjects down the side.

 

My younger 2 use different versions of weekly planners.

 

On Fridays, I hand out all the papers and assignments for the next week and my children plan them. I walk my 4th child through the process, check the middle two, and don't worry about my oldest. This way we're ready to roll first thing Monday mornings. If we meet for tutoring or discussions, I expect the child to bring appropriate school materials and their planner. :001_smile:

 

Let's see, my oldest includes all activities and to-do's. My 2nd only includes school and chess practice. My 3rd just plans her schoolwork. My 4th enjoys using his for all activities as well as school.

 

HTH :D

[Pen]

My kids each use a different student planner. My oldest uses a simple journal and writes down everything he wants to do each day. I believe he uses a page per day.

 

My second child prefers a simple chart: days of the week on top and subjects down the side.

 

My younger 2 use different versions of weekly planners.

 

On Fridays, I hand out all the papers and assignments for the next week and my children plan them. I walk my 4th child through the process, check the middle two, and don't worry about my oldest. This way we're ready to roll first thing Monday mornings. If we meet for tutoring or discussions, I expect the child to bring appropriate school materials and their planner. :001_smile:

 

Let's see, my oldest includes all activities and to-do's. My 2nd only includes school and chess practice. My 3rd just plans her schoolwork. My 4th enjoys using his for all activities as well as school.

 

HTH :D

 

I'm also interested in this subject.

 

How did the decision for what planner each child uses get made?

 

How did you teach your oldest ones to use a planner in the first place? 

[Pen]

I have my daughter write down the plan for the day in her planner.  I think it's helpful for her to stay organized and be ready for the day whether I'm around or not.

 

Do you tell her what to write? Or does she figure that out? Or some combination of the two?

[AK_Mom4]

To start this year, we will continue using the planner the way we always have. Sunday afternoons, I sit down and write all of DD13's assignments for the week in her planner. I make sure all the required materials are available for labs, reading, etc. Each day, DD checks off what she has finished. If something didn't get done, we decide whether to drop it or move it into the next day.

 

By mid year, I want to transition the planner over to DD13 (she's 8th grade) and have her take on determining what needs to be done in each subject each day. I think this is a useful skill to have as she moves into high school work ne5 year.

 

We use cheaply planners from Walmart that have a week spread across two pages with lots of room to write assignments for each day. I like these because they have a rubber band bookmark attached to mark which week we are on. The brand is PlanAhead.

[coffeegal]

I'm also interested in this subject.

 

How did the decision for what planner each child uses get made?

 

How did you teach your oldest ones to use a planner in the first place? 

 

I allow each child to choose their own planner with the notion that therefore they will 'own' and use their planner. They told me their preference. My 4th child was the most interesting. Last summer he spent almost 30 minutes going through each and every student planner the store had before choosing. He loved it.

 

My memory is clearest with my 4th. We sat down every Friday and planned his week together. When does he want to do math? Read history? Initially I wrote everything in his planner. Then he writes everything in the planner under my direct supervision. Next he writes and I double check.

 

My 2nd also needed direct help. He initially listed the assignments down on Monday... then was overwhelmed by the huge list. I first walked him through dividing his subjects into bite sized pieces throughout the week. That helped, but didn't solve the problem. Next we sat down and talked about what time during the day he'd do math, and history, and literature, and.... Once he knew what time he needed to sit down to read history and what pages of history would be read, he was able complete his assignments. It looked like a character issue when in actuality he simply didn't know how to present himself a doable to-do list. I was so thankful I handled the issue as a skill problems rather than an obedience issue.

 

HTH :001_smile:

 

[Momling]

Do you tell her what to write? Or does she figure that out? Or some combination of the two?

Yep, I tell her the plan and she writes it down along with any after school activities or appointments or sometimes a forgotten chore.

[MicheleinMN]

I tried to get mine to give me input on what kind of planners they would each like.  Nobody cared.  Typical answer was, "Whatever one you want to buy, Mom.  It will be fine."  Okay, I went with the inexpensive ones from Milestone Books, http://www.milestonebooks.com/item/1-65680/?list=Teacher_Helps .   I tend to write out the assignments on Sunday, but would love to move the assignment day to Friday with a discussion and have the children fill in their planners.