AgendaWorks Planners

Forging Better Lives, One Day At A Time.

Posts Tagged student planners

Element 3 – TO DO List

May 14

Posted by admin in Planner Elements | No Comments

Element 3 – TO-DO list
What’s the point of a To-Do list and why should a student planner or student agenda have one?

First – what busy adult doesn’t have a to-do list to keep track of stuff that needs to get done?  Sure there are some people that can function without any list at all, but none that I know.  Why do we think that a) students don’t need the same thing, and b) that we shouldn’t start teaching them to use a list when they are in school?

Second – there are some specific things that the list needs to be used for.  The AgenDuh includes 3 “memory joggers.”  These serve as permanent reminders to students about what needs to be on that list.  Namely they need to take daily action on upcoming tests and long-term projects.

Our Project Planning Templates included in each AgenDuh planner teaches students how to breakdown a project into manageable steps and accomplish the project by taking scheduled actions toward completion.  The TO DO section of the planner has a place to capture those steps in advance.  Students then find a place in the 15 hour schedule to get that particular action item done.

I can already hear the objections… “Come on, kids aren’t going to do that!”  Okay, so that means we don’t give them the tools or exposure on how to do it?  That makes no sense.  Will they do it on day 1?  Probably not, but over time, the tools are there in the planner and the opportunity is there…eventually, many of them will try it and once they do…they will forever know how to do it.

We also include a reminder about Chores and Errands – I don’t know about your parenting style but the war rages in our household about being a part of the team and learning to take responsibility for certain duties that were previously agreed to.  Parents love the fact that the school planner takes this little slice of the real world and incorporates it into a daily planning tool.  We are bridging the school world with the home world and that builds good will between both parties.

The entire TO-DO section of the AgenDuh Study Skills planner has been designed with an end in mind and it’s been successful in helping students become better organized for over 13 years.

Next time…self-assessment.

Tags: ,

Student Planners and Study Skills

May 14

Posted by admin in Planner Elements | No Comments

I can’t keep quite any longer.   I may be yelling into the void of cyberspace but at least I feel better when I’m done.

I’ve been watching the education business since I first started working at a local Sylvan Learning Franchise back in the early 90’s.  I’ve watched in amazement here in Texas how TEKS and the measuring stick TAKS test were implemented with the best of intention only to dump an inappropriate burden on both the schools and many of the students that just don’t test well (I was one of those kids).

What I didn’t have and what all student’s deserve is access to solid study skills.  If you check the Research page of our website, you will see that of the 5 skills that impact course achievement in college, only Organization and Planning skills and Study Skills are subject areas that can actually be taught in school.  This means that of all the things educators can do to help students be successful it’s teaching them organization and planning and study skills.

In most cases, that job is left up to individual teachers to do as part of their instructional duties.  Teachers are more than capable of doing this but what if they don’t?  What better way to impact the entire school than to roll out a campus wide, common study skills solution that gives lift to every student at the same time?   This gives the school the power to actually measure the results and determine if the solution is working or not.

Learning Study Skills is more than a one time event, these skills are developed over time and reinforced by repeative use.  In other words, they are learned through practice.  The AgenDUH by AgendaWorks and Study Smarts is the most effective, inexpensive and effective way to start building study skills in a school.

More to come on how the AgenDUH does this.

Tags: , , ,