I know, it sounds like an oxymoron. And it kind of is, but I’m always looking for ways to help my students be organized enough to get the work they actually do handed in so they may receive credit for having done it. We do almost all of our work in class. I rarely (okay less than rarely, almost never) assign homework. Does that make me a not-so-rigorous teacher? Maybe. But what I have learned in these last twenty years is that less than half of my students will ever manage to do the homework I assign. So it becomes one more thing that drags their grade down in my class.
I have come to the realization that seventh grade is such a transition year, from childhood to adolescence. It is an important piece of their future success and, I believe, is the year for them to learn strategies for school success that will take them forward through to high school and college. Hence, my focus on organization, because they sure don’t have it!
Anyway, here is how I’m trying to help my students be a little more organized and in charge of their own achievement:
1. Every student has a file which is kept in a file cabinet that they have access to. I used to just tell them they could put their work there if they were afraid of losing it. Now we hand the folders out at the beginning of every class period. As we do the day’s work, they put it in their folder. The folders are collected at the end of the period. At first I alphabetized them but when they are handed out each day, their order in the drawer doesn’t really matter.
2. On Friday, I hand out a cover sheet of which a copy is placed on the Elmo, with all the week’s assignments listed, along with the number of points I have decided each assignment is worth. They copy the assignments, and then take them from their folders and put them in order. They write a reflective paragraph at the bottom of the page and staple it all together and hand it in.
3. They sometimes have earned some extra credit, either by a word game I have offered as a closing sponge activity, or a “Success Ticket” they have earned by giving a correct answer or perhaps just being on task at some random time. They can also earn extra credit (as long as their other work is done) by completing a poem analysis or a book preview on some sheets I devised. Evidence of their extra work is attached to the packet. They receive ten points for doing the cover sheet completely, including writing the paragraph.
We do this every Friday, even if we only have two or three things to hand in that week. It is the consistency that seems to make it work. They can now copy the list, organize the work and hand it all in within about fifteen or twenty minutes. I take home a pile of sixty two packets rather than random piles of separate assignments. I grade and enter their work on the weekend and return it on Monday, with a number and letter grade marked on it. They have come to count on this process, and it’s so much more efficient for me to process than the old way of piles and piles of different assignments.
I’ve been doing the packet organization all year, since my daughter created the packet cover and began to use it last year. I tried it then, but only had them hand packets in when we had a substantial number of assignments to make it worthwhile. This year I’ve recognized the importance of the consistency of weekly submissions, no matter the amount of work contained in each packet.
The new part for me is handing out the folders every day, so no assignments ever go astray. In addition, I made up a “Packet Log,” which is taped into the back of their folder. It lists each packet, the number of points it was worth, the points they received and their letter grade. There is also a column for “Work Made Up.” If their grade is less than a C, they have the week to make it up. When they hand it in again, I initial that column and enter the new grade for that packet. My goal is for the students to always know how they are doing in my class and to give them the power to change it if they don’t like it, by either making up missed work or doing extra work that can actually contribute to their growth and learning.
The first week of this semester went really well. Only three kids in each class fell below the C grade level. Three of them still have not made that work up, and I’ll be calling their parents this weekend, to keep them in the loop. So far so good! I’ll keep you posted about how this continues.
What do you do to help your middle-schoolers stay on task and organized?
dkzody
/ January 21, 2012Have you ever visited the homes of your students? Then you understand why they cannot get their homework done and back to school. I too gave up on homework long ago. I did assign out-of-class work, but it was about going somewhere and interviewing someone or taking pictures and bringing the results back to the classroom. Each of my students had a file folder in a file cabinet. They ended up keeping all sorts of work there because they knew it was safe.
lynnjake
/ January 21, 2012Yes, Delaine, many times I’ve been welcomed into the homes and families of my students. Their lives are certainly more complex than the hours they spend with us! As a teacher it’s easy to think our classrooms are a much more weighty part of their lives than they actually are, that’s for sure.
lynnjake
/ January 21, 2012Oh and I love the out of class work ideas you mentioned! Thanks for those.
Gail Desler
/ January 22, 2012Great tips, Lynn – not only for students, but for teachers too! Wish I had a dollar for every hour lost to my lack of organization;-)
lynnjake
/ January 22, 2012You’re so right, Gail. I spend way too much time looking for things. So far this is helping me keep my head above water, as well as helping the kids!
Kathryn from Thriftyschoolmarm
/ January 22, 2012I’ve always tried to get my students to take more responsibility for keeping their own papers, which is so frustrating to me. I’m bookmarking this page and seriously considering a system like this for my students next year.
lynnjake
/ January 22, 2012It’s worth a try~ it’s sure working for me this year. I had to tweak it for myself. It was originally my daughter’s idea (she teaches in the classroom next door to me – how cool is that?), and I had to ‘make it my own,” as they say on American Idol. I won’t go back to the old way ever, I don’t think!
N. Ingram
/ January 25, 2012Love it! Makes a lot of sense to involve them in this. I do something with the same purpose in my 7th grade world history class. As we progress through a unit, I keep a running list of all of our notes, hand-outs, foldables, etc. on the board. They keep up with everything in their binder or folder. At the end of the unit, in preparation for their studying, we build a “unit portfolio”. Each student receives a manila folder that has two small envelopes taped to the inside left and a 2-prong fastener on the top of the righthand side. All notes get 2-hole punched and fastened in with the table of contents on top. Flashcards are made for all significant terms and facts (main ideas of the unit on one side and 3-5 important facts on the back) as a studying/review strategy. I give them a cover page to decorate with the unit name after they finish their test. Then it goes in their class’ file drawer! All 7 units will be ready for the end of-the-year review. And the nicest part is that they start each unit with a fresh, clean binder/folder and their valuable materials and work is safely stored away!
Now I’m going to go see how I can adapt your idea for my ELA classes! Thank you!
lynnjake
/ January 26, 2012Hi Nicole. I love your unit folder idea. I love organizing things with compartments, files and envelopes. I’ll keep this as a ‘bag of tricks’ idea. It sounds great! Thanks for commenting.
Lynn