Transcript ORGANIZATION BOOTCAMP

ORGANIZATION
BOOTCAMP
ASCA Conference 2006
Shawn Grime, M. Ed.
Liberty Center Middle School
Liberty Center, OH
Objectives
• To better understand the
contributing factors leading to poor
organization skills in students.
• To review a program designed to
intervene with disorganized students
to better support academic success.
Contributing Factors Leading to Poor Organization
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Brain Development: Adolescence is marked by extensive brain development where
pruning and restructuring of synapses can lead to forgetfulness and disorganization of
thought.
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Greater Time Demands: The average student spends 32.5 hours at school and 7.5
hours doing homework each week. In addition, students are actively involved in extracurricular activities, part-time jobs, friends, etc.
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Modeling: Organization is a learned skill and without proper modeling from parents
and teachers, students may develop poor habits.
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Somatic Factors: Learning disabilities, attention deficits, dyslexia, spatial disorders,
sensory-integration disorders, physical limitations, and so on can present a biological
basis for organization problems.
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Motivation: Students lacking motivation are less likely to monitor their supplies and
complete assignments and are more likely to be apathetic, procrastinate, and disobey.
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Lack of Parental Support: Either a result of personal beliefs about education,
economic needs, social schedules, or an inability to provide assistance.
Contributing Factors Leading to Poor Organization
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Cultural Differences: Different cultures value organization and education
differently.
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Study by Chen and Stevenson (1989) found that Chinese students enjoyed doing
homework and spent a greater deal of time on it than American students. They also
found that 95% of 5th grade Chinese students had a desk at home compared to 63% of
American students.
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School Progression: As students progress through the grade levels, the
structure of their day and expectations for staying organize greatly change.
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Inadequate Teaching: Certain teaching practices and perceptions can
negatively impact student abilities to be organized.
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Homework is often poorly designed, lacks real-life relevance, and is inconsistent in
frequency and ability level.
Teachers assume that students are already proficient in organizational skills.
Systemic Failures: Schools are for one reason or another, failing to explicitly
instruct students in organizational/study skills.
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Teachers feel inadequately trained to teach these skills.
Schools are pressured to cover the curriculum and prepare for standardized testing.
Districts are unsure where to work these skills into the curriculum.
Why Teach Organization Skills?
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Reason 1: Schools feel it is important for students to develop academic
skills.
• A study by Kerr and Zigmond (1986) identified that 67% of high school
teachers surveyed viewed organizational skills as “crucial for student
success.”
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Reason 2: Disorganization greatly impacts a students academics and
personal self. Disorganized students tend to …
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get poorer grades
have lower self-esteem
complete fewer assignments
be less motivated
be more frustrated with school
Reason 3: Good organization skills prepare students for life after high
school.
• The lack of skills is seen as more and more colleges are requiring students
to take study skills classes because students are arriving unprepared.
Principals of Teaching Organization Skills
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Principal 1: Organization skills fall under two categories.
• Organizing Supplies
• Organizing Behaviors
Principal 2: Do not assume students have been taught organizational skills
in previous grades. ALL students need to be taught these skills throughout
their school career.
Principal 3: Student organizational skills should be consistently assessed.
Principal 4: Students experience greater success when a school
standardizes its organizational standards.
Principal 5: Time must be devoted at school and home for organizing. A
few minutes spent organizing saves hours in the long run.
Principal 6: Punishing, blaming, ridiculing, and comparing students is
counterproductive. Students need positive support.
Principal 7: Patience is key in teaching organizational skills.
Principal 8: Strengthening organization skills helps build self-esteem
leading to academic success.
Principal 9: There must be collaboration between the school and home.
Principal 10: You must be organized yourself. Practice what you preach.
Principals of Teaching Organization Skills
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M
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model the strategy
inform the students
remind students to use strategy
repeat the strategy
outline the strategy’s usefulness
reassess student performance
stress the strategy’s general
usefulness
Keep In Mind
• Disorganized students do not necessarily get
poor grades.
• Disorganized students do have parts of their lives
that are very organized.
• Disorganized students will not change over night.
• Disorganized students can come from very
organized homes.
• Disorganized students come from all sorts of
backgrounds.
• Disorganized students may not be able to be
helped.
Organization Bootcamp Components
Recruitment
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Parent Basic Training
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Student Basic Training
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Inspection
q
Retraining
Recruitment
• Begin recruiting several weeks before beginning
the program.
• The best times to recruit are at the end of the
previous year or beginning of the current year.
• What Students To Target
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those who struggle with homework completion
learning disabled students
students with ADD/ADHD
students who are physically disorganized
Recruitment
• The two best sources for referrals:
• Parents: advertise in newsletters, web page,
or letters sent home
• Teachers: have them complete the Teacher
Referral Form
• When you have obtained a list of potential
recruits, mail home the Parent Permission
Letter. Be sure to determine any guidelines
such as return dates and first-come policies.
Recruitment
• Once your group has been determined,
collect pre-program data:
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Parent Survey
Teacher Survey
Student Self-Assessment
Student Baseline Data (current grade
percentages, number of missing or late
assignments, observations of skills, etc.)
Parent Training
• Organization has to be a joint effort between the student, school,
and home.
• To ensure follow through of student objectives, participating parents
are required to attend a parent training session.
• Parent training is an evening workshop with a PowerPoint
presentation.
• Open the training to ALL parents regardless of participation in the
bootcamp.
• Provide a table of resources related to organization, time
management, and study skills for parents to have.
Visit my website to download a copy of my parent presentation.
Basic Training
• Basic training consists of 8, small group
sessions lasting approximately 30 to 60
minutes.
• Schedule sessions before, after, or during
school. Find common times (i.e. homeroom,
recess) or work with teachers for a time to
work with students during class.
• Sessions are most effective if they can be
conducted in a series (daily or every other
day) versus weekly.
Basic Training
How Organized Are You?
Creating A Productive Work
Environment
Keeping Track of Assignments
Transitioning Between
Classes and Home
Managing Your Time
Taking Organized Notes
Keeping Binders, Lockers,
Desks, & Bookbags Organized
Inspection Process &
Bootcamp Graduation
Basic Training
• Session 1: How Organized Are You?
• To gain a better understanding of ones
organizational strengths and weaknesses.
• Set goals for improving organizational skills.
• Session 2: Keeping Track of Assignments
• To understand the importance of using an
agenda/daily planner.
• To learn effective ways to track assignments.
Basic Training
• Session 3: Managing Your Time
• To break down large assignments into
components.
• To evaluate when we are most productive during
the day.
• To develop and use checklists.
• Session 4: Keeping Binders, Lockers, Desks, and
Bookbags Organized
• To visualize the difference between good and bad
binders, lockers, desks, and bookbags
• To learn strategies to keep binders, lockers,
desks, and bookbags organized
Basic Training
• Session 5: Creating A Productive Work Environment
• Develop an environment that will help promote
organization and work completion.
• Opening conversation with parents about academic
success needs at home.
• Session 6: Transitioning Between Classes and Home
• To evaluate schedules and identify appropriate times
to stop at lockers or switch materials.
• To ensure students are bringing necessary supplies to
class.
• To develop strategies for getting work and materials
home and then back to school.
Basic Training
• Session 7: Taking Organized Notes
• To learn the Cornell method of note taking.
• To learn shortcuts and shorthand to speed
note taking.
• Session 8: Inspection Process and Bootcamp
Graduation
• To understand the scoring rubric used during
inspection.
• To reward students for learning new skills.
Inspection
• Specifics of the Inspection Process
• All inspections are unscheduled and rely on
the element of surprise.
• They occur at a maximum of once a month.
• They follow a standardized rubric.
• They are objective and subjective in nature.
• They rely on student self-assessment.
• They obtain input from teachers.
• They provide rewards and feedback for
progress
Retraining
• Retraining occurs when a student does not pass their
inspection.
• Retraining is done one-on-one and focuses on
discussing the strengths and areas of improvement.
• Retraining should take place no later than 3 days
from the inspection.
• Goals set during the training should be revisited and
student should develop a plan for improvement using
the Retraining Documentation Form.
Program Effectiveness
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85.1% of Inspections Passed (out of 101 total)
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22.8% decline in missing homework assignments from 1st quarter
to 3rd quarter. There was then a 28% increase from 3rd to 4th
quarter. *
• Not atypical to see declines in academic performance at the end of
the year.
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83% decline in after school Homework Clinics assigned from 1st to
2nd quarter.
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Taking average of 4 core academic classes for all 19 participants,
there was no significant change in academic performance (80.6%
at 1st quarter and 79.4% at end of the year).
* Missing assignment data does not include outlier student whose
data was extremely atypical compared to the rest of the group.
Changes From Original Program
• Sessions cut from 10 to 8. 8 has been a well documented
number for group sessions with students.
• Training sessions presented in greater detail with more
practical activities.
• Refresher session at the semester break.
• Removal of study/testing skills and focus primarily on
organization.
• Greater emphasis on teacher feedback during inspection
versus parent feedback.
• Adding more subjectivity to the inspection process.
• In the works: Expand the program from group
intervention to school-wide prevention by implementing a
standardized building organization plan as well as
implementation models for elementary and high school
students.
Contact Information
Bryan High School
c/o Shawn Grime
150 South Portland Street
Bryan, OH 43532
419-636-4536
[email protected]
http://www.libertycenter.k12.oh.us/msguidance/default.htm
Click on Conference Presentation link to download Power Points and reproducibles. This link may become
inactive sometime over the summer. If so, email me for the new address.