ORGANIZATION BOOTCAMP

1. ORGANIZATION BOOTCAMP ASCA Conference 2006 Shawn Grime, M. Ed. Liberty Center Middle School Liberty Center, OH

2. 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.

3. Contributing Factors Leading to Poor Organization • Brain Development: Adolescence is marked by extensive brain development where pruning and restructuring of synapses can lead to forgetfulness and disorganization of thought. • 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 extra-curricular activities, part-time jobs, friends, etc. • Modeling: Organization is a learned skill and without proper modeling from parents and teachers, students may develop poor habits. • 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. • Motivation: Students lacking motivation are less likely to monitor their supplies and complete assignments and are more likely to be apathetic, procrastinate, and disobey. • Lack of Parental Support: Either a result of personal beliefs about education, economic needs, social schedules, or an inability to provide assistance.

4. Contributing Factors Leading to Poor Organization • Cultural Differences: Different cultures value organization and education differently. • 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. • School Progression: As students progress through the grade levels, the structure of their day and expectations for staying organize greatly change. • Inadequate Teaching: Certain teaching practices and perceptions can negatively impact student abilities to be organized. • 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. • 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.

5. Why Teach Organization Skills? • 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.” • Reason 2: Disorganization greatly impacts a students academics and personal self. Disorganized students tend to … • 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.

6. Principals of Teaching Organization Skills • 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.

7. Principals of Teaching Organization Skills • M model the strategy • I inform the students • R remind students to use strategy • R repeat the strategy • O outline the strategy’s usefulness • R reassess student performance • S stress the strategy’s general usefulness

8. 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.

9. Organization Bootcamp Components Recruitment q Parent Basic Training q Student Basic Training q Inspection q Retraining

10. 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 • those who struggle with homework completion • learning disabled students • students with ADD/ADHD • students who are physically disorganized

11. 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.

12. Recruitment • Once your group has been determined, collect pre-program data: • Parent Survey • Teacher Survey • Student Self-Assessment • Student Baseline Data (current grade percentages, number of missing or late assignments, observations of skills, etc.)

13. 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 parenttraining 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. Parent Training

14. 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.

15. Basic Training

16. 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.

17. 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

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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

21. 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.

22. Program Effectiveness • 85.1% of Inspections Passed (out of 101 total) • 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. • 83% decline in after school Homework Clinics assigned from 1st to 2nd quarter. • 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.

23. 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.

24. Contact Information Bryan High School c/o Shawn Grime 150 South Portland Street Bryan, OH 43532 419-636-4536 shawngrime@yahoo.com 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.