Getting Organized Getting Organized is probably the easiest thing you can do to improve your grades and your learning. In fact, a lot of kids who do well in school are not really any smarter than their classmates, they are just organized. They know where their stuff is and how much time they have to complete an assignment and they hand their work in on time. There are two ways to be organized. - Material Managment: keeping your stuff together and organized is really hard for a lot of kids and adults. They waste a lot of time looking for things and some kids even have to do assignments over again because they lost the first one. We'll look at some cool ways to keep your stuff together.
- Time Managment: Some people have a really hard time figuring out how long an assignment or a project will take to complete, and they have a really hard time thinking about how much time they actually have. They think that something will take a shorter time than it does and then they run into a problem. Or they might think that they should work really really fast in case they might not have enough time. When people rush, they usually don't do such a great job on their work.
Keeping your stuff together: - Use an accordian file folder rather than a notebook. The seven pocket folder will allow you to have a section for each subject, plus one for homework and another for notes or miscellaneous papers. Use one with an easy to use clasp that is fairly durable. Take it with you to every class. When the teacher gives you a handout or you take some notes, put the papers in the file under that subject. You can also keep your assignment planner in the homework section. The beauty of this system is that even if you misfile a paper, you know that it has to be somewhere in that folder. What's the difference between the folder and the 3 ring notebook? The rings! The paper tears, there are no pockets unless you add them, and then they do not hold much, and it's too much work to e hole punch handouts and put them in the binder while you are thinking about making it to the next class on time. The problem for people with material managment issues is that they are usually in a rush and they dont have time to spend staying organized. The accordian file folder is the simplest system to use.
- Clean out your folder or your binder once per week. Have drawers at home with files or get yourself a file box. Make one file for each subject and weekly deposit papers, old tests, or handouts that you will not be needing in class. This way, you will have everything you need when exams come around.
- Clean out your locker once per week, or if you are fairly neat, once every other week. Get some pencil holders and a small dry erase board. Each time you go to your locker, write down which books you will need to bring home on the white board. Then at the end of the day, you will have a list of all the books you will need to do your homework. You won't have to look it up in your planner or rely on your memory.
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