How to Use Your Planner Lesson
All grades
Why Organization and Planning Skills are Important - Why Teach Your Advisee’s How to Use a
Planner and Get Organized?
Planners and organizational skills aren't just for grownups anymore, and that's a good thing! With all the
pressure on students to cover more material in less time than ever, they need tools to be successful in
school. This can be stressful for students who may already feel overwhelmed and stressed by school
work demands. Stress reduction is another great benefit of planning! Breaking assignments into
subtasks with timelines (a term we now use is “Chunking”) helps students feel less stressed because
they are creating a manageable schedule for each task.
Planning and Organizational Skills Improve Achievement and More
Using a planner can help with many organization issues and gives students, parents, teachers, advisor’s
another good tool to track students' progress in school. You can teach your kids how to use this great
tool to be a more successful student. Planning:
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Reduces stress;
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Reduces ineffective study habits such as cramming;
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Helps prevent students from feeling overwhelmed;
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Increases productivity; and
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Teaches a life skill that will benefit kids right now and in the future.
For 11th and 12th graders who are showing good progress with their own planner system.
Determining the Planner You Need - Pick a Planner that is Right for You.
Many schools recommend specific types of planners, however, as a privilege, our juniors and seniors
have the opportunity to exercise their personal responsibility by choosing the planner system they
prefer. There are different types of commercially made planners available, and your advisor can make
suggestions on what types might be best for you depending upon grade and ability levels.
You can also make a planner that is personalized for your own needs. You can create a homemade
planner using a notebook type calendar with adequate writing space under each day. Whether you make
your own planner or use a purchased planner, here are some tips to help you learn to use it.
Learning to Plan Takes Practice - Tips on How to Practice Using the Planner
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Note to Advisor’s: Be a good example. Use a planner yourself.
Make it fun! Have your student practice using the planner by making note of upcoming events such as
general school days we will be off.
Help your students make a habit of checking the planner every day so it will become routine. You may
need to use a pleasant reminder to help him/her remember to check the calendar. Make it a routine.
Practice checking how many days are left before a specific activity; assignment; project, event.
Consider developing a visual behavior plan to reward your students with positive reinforcement for
remembering to bring the planner to class with an accurate recording of his/her assignments.
o Example: a visual “star” chart/poster board
Have your students make brief journal notes about the day's activities, and go over them at the
beginning of the new day. Share details that were not written down and talk about how the notes helped
your student remember things he/she otherwise might have forgotten. After you've done this for about a
month, go back to an entry a week old and talk with your student about that day.
o What can he/she remember?
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o How did his/her notes help both of you remember?
Remember that this is practice, and your student may forget to record something from time to time.
When that happens, use it as a positive, teachable moment. Help him/her plan what needs to catch up
on anything that was missed.
"The assignment is due when? Tomorrow?"
We've all been there at some point. Somehow, that assignment due date just slipped right up on us
without our noticing.
That is why organizational skills are so important to school performance. Who can afford to score a big
fat "0" on a paper, just because we got lazy and didn't pay attention to the due date? Who wants to get
an "F" because we forgot to put our completed project in our book bag the night before it was due?
Poor organization skills can reduce your final scores by a whole letter grade. That's why you should learn
to use a day planner the right way.
Specific Tips for Using a Planner
1. Pick the right planner. Take your time when choosing a pocket planner. Find one that fits inside a
special pocket or pouch in your book bag if you can. Avoid planners with locks or zippers that will only
annoy you. Little things like that will become a hassle and create bad habits.
2. Name your planner. Yes, give it a name. Why? You're less likely to neglect something with a name and
a strong identity. When you name an object you give it more of a presence in your life. Call it something
goofy or something sentimental—it doesn't matter. You don't have to tell anybody if you don't want to!
3. Make the planner a part of your daily routine. Carry it with you at all times and remember to check
it every morning and every night.
4. Fill in your assignment due dates as soon as you learn them. Get in the habit of writing in your
planner while you're still in the classroom. Don't put it off!
5. Learn to use backward planning. When you write a due date in your planner, go back a day or a
week and give yourself a reminder that the due date is approaching.
6. Use a color-coding system. Keep some colored stickers on hand and use those for reminders that a
due date or other important event is approaching. For instance, use a yellow caution sticker to serve as
a warning two days before your research paper is due.
7. Put everything in your planner. You must remember that anything that takes up time, like a date or a
ball game, will keep you from working on an assignment. If you don't put these things in your planner
as time out, you may not realize how limited your homework time really is. This leads to cramming and
all-nighters.
8. Use flags. You can buy sticky-note flags and use them as tabs to indicate the end of a term or the due
date of a large project. This is a great visual tool that serves as a constant reminder of a imminent due
date.
9. Don't discard old pages. You will always have important information in your planner that you'll need
to see again at a later date. Old phone numbers, reading assignments—you'll want to remember those
things later on.
10. Go ahead and congratulate yourself ahead of time. On the day after a big project is due, put in a
reward appointment, like a trip to the mall or a meal out with friends. This can serve as positive
reinforcement.
Things to Include in Your Planner
It is important to block off anything that consumes your time, in order to avoid conflict and crisis. Don't
forget:
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Regular blocks of homework time
Assignment due dates
Test dates
Dances, parties, dates, celebrations
Family gatherings, vacations, excursions
SAT, ACT test dates
Sign-up deadlines for standardized tests
Fees—due dates
Holidays
*College application due dates
*College visitation days