Organizational Skills

Organization is an important skill to focus on and adapt with as a student begins middle school, and it is a skill that will need to be kept and grown throughout the rest of the student’s life. The school setting is an important place to plant the seed of management; however, that skill can be transferred everywhere in the child’s life, whether in the home, in an extracurricular activity, or in a team or club.

Having a fun homework folder will ensure folder use

Ensuring organization in students can be done through setting routines for themselves. Having a routine schedule creates predictability, which will ease stress and add some structure to life. For example, a student setting their backpack in the same place every night so it’s easy to find in the morning can be helpful. Having a specific “homework” folder for homework assignments can be helpful, too, so they can keep track of the work they have not done yet as well as the work they completed. Finally, encouraging an agenda/planner and insisting a student to fill it out and keep track of tasks can be a foundational tool for success and organizational skills.

An example of what a child's weekly planner could look like 

To conclude this post, I’d like to point out routine-building as an effective tool in getting middle schoolers to begin their organizational skills. Basic organization will lead to more detailed steps within the tasks they are already performing, and will grow and expand to other aspects of their lives. Other helpful interventions for children’s organization in the school setting include goal-setting and personal self-evaluation sheets which I will expand upon in the following posts. For more more tips for middle school organization, click here. Thanks for reading!