Overview For Teachers

ORGANIZATION: The ability to manage both one’s self and one’s own time and the time of others; use resources effectively; plan and prioritize work and personal life to meet goals and deadlines; the ability to overcome procrastination.

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PURPOSE: Upon completion of this module, the student will understand the importance of being organized in the classroom as well as the workplace. In addition, the objectives listed below should be met.

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OBJECTIVES:

 Ability to recognize the importance of being organized

 Ability to realize how being organized affects all aspects of their life

 Ability to demonstrate organization at school, at home, and at work

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OVERVIEW:

This module focuses on teaching students the importance of being organized and having good organizational skills. Students will come to realize how organization can affect their success in the future at school and at work . In addition, students will have an opportunity to gain an understanding of the importance of effectively managing time and resources by participating in various activities designed to stimulate thought and discussion.

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TEACHERS: WHAT ARE YOU OBSERVING?

What does organization look like in the classroom or in school in general? A great way to answer this and get things going is through engagement with the students. Ask your students these questions:

1. What does organization look like in class?

2. How does your organization affect other students? Example: Homework, group projects, sports, etc.

3. What does being organized look like within your learning?

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RELEVANCY OF ORGANIZATION:

Employers have stated that organization, including the ability to plan and prioritize work, is vital to the success of an individual. Good organizational skills are also important outside of the workplace in order to meet goals and deadlines.

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LESSON:

9 Tips to Stop Procrastinating
Time Allocation: 20  minutes
Materials/Resources: paper, pens/ pencils, Procrastination Tips Worksheet, computers / tablets/ smartphones ( students - optional)

 

WATCH THE VIDEO:

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ANTICIPATORY SET IDEA:

 Ask the students to share different ways that they procrastinate.

     o You will probably get answers such as “texting friends, using  Social media, playing video games , etc.)

 Ask students: “What is the point of procrastinating? Does it help us at all?”

DIRECT INSTRUCTION:

Tell students: procrastination is a bad habit and many of us suffer from it and suffer the effects of it. We all procrastinate at different times, for different reasons , and in different ways , and it’s important for us to realize this. We have to learn to pull ourselves out of the procrastination mode and return to work and complete any and all necessary tasks, which can be easier said than done. Today, we are going to look at some different tips on how to avoid procrastination so you can decide which ones could work for you.

GUIDED ACTIVITY:

 On a piece of paper, have students write down the top three ways that they procrastinate and why they believe that they procrastinate.

 Next, give each student a copy of the Procrastination Tips Worksheet. Have them read through the nine different tips on how to stop procrastinating.

 Then, they will choose three of the nine tips from the worksheet they could use to help them overcome their procrastination.

 When finished, they will find a partner and share the top three ways that they procrastinate, along with the three tips they believe will help them to stop procrastinating.

 After a few minutes of pair share, come back together as a class and have students volunteer to share what they wrote and discussed.

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING:

 Technology Use: Obsurvery: Create a survey, poll, or questionnaire to send to the students that will give you immediate feedback about the student’s level of understanding.

 Non-Technology: Thumbs Up/ Thumbs Down: Students will demonstrate their level of understanding by giving a thumbs up or thumbs down. Stu dents with thumbs down will need more clarification.

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ETHICAL SCENARIO--Optional (if not using, skip  to "review and closing")

The Ethical Choice Scenarios have been developed to provide teachers with the ability to make the material applicable to real-life and relevant to the students. Within this guide, directions and prompts for the teacher will be in BLUE for ease of facilitation.

 

READ THE FOLLOWING SCENARIO OUT LOUD TO THE STUDENTS: 

TWO PLACES AT ONCE

You are the type of person who is friends with everyone at school. You play several sports and belong to numerous clubs and all of them are very different from each other. For example, you play hockey and soccer, so you have friends from your sports teams. You are in Chess Club and Drama club so you have friends from those clubs as well. You just recently became part of Student Government and the Youth Mentor Program and have gained multiple friendships from those too. You enjoy having such a different variety of friends but with those differences, come difficulties as well.

 

It’s Friday night and you promised your soccer teammates that you’d come to the team party to celebrate your recent victory over your school’s rival. As you start getting ready for the party, your friend from Drama Club texts you asking what time you should meet at the theater. You completely forgot that you told your Drama Club friends that you’d go see the new play tonight with them . This isn’t the first time you’ve double -booked yourself and committed to plan s with two different groups of friends. You don’t know what to do; you don’t want to make either group of friends mad or upset with you but you also can’t be in two places at once. What do you do?

ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: (display them to the class if necessary)

1. How many of you have already been faced with this scenario in real life?

2. What are the possible options for you in this situation?

3. What are possible positive or negative consequences for you, depending on your decision?

GUIDED DISCUSSION: ASK STUDENTS TO SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS ON THE SITUATION AND HOW THEY
ANSWERED THE QUESTIONS.

NOTE 1 : To help facilitate discussion, share any personal experiences you may have encountered with this same sort of issue.

NOTE 2 : Another option to foster further critical thinking is to then ask students , “ What can you do to avoid this situation and not accidentally double -book yourself in the future?”

NOTE 3 : Another option to foster further critical thinking is to then ask students , “ W hat values do you think are in tension here, why is it an ethical dilemma?”

CLOSING DISCUSSION: ASK THE STUDENTS , “ “ WHAT LONGTERM IMPACTS COULD YOUR DECISION HAVE ON YOUR REPUTATION OR YOUR FRIENDSHIPS ?”

REVIEW AND CLOSING:

 To end the lesson, remind students about the tips they received to stop procrastinating and read the following quote to them:

     o “Every day spent procrastinating is another day spent worrying about that thing. Do it now and move on with your life!”

     --Unknown

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CORRELATION TO OBSERVATION TOOL: The Frequency Observation Tool (FOT) has a category where students will be observed and rated on their ability to overcome procrastination. This lesson will give student the opportunity to realize the different ways that they procrastinate and will offer them tips on how to stop procrastinating.

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION IDEAS
-Visual: Visual learners will benefit from having a printed copy of the worksheet to keep as a daily reminder.

-Auditory: Auditory learners will benefit from the group work and also the class discussions.

-Kinesthetic: Kinesthetic learners could create a diagram or web map instead of just writing down their responses to the questions..

-ESL: ESL students will benefit from working with a group in this activity in case they have questions or need clarification.

-At-risk: At -risk students would benefit from working with a partner for some extra interaction to keep them on task and focused.

-Advanced: To benefit advanced learners, you could have them partner up with a student who rates their level of understanding with a thumbs -down so they can help them better understand.

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