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:

Let’s Plan it Out
Time Allocation: 20  minutes
Materials/Resources: whiteboard, markers, student planners/ calendars/ Let’s Plan It Out Worksheet, paper, pens/ pencils, computers/ tablets/ smartphones (students - optional), computer with internet access/ projector (teacher)

 

WATCH THE VIDEO:

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ANTICIPATORY SET IDEA:

 Show students the following movie clip:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 After the clip is over, discuss the over -arching theme of the clip.

     o Answer: Organization or being organized

 Then, ask students if the actor was successful at being organized. Why or why not?

DIRECT INSTRUCTION:

 As a class, come up with a definition for organization and write it on the whiteboard.

 Next, ask the students the following questions for a class discussion.

      o Why is being organized important?

      o How can organization affect your everyday life?

GUIDED ACTIVITY:

Have each student access the Let’s Plan It Out Worksheet. They are going to complete three tasks with their planner.

     o Task #1: Write down everything you need to do for the rest of the day in a list format. When they complete something on the list,

         they will cross it out or check it off.

     o Task #2: They will plan out their activities for the rest of the week. Homework due dates, major exam s, work shifts, sports team

         practice, birthdays, appointments, etc.

     o Task #3: They are going to plan out the next month. Homework due dates, major exams, birthdays, vacations, school functions,

         work shifts, family functions, etc.

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING:

 Technology Use: You could create a Kahoot ( Kahoot.com) which is an interactive game that students can log into from their computers or smart phones and it will give you instant feedback.

 Non-Technology: Non-Technology: “Take and Pass” – Students will get in groups and will have one piece of paper per group. Then pose the question, “How does being organized affect your life?” One student will start and will write their response on the piece of paper. When they finish, they will pass it to the person on their right and they will then  write down their response. Students will continue to write down their responses and pass the piece of paper until time is up. When time is up, students will debrief and will then share their responses with the class.

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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: 

THAT CAN WAIT

You know that being organized is important, especially now that you finally convinced your parents you could handle school, sports, and a job. You certainly don’t want to drop the ball. So far, you have been doing pretty well and you think you are on track with all of your obligations . You also know that you have a big game in the morning (Saturday) and your friends want to go out to the movies tonight (which you already said you would) . You have to work tomorrow night until 10:00PM and all day Sunday, since you promised your boss you would be there. Keeping all of these commitments though puts you in a place to procrastinate on a large homework assignment that is due on Monday . However, you know that you can work on it Sunday evening, right? That can wait…

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. Think about what your actual options are here. What could you do?

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 , “ Have you ever waited on something like this before and ended up not finding the time and not completing the task ?” What happened?

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

CLOSING DISCUSSION: ASK THE STUDENTS, “ WHICH ACTIVITY IN THIS SCENARIO IS THE ONE THAT IS MOST FLEXIBLE ALLOWING YOU TO STAY ORGANIZED AND NOT PROCRASTINATE ?”

REVIEW AND CLOSING:

Students must fill out an exit slip to turn in as they leave class. On the exit slip, they must write down one area in life in which they need to be more organized and how they are going to get organized in that area.

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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 organization skills. This lesson will give students the opportunity to define what organization is as well as use their personal planner/ calendar to organize their school, work, and life events for the next four weeks.

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION IDEAS
-Visual: Visual learners will benefit from having the important information written on the whiteboard as well as completing this assignment in their personal planner so they can refer back to it on a daily basis.

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

-Kinesthetic: Kinesthetic learners would benefit from the movement involved in participating in the poll (if done on the whiteboard) or it would be beneficial to them to have the option to move around the classroom as they read/ think. They will also benefit from the writing activity.

-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: Advanced learners could benefit from helping the other students who rated their understanding o f the lesson on a low level. They could partner up with one of those students or get together a group of students who need help.