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:

Habits of the Highly Organized
Time Allocation: 20  minutes
Materials/Resources: paper, pens/pencils, chart paper (6 pieces), poster board, markers, stapler/tape, computers/tablets/smartphones (students - optional), whiteboard

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WATCH THE VIDEO:

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ANTICIPATORY SET IDEA:

Post the following question on the whiteboard:
  o What’s one thing you can do every evening to make sure you are organized for the following day?
 As students enter the classroom, have them read the question. They can either write down their answer or just think about their answer. After a few minutes, have students share their answers with the class.

DIRECT INSTRUCTION:

Ask students what their morning routine consists of. Have a few students share this with the class.
 Then, ask students if they keep a to-do list every day or goals they want to achieve before the day is over. Have a few students share with the class.
 Lastly, ask students if they believe they possess the necessary habits or characteristics of a highly organized person. Have them tell you the characteristic they possess and why they believe it’s a characteristic or habit of a highly organized person.

GUIDED ACTIVITY:

Share with students the “6 habits highly organized people have in common” or have them access the article
electronically and read it. Link: 6 Habits Highly Organized People Have in Common
 Have students write down the 6 habits on a piece of paper.
  1. Keep it simple: Keep your organizational methods simple and easy.
  2. Develop routines: For tasks that happen daily or weekly
  3. Have a place for everything, and put everything in its place
  4. Keep a current and detailed to-do list: In a small notebook or in your phone
  5. Don’t get bogged down by perfectionism: Realize you can’t do everything perfectly so accept that.
  6. Toss things daily and purge routinely
 Divide the class into 6 groups and assign one of the above habits to each group
 Each group will figure out different ways they can incorporate this habit into their daily lives as a student. Students can brainstorm on a piece of paper or on chart paper.
 After about five minutes, have students report out from their group what they came up with. Then, as a class,
decide on 1-2 ways students can incorporate each habit into their life. Write these down on poster board to hang in the classroom as a daily reminder

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 phones and it will give you instant feedback.

 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: 

SOCIAL WORK
Hanging out with your friends is not only fun, but critical to your social life. This weekend though is special. You and your friends have been waiting for this music festival for over a month and you are very excited. However, you just realize that you had forgotten that the Relay for Life event is also this weekend. You told the organizer last year that you would be happy to help this year for the whole weekend. Because the event runs for 48 hours, they often have difficulty recruiting volunteers. Serving as a volunteer for Relay for Life will look good on your college applications and your résumé and also provides you an opportunity to spend time with the doctors and nurses who volunteer. This is important because you hope to go into the medical profession someday and want to work with cancer patients. Having to decide between the two options is very hard, but you must do it. Prioritizing opportunities for your personal and
professional goals in life is important.

Which will you decide, hang out with your friends at the music festival or volunteer at the event that will give you an opportunity towards your career goals?

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 was your decision and why did you make that choice?
3. What are possible positive or negative consequences of your decision?
4. How does your decision impact your long-term goals in life?

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, “Why are both investing in your relationships/friendships and your career important?"

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 a dilemma for you?”

CLOSING DISCUSSION: ASK THE STUDENTS , “DO YOU VIEW TIME AS A RESOURCE? HOW DO YOU PLAN AND DETERMINE YOUR PRIORITIES?”
 

REVIEW AND CLOSING:

Read the following quote out loud to the students:
   o “With organization comes empowerment.” –Lynda Peterson
 Have students share their thoughts with a partner.

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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 them the opportunity to realize what changes they can make in their life to improve their organization.

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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