Get Organized!


First find out where you need to work on and what you are doing well.
Take our Organization Quiz. (PDF file)


Tips for Organizing our Study Area
  1. Centralize what you consider important to your daily life either on a bulletin board, a designated wall space, or, on the back of a door.  This area will be considered the area which you will put everything important to you, such as an autographed picture of your favorite music band, post your tickets to the upcoming concert and, put up a large wall calendar which has large white spaces for each date.  With a centralized area, you are able to find everything you need without getting flustered when you can’t find what you’re looking for.
  2. A wall calendar is extremely important as this will help you keep track of your entire schedule.  Ensure your calendar is large enough to handle all the important information you may have on one day.  It is important to make sure your calendar is large and use a color coding system to ensure that the important dates are all circled in BIG RED MARKER!  Make sure that you use red as the color for urgent things to be completed, like homework or project deadlines.  Get in the habit of writing absolutely everything down, including before and after school activities, doctor appointments, dental appointments, you name it, it will need to be put on your calendar.  This habit of writing everything down will help you not just now, but, later in your life and career when you need to remember important dates.
  3. Put an extra class schedule on your bulletin board so you know exactly what your next day’s scheduled classes are, along with knowing what free periods you have in between classes.
  4. Make sure you post all the phone numbers of each of the students in your class.  It is important to be able to contact a fellow student in case you get stuck on an assignment, or miss a class; you are able to contact someone you are familiar with.
  5. Work on a flat surface near your bulletin board, with plenty of room to write.  You don’t necessarily have to have a fancy $300 desk, but you can purchase a used desk, or use a piece of shelving resting on a column of bricks, or perhaps a tray over your knees which you can use if you are comfortable with writing on top of a bed or on the floor.
  6. Keep a supply of tape, scissors, magic markets, pens, pencils, thumbtacks or push pins, clips and a good supply of extra notebook paper.  It is important to also keep this supply of items neatly categorized and stored in a spare drawer, bookshelf or in a box so that you are not frantically searching all over the house.
  7. Purchase a notebook, or binder, separated with dividers for each subject you are studying.  If your teacher requires something different, you will be advised.  Look for notebooks that have sleeves to hold all the important handouts your teacher’s provide.  Keep an extra copy of your class schedule taped to the inside cover of this ledger.
  8. Copy all of your daily homework assignments into a steno-style assignment pad which can then be removed from the pad and clipped to the inside cover of the three-ring notebook or binder.
  9. Purchase a book bag, or comfortable backpack, to carry all of your important items to school each day.  This book bag or backpack is essential when you need to carry such things as gum, a wallet, pencils, and even reading material as well as your notebooks, textbooks and other schools supplies.  This is an essential part of your daily wardrobe.
  10. An alarm clock to help you get yourself up when you’ve spent a long night finishing up an assignment or studying late for a test the next day.

Although these next items are optional, they are nonetheless important in any type of learning: a dictionary, thesaurus, library card, wristwatch, and a copy of multiplication tables.


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