Using a Planner Effectively
A planner is the most important tool a student can use to help them manage their time and plan for schoolwork. Online school portals are not planners, but rather one resource for students to get information for populating their planners. Teacher announcements in class and assignments written on the board are other resources for information. Every student’s planner will look different based on their unique needs. Read the tips below for ideas on using a planner effectively.
Planner Suggestions:
The best planner is the one a student will actually use!
School planners are ideal because they include school-specific holidays.
If your school does not provide a planner, use any academic planner.
Students should carry their planners with them throughout the day.
Students should write things down in their planners immediately upon learning about assignments.
Students should check their planners right when they get home and dedicate 10-15 minutes to making an action plan for the day.
Students should check their planners again before bedtime to be sure everything has been completed.
6 Steps to Using a Planner:
Write something next to every class every day.
Write “none” if there is truly no work in a particular class.
Write the specific assignment rather than something categorical.
Break longer-term assignments into more manageable entries.
Star tasks that are due the next day.
Cross out items as they are completed.
When students learn how to use their planner effectively, they improve self-monitoring and organizational skills. This helps them plan ahead to turn in assignments on time and allot the right amount of time to study for tests and quizzes. Watch our video tutorial from Illuminos CEO & Co-Founder Evan Weinberger for more information on how to effectively use a planner.
Get the Illuminos Executive Function Planner
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Managing homework effectively?
Creating a study plan?
Setting SMART Goals?
Communicating and self-advocating effectively?
Then our Executive Function Planner is for you. Order yours today!
Importance of Self Awareness
Written By: Isabelle Saunders
It’s easy to pick out someone’s characteristics when you’re watching them through your own eyes. You know your friend is a natural leader, or a pessimist, or can’t take anything seriously, and so on. But it’s harder to tell when it’s YOU. For some reason, it just proves more difficult to categorize our strengths, weaknesses, values, etc., because they’re the only ones we're used to having.
This is what makes self-awareness a challenge. Self awareness, to put it simply, is knowing yourself- being conscious of your own thoughts, feelings, strengths, and limitations. It’s an asset in communicating with others and pinpointing how you think. Clearly, it’s a pretty important attribute to have in a school setting, but it’s also invaluable for life in general.
“To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.”
-Socrates
The importance of self-awareness
Here’s a scenario: you’re in a lecture-style class, meaning the teacher is primarily talking. No matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to make the information stick. That “the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell” goes in one ear and right out the other. That’s because you’re not an auditory learner- you can’t easily retain information just by hearing it said. This is one of many possible examples that goes to show why academic self-awareness is necessary. If you don’t know these things about yourself, you’ll wonder what’s wrong when you have trouble in a setting outside of your strengths. With self-awareness in your inventory, you’ll be able to set yourself up for success by utilizing your unique skill set in a problem. You’ll be able to pick out where you want to see improvements, empowering you to meet your goals and grow as a student and individual. Self-awareness isn’t just something students need. It’s a universal human necessity.
So...how?
Gaining self-awareness is about listening to yourself. Let yourself think coherently, and pay attention to the tone of your inner voice.
Pay attention to others. Other people see you, just like you see them. When with your peers, try to analyze their unique personalities. It will help to familiarize you with the concept of every person as having distinct habits and complexities.
Personality tests. Yes, really. Tests such as the enneagram and MBTI are a treasure trove of personal insight. The questions will help you analyze yourself as a complex person. They put into words your social-emotional makeup, and warn you of limitations you possibly haven’t yet taken mind of.
MBTI: https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
Enneagram:
Be receptive to constructive criticism
When someone offers you (well-meaning) constructive criticism, don’t just dismiss it. Try to see where they’re coming from, use it to better understand yourself and your weaknesses, and step towards growth.
Benefits
Social: A huge part of school is communicating with other people. This goes on to benefit things such as job interviews and presentations as well. When you are knowledgeable of yourself as a person, you have some insight as to how you come off to others. Maybe what you intended to be strong leadership can be seen as bossy. In any case, you’ll become more aware of how others interact with you, and you can use this sensitivity and empathy to strengthen your relationships with your peers.
Academic: As aforementioned, you’ll know how you best learn, and how you tend to manage work. If you know you tend to procrastinate, you can work to combat it. If you know you tend to bite off more extra-curriculars than you can chew, you can find a way to regulate it.
Personal: It’s so important to understand your emotions. It’s essential to your emotional maturity that you learn not to repress what you feel, but to be able to grasp and analyze it. You can master what you’re good at, work on what you struggle with, and understand your limits.
Check out the sites below for more information!
https://nickwignall.com/self-awareness/
Building a Support System for Students
We know that it takes a village to raise a child, but I would argue that the same holds true for shepherding a student through K-12 education – and even beyond. The Heckscher Foundation estimates that there are over nine million youth in the United States without a caring adult in their lives, and while the foundation advocates mentoring specifically from the private sector, I assert that the most effective web of support for a student is three-part: parents, teachers, and a mentor.
Parents
Parents play the most crucial role in the development of a child – they are the most consistent and long-term relationship the student will have. A parent’s role in their child’s education is to provide the longstanding perspective. Parents can identify their child’s needs and communicate them with the other members of the support system.
Children also need to feel that their parents are interested in the various aspects of their lives. This means carving out fun family time as well as monitoring the student’s academic performance. If the only message that a child hears from his parent is the berating message “Have you finished your homework?” This will risk creating an uneasy dynamic in the relationship or inducing anxiety that will show its effects in grades or emotional health.
Nonetheless, parents are well-placed to play the role of the authoritative monitor to keep their children accountable. The limits they set for their children with screen time and curfews can also promote a responsible sense of scheduling, workflow management, and a healthy work-life balance. They also have the luxury of having their relationship with their children evolve over time.
Teachers
Although teachers change every year, at six or more hours per day, they are the person a student has the longest daily contact with. Teachers also have the most training out of the three parties and can astutely assess areas in a student’s life to strengthen as well as make recommendations on how to do so. However, while most teachers are competent and well-meaning, the reality is that they are often responsible for more than twenty pupils at any given time and cannot meet the individual needs that a student may have.
On the other hand, students that show initiative and engagement with the subject matter are rarely turned away. Students having a particularly hard time in a class should set up an individual appointment with the teacher after school or during lunch to discuss the issue, whether it be with the curriculum itself or the modality of evaluation. This proactivity will likely gain extra empathy from the teacher and lead to creative problem solving or accommodations to address their concerns . Ultimately, the teacher is someone that the student has a vested interest in having on their side.
Mentors
Mentors are the last piece of the puzzle of student success. These mentors could take many forms: tutors, volunteers from the private sector, or coaches. Whatever title that the mentor may have, their niche in the student’s life remains the same; they are neither a peer nor an authoritative figure. This means that the mentor can – and must – build an organic relationship with his mentee all the while providing advice informed by life experience.
As an academic coach, I often tell my students, “Part of being a good friend is helping you think through the consequences of your actions.” This means that when a student doesn’t invest enough time in their time management, organization, studying, or behavioral problems, I help them draw the line between these causes and their stress, late nights, poor results, and/or punishments. However, a good mentor shouldn’t leave his student in a state of despair by only pointing out the negative but offer practical solutions on improvement for the future. And as with the parents, there must be more of a message being transmitted than, “Do this” and “Don’t do that.” This means taking the time to listen to the student about their day, friends, and interests.
Mentors also provide the student with the advantage of having a relationship tailored to their needs.
The Network
Student success is facilitated when all the moving pieces of the machine are working in harmony and communicating with each other. Parents should be voicing their child’s needs; teachers should offer their observations and expertise; and mentors should relay relevant information that a student may not feel comfortable sharing with an authoritative figure. Practically, having periodical check-ins with the different parties in person or over email is a good habit to adopt.
The common belief a student needs to have in parents, teachers, and mentors is that they want him to succeed. On top of providing subject support and demanding excellence, a student’s support system must be just that – supportive. The adults must be the student’s biggest cheerleaders and believe in his potential.
Academic success transcends the boundaries of the classroom and the bubbles of a scantron – it requires building an entire environment that is monitoring and addressing a student’s academic and socio-emotional needs from tutoring to mental health. It may take a village, but all the village needs to be is attentive and supportive.
Written by: Coach Daniel Aste
COVID-19 Summer Slide
COVID 19 made for a chaotic spring semester, with billions of children out of school all over the world. One of the most alarming effects of COVID 19 is the effect on subsequent school years. Since transitioning to distance learning and decreased social interaction, students are experiencing a significant decline in learning and retention due to school closures. Every summer student experiences what researchers call “summer slide.” According to a study done by the Collaborative for Student Growth, COVID-19 closures will amplify this summer slide and adversely affect student achievement for years to come.
Learning loss affects every student in different ways, however, the predictions are learning loss is more significant in older students. Research indicates that steeper decline in math compared to reading. There is also a concern regarding learning gaps as students advance to the next grade level without mastering this semester's content. In addition, schools are not sure what next school year will look like regarding reopening which will amplify the gaps.
Providing students with effective support this summer is imperative to alleviate the named “COVID-19 Slide”. Having students engage in enrichment programs and subject specific courses will help with learning loss. Assisting children in learning loss over the summer can be daunting but we are here to help. Below are three vital steps to assuring your student gets ahead and stays ahead this summer.
Assess Student Needs
Figuring out the individual needs for a student is imperative in assisting them over the summer with their academic needs. Each student is different and their content needs to be specific for them. As you start to devise an action plan for your student, think about what classes they struggled with, what classes they may need to brush up on before entering into middle or high school, and what difficult courses they will be taking next semester. Talk to your students, teachers and find the trend.
Devise an Action Plan
Once you have assessed what the student needs academically, come up with a plan for the summer. During the summer, students do not mimic the structure of school, sleep schedules and habits. To help with the lack of structure, devise an action plan with specific schedules and goals to keep the student on track. Utilize the S.M.A.R.T goal framework to help students create self improvement.
Find Support
COVID-19 has been difficult for all of us, there is no shame in asking experts for help to get your student ahead and stay ahead. Whether you are looking for academic remediation and enrichment over the summer to combat the “summer slide” or other supplementary services like standardized test prep, we are here to help! Head over to our services page or contact us for more information.