By Finstein, Rita F; Yang, Fei Yao; Jones, Rchele
Organization is an essential skill for all of us. For the student who has a learning disability (LD), development of expertise may require direct instruction and guidance (Borich, 2000). The true talent of the student with LD can be masked by his inability to produce work that reflects his abilities. A student who cannot find his paper but assures you that it is finished, the one who brings a math paper that appears to be a mass of unintelligible gibberish, or the student who hands you her English paper in a crumpled wad, may simply be telling you that he or she needs help with organizational skills. Lack of organizational skills can influence the work quality, the satisfaction of turning a paper in on time, and the self-worth of any student, but it is especially significant for students with LD. This student may not turn in his science assignment because he misplaced it or forgot that he had it to do, did not take it home, and thus did not have it to turn in on time.
Good organizational skills useful throughout life can be learned through small, integrated steps practiced in and out of school. Teachers, parents, and others can foster acquisition of organizational skills. They can encourage students with LD to:
1 Believe that they can do what is asked. As the student with LD shows small increments of progress, teachers need to praise and praise often. Positive attitudes are contagious and help in learning any skill. True praise builds confidence in students with disabilities. It is not possible to say often enough “Good job. I like the way you followed the three math steps” or “Well done,” when the teacher hands back the spelling test or “I like the way you are planning your day,” when the student remembers to go to tutoring.
2 Work cooperatively with parents. Teachers should model a good relationship between home and school. A strong partnership helps the student with LD (Bryan & Burstein, 2004). Teachers can show parents how to monitor homework and to help their child follow a work schedule at home. Teachers can open communication between the parents and themselves with phone conferences and correspondence.
3 Post needed Information on a bulletin board. At home, parents can help their child be organized by using a bulletin board, refrigerator door, or other convenient location to post “To Do” lists. A large metal clip can be used to collect school notices and messages that need to be returned to school. This provides a convenient place that the child will always know where to put school correspondence (Practicing Organizational Skills at Home, 2005). The parent should use guided practice, and with time, the student will be more independent in making “To Do” lists.
4 Use checklists to track activities. Checklists are used frequently for school-age students. Checklists provide a way for the student to check off each task as it is finished, for example, bringing required materials to each class and returning materials to their proper place. In addition, checklists also empowers the student to feel a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence, as the marked-through or crossed-out items means that he has finished those responsibilities.
5 Make and update a calendar. A calendar can give an overview to an entire day, week, or school year. It helps break large tasks into sizeable, workable units. Use of different colors for various activities helps highlight the importance of due dates for projects, assignments, and exams. In addition, the calendar helps the student with LD to meet deadlines. Calendars useful for home and school can be a tool to assist students in completing tasks on time and in managing time effectively. Parents can check the calendar at home, and the teacher can monitor it at school.
6 Follow a daily agenda Used with the calendar, the daily agenda breaks tasks listed on the calendar into steps for completion. The availability of commercially purchased daily agendas that provide a place to list tasks to be done or considered each day helps the student with LD meet her deadlines as marked on the calendar.
7 Use an organizer/planner. Organizers/planners in various formats-oral cues, charts, and diagrams (which distinguished them from the daily agenda)-are used to sketch out specific daily activities, such as homework or steps of a task or project. Parents and teachers can model the use of an organizer/planner, and with guided practice, students with LD will (a) learn the concept of preview and overview and (b) understand priorities of activities and when and how to complete the activity. They will also discover that free time can be scheduled within the daily time restraints.
8 Pair with a general education student. One of the most powerful influences on a student’s learning is peer pressure. Teams can be formed, with one general education student who is proficient in organization skills paired with the student who needs help with such skills. The general education student acts as a role model for his partner in these teams. The organized student can mentor his buddy in organizational skills, establish appropriate attitudes for classes, and give hints on how to study for tests. The peer-buddy relationship not only fosters cooperative learning but also contributes to the success or failure of performance in school in many ways (Borich, 2000).
9 Carry scripts/how-to cards. Mobile remainders help students stay focused throughout the day. Students with LD can use these cards to prompt them about specific steps and remind them to complete a task. These cards are convenient to pull out of their notebook or pocket as necessary.
10 Post reminders. Reminders provide a fast and visual communication to track task completion and can be stuck to one’s notebook, inside one’s locker, and so on. Students can check the reminder to know specifically what is expected. If Jim needs to be reminded of the steps to do his math problems, these can be posted inside his math book, and as he uses that book, the visual reminder is right there for him to reference. If Mary needs help remembering the “i before e” rule, the reminder is stuck on her spelling list and is visible when she begins to study.
11 Keep everything where it belongs. The adage “a place for everything, and everything in its place,” is true. All students misplace or lose an assignment, a book, a note to take home or return to school. These events seem to be daily happenings for the student with LD. She needs an assigned place for books, supplies, and notes traveling to and from school.
The student in elementary school with his own desk needs to put books in a specific order and a specific spot on or near his desk. To always know that the math book is directly above the language book is not only comforting but reliable. Covering each book with a different colored cover or having book titles on the spine of each book helps to identify each text with ease.
Secondary school brings use of a locker, which may exacerbate organizational challenges. The locker should have a designated place for anything that really needed and should not house unneeded articles. Textbooks can be arranged according to the class period in which they are used and should be always stored in that order. At the beginning of the year or semester, the student may have to use a posted note inside the door of his locker to remind him of this arrangement. Books should be arranged so that the spine side is out with the subject name clearly written on each spine.
At home, the student with LD needs an established place to put his books upon returning home. If he always puts his book bag in his room next to his desk, he will not have to wonder where it is. If sharpened pencils are in the well on his desk, he will always find them there. He benefits from a specific time and place to do his schoolwork, establishing a routine. It will soon become a habit if the student does his homework at 7 p.m. every evening in his room for an hour.
12 Determine what to carry. The student who is not in a self- contained classroom and travels from room to room during the day sometimes needs help to know what and how much to take from her locker and when and how often to visit it. A counselor may be able to arrange a schedule of classes that helps with organization. For example, the counselor can arrange classes that are back to back to be on the same floor, or at least in the same part of the building, instead of having the student be on the first floor and then the third floor the next hour or in room 101, which is on the southeast end of the building, during third period, and room 163, which is on the northwest end of the building, for fourth period. However, if convenient scheduling is not possible, the student will benefit from carrying the books for first and second period with her when she leaves her locker instead of having to come back after first period to get that book for second period. This can be adjusted, depending how many books need to be carried at one time, but the object is to stress that the student should not have to return to her locker between every class.
Another situation finds the student trying to carry all that he needs for the ent\ire day with him to every class. The student should carry only what he needs and not load himself down with books and materials he does not need to carry. This may mean he carries materials for just two classes, or it can mean that he carry more. The student may carry only the books and supplies he needs for the morning classes as he leaves for first period. At lunch he can return to his locker, put away the morning materials, and get all that is needed for the afternoon. It depends on the student’s schedule. Teachers can stress the importance of this through role play, discussion, relating personal incidents, or asking students about their experiences. Essentials needed for every class should be carried at all times. This will include at least two pencils, a pen, notebook paper, and some means of storing assignments. If there are other items needed for a specific class, they can be added at the morning or afternoon stop to the locker.
An important stop at the locker is the one right before leaving school. The student with LD should check her schedule, planner, or “To Do” list-whatever she is using to document what it is she has to do-and pull from the locker those books and materials she needs to complete her homework at home. This will help eliminate not completing assignments because the materials needed to do the assignments were left at school.
13 Know teacher routines. Students with LD need to know the established routines for each teacher they have and follow them. Teachers at the beginning of a term hand out class requirements and expectations; the student should keep these in a notebook for reference. A good plan of action upon entering a classroom is to check to see if pencils are sharpened, look at the board to see if there is an introductory assignment to do, sit in the assigned seat, and have all books accessible for use.
14 Carry an efficient and orderly notebook. A notebook with dividers separating space for each subject is a vital organizational tool. After each subject divider, a folder for assignments completed and a folder for assignments still to do not only remind the student what he must do but also secure a place for the work. Everything in the notebook should be secured either within the rings or in folders to avoid losing them if the notebook is dropped. A calendar or schedule at the front of the notebook to record daily assignments keeps the student aware of what he has done and what he still needs to do.
15 Wear a rubber band bracelet. To encourage time on task and completion of work, a younger child can wear a rubber band around the wrist of her writing hand until her assignment is completed and then move the rubber band to the other wrist. The objective of this switch from the hand with which the work is done to the other, nonwriting hand, is that it supplies a visiblesign that whatever it was that had to be finished is now done.
16 Date and title assignments. Students can be helped in organizing their papers by dating and tiding every assignment. This not only helps in keeping work in order but also gives a time frame for what needs to be studied for a test. If the test is to be over notes from February 11 to February 20, a paper dated January 30 would not be one that needs to be studied.
17 Engage In guided practice. Sessions to teach organizational strategies have been successful in social studies in Chicago (Fatata- Hall, 1998). Students with LD improved their grades by participating in classes that teach them good organization strategies. Teachers modeled steps and procedures, and students helped each other to improve their skills. Barry and Moore (2004) record success in giving students time to practice the steps to good organization. In another study, direct instruction in organizational strategies, such as time management, prioritizing, and study skills, increased student ability and awareness in organizing time, activities, and school work (Anday-Porter, Henne, & Horan, 2000).
18 Communicate with teachers when assignments seem overwhelming. The student should let teachers know that some assignments may be beyond her level. Lack of organizational skills is compounded when the student is also struggling with something beyond her abilities.
19 Engage in mentoring programs. Mentor programs are effective in assisting students with LD achieve at higher levels (Shevits, Weinfeld, Jewler, & Barnes-Robinson, 2003). A student struggling with organizational skills is teamed with an adult strong in these skills. The adult can model good skills and guide the struggling student to improve his organizational competence.
20 Have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that addresses organizational skills. The IEP lists short- and long-term goals for students. The student with LD who needs assistance in organization needs written goals to address these needs. For example, a short- term goal might be for the student to use a “To Do” list to monitor completion of math assignments for a 2-week period, with a long- term goal to complete all math assignments in the semester through use of a “To Do” list to monitor daily assignments.
REFERENCES
Anday-Porter, S., Henne, K., & Horan, S. (2000). Improving student organizational skills through the use of organizational skills in the curriculum. Retrieved February 9, 2005, from ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED35S616
Barry, L., & Moore, W. E., IV (2004). Students with specific learning disabilities can pass state competency exams: Systematic strategy instruction makes a difference. Preventing School Failure, 48(1), 10-15.
Borich, G. D. (2000). Effective teaching methods (4th d.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Bryan, T., & Burstein, K. (2004). Improving homework completion and academic performance: Lessons from special education. Theory into Practice,45(3), 213-219.
Fatata-Hall, K. (1998). Acquisition and application of study skills and test taking strategies with eighth grade learning disabled failing social studies. Retrieved February 9, 2005, from ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. S0029064
Practicing organizational skills at home. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2005, from http://www.hellofriend.org/parents/ organizational.html
Shevits, B., Weinfeld, R., Jewler, S., & Barnes-Robinson, L. (2003). Mentoring empowers gifted/learning disabled students to soar! Roeper Review, 26(1), 37-40.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
All three authors are doctoral students and graduate or research assistants in special education, have completed all course work, and are working on their dissertations, each concentrating on a different aspect of autism spectrum disorders and its impact. Rita F. Finstein, MA, retired after 33 years of teaching in the public schools to pursue a doctorate. She has certification in special education, English, math, history, and early childhood and is a language retraining (for dyslexia) therapist. Fei Yao Yang, MEd, a Chinese student from Taiwan, graduated from Chianan Medical Junior College with a chemistry degree. Upon coming to the United States, she received a master’s degree in generic special education from the University of Central Oklahoma. Her plan is to return to Taiwan to teach special education at the university level. Rachele Jones, MA, has been studying Asperger syndrome for more than 4 years, since the diagnosis of her eldest son and, subsequently, other family members with Asperger syndrome. Currently, her primary focus is on communication issues within Asperger syndrome and how these issues affect learning. Address: Rita F. Finstein, Texas Tech University, Box 2071, Lubbock, TX 79409-1071; e-mail: [email protected]
Copyright PRO-ED Journals Jan 2007
(c) 2007 Intervention in School and Clinic. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Comments