ORGANIZATION in Grade 5

In Ontario’s elementary schools, we assess six Learning Skills. They are:

• Responsibility
• Organization
• Independent Work
• Collaboration
• Initiative
• Self-Regulation

Over six posts, I want to lay out how I plan to teach and assess and each of these skills this upcoming year with my grade 5s.

Yesterday, I wrote about Responsibility.

Today, we continue with Organization.

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I was not an organized kid in grade 5. I constantly lost papers, had to beg, borrow and steal materials from my peers, didn’t know due dates for assignments, etc. My teacher — without offering support or strategies — wrote on my report card that I was disorganized. Fair enough.

In grade 11, I had a teacher who insisted we buy a specific-size binder, with a specific number of labeled tabs, and a whole whack different coloured pens, so we could spend most of our class time copying her multi-coloured notes from the overheard. My anti-authority streak kicked in and I refused to buy any of it. I did rather badly in that class.

As teachers, I think we need to realize that organization is a personal thing. Some of us prefer to using a pen-and-paper agenda; others (like myself) use online tools like Google Calendar. Neither is the “correct” way; what’s most important is that all of us have a strategy for keeping track of important dates.

There will be students who come to my class this year with minimal organizational skills. It will be important to identify them early on and provide them with strategies and supports so they can develop in this area.

I also want to minimize the amount of paper given to students to file and store, especially since we are going “deskless” this year.

For the most part, I’m going to expect students to show independence in this area, while providing the necessary interventions for struggling kids (including creating a buddy system for students who need extra support).