Organized Student discussion

Dear Parents:

Thank you for joining. The main purpose of this group is to serve as a discussion space for comments about THE ORGANIZED STUDENT.

Comments and discussion can center around:

--practical application tips
--roadblocks to implementation
--success stories

Vinnie Harris:

Okay, I'll go first. I don't exactly have a roadblock, but I do have an anxiety about implementation and here it is (perhaps simply reading the book will cure it). I'm working on organizing my own self, with wildly varying degrees of success, and I'm loosely using David Allen's _Getting Things Done_ (GTD) method to this end. My anxiety is two-pronged: first, that I myself am not organized enough to help my daughters get that way; second, that the book will have loads of wonderful tips that will become Just Another D@mn Thing to Do and will get me off my GTD track. There. I've said it. And in spite of my anxiety, I'm excited about journeying together to find the Magic Bullet (hm) that will fix all my daughters' study problems.

Wow sounds like me. I have the GTD book but cant' seem to implement. I'm pretty sure i have all the earmarks of A D D myself so i'm trying to get myself organized (i work from home) and still try to help Connor!

I think my whole _family_, including me, has AD(H)D, but only half of us have been diagnosed. Let's talk!

I a mthe person that introduced this book. Iwas also intimidated initially so took it bits at a time. I read a part that put it down. I applied the suggestions that seemed potentially useful to my son and not to difficult for me to implement. THis did not solve all our issues re organization but it gave us some insight into this problem as it specifically relates to our school system and htis age group . IT helped me see my concerns as relevent and not jsut an isolated situation. I wll use it again this year at least as a jumping oof point.
One part that was easy for me to approach is the idea that many of the kids throw nothing away because they cannot decipher what is not relevent anymore. SHe suggested having files in all hte subjects so that they can file , the maybe useful material in there in case they mistakenly discard.

Dear Group Members:

Thank you for joining, and, again, thanks to Seja for bringing this book forward.

During my read over the summer, I wrestled with similar issues expressed in the posts so far.

Perhaps we can come to some kind of consensus as to what parts of the system we can (parents & teachers) start implementing first, and then just keep working on the pieces until all the pieces eventually come together.

As we all know, for some children, the pieces may all come together by the end of the first 6 weeks, and for other children, it is going to be many months, even years.

I would like to suggest that, especially as Fulmore is buying student agendas/planners and intends to use them in various ways in the classroom, we (parents & teachers) start by helping students to get major assignments/events/project deadlines into their agendas. In this way we can start developing a sense of Time.

One comment made by the authors (page 154) is that planners help to make time visible and tangible allowing students to grasp the "ever-elusive" concept of time.

Also, as this is the first year we have tried to do something like this, we do not necessarily have a model for implementation, so we are learning as we go.

I am looking forward to us working together on helping students (and ourselves) generate better habits of organizing.

Vinnie Harris

Thank you, Seja and Mr. Harris, for calming me down and reminding me that we don't have to do it all and we don't have to do it perfectly. I feel much better.

Hi everyone, I just came across this discussion group and was thrilled to see it! I'm one of the co-authors of The Organized Student, and am so happy to see teachers and parents taking the time to figure out what their kids need and to help them create it.

I understand and agree with so many of the sentiments expressed here. I know how overwhelming the process of organizing can be (for both parents and kids), and I applaud you for taking the first steps. It's a process, and you should go at a pace that feels right for you.

You CAN help your kids get organized even if you're not organized yourself. In fact, helping your child often helps you clarify what is and isn't working for YOU, and you can implement similar solutions yourself.

It would be wonderful to hear how everyone's doing so far--I know kids often get off to a good start and then start to come apart at the seams when schoolwork gets overwhelming.

I look forward to seeing any updates, and would be happy to answer questions I can.

I wish you all a happy and well-organized New Year!

Jennifer

Jennifer,
Do you happen to know of a local person, (Austin, Texas) who has been trained to assist students and parents with your methods. I myself would be interested if there was someone. I believe there might be a group as well. Seja

Hi Seja,

I don't happen to know anyone in Austin, but I would recommend that you look at www.napo.net (National Association of Professional Organizers) to search for someone local who specializes in students.

In addition, I do coach via phone and email, and would be happy to work with you or even a group of parents if you like. Please feel free to contact me directly at jennifer@jenniferzwiebel.com if you'd like to chat.

Be well,
Jennifer