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When a tree falls in the woods it DOES make a sound and when a blog goes quiet, people notice!

I really don’t mean to keep taking these long absences from writing my blog but life just keeps happening to me (thankfully) and lately I have ended up doing a lot of unexpected projects, adjusting to a slightly different schedule for our family this fall and mostly doing lots and lots and lots of thinking.

Part of my thinking this month has been about this blog. I enjoy writing it very much and if nothing else, it is a historical record for my children to know what life was like for me. I hope that it also serves as a resource for people facing organizational challenges in their own lives or at least a bit of humor and entertainment watching me trying to struggle to organize mine. Sometimes it takes an enormous amount of effort to write this blog (like sorting through zillions of vacation photos and trying to put into words what will be a treasured memory for our family) but mostly it is equal parts of fun and challenge and something I really look forward to doing.

During my long hiatus, I have been shocked to hear that people actually missed my writing! What?! With all that is out there to read and entertain on the internet, why would anyone even notice? For some reason, my husband ended up being the bearer of all these tidings. He would often come home to report, “I was talking to ____ and he/she wants to know when you are going to finish writing about our road trip.” For all of you who sent these inquiries, bless you! You have warmed my heart immensely.

So for the organizational aspect of this post, I wanted to post about what to do when you get completely off track, like me trying to keep up with my blog. For me, it has been helpful to just stop for a bit, take a total break. (I do apologize for stranding my readers in a hotel in small town Illinois for such a long while, however. Perhaps you had abandoned hope of ever seeing the end of the journey.)

One of my profound thoughts during my break was that often we are organizing our own lives in exactly the right way for the circumstances we are currently facing, even though we may feel like we are disorganized or not reaching the right goals. While not writing my blog, I started a new homeschool year with my eldest daughter, started a new preschool year with my youngest daughter, did actual organizing projects for my own home (shocking!), jotted down ideas for numerous future blog posts, celebrated the loss of two teeth for my eldest child and the arrival of one for my youngest (is this a net loss of one tooth?), spent time with visiting grandparents and even scoured a large part of my house in a much-needed fall cleaning. It may be that writing the blog was not the “right” way to spend my time this month.

Then I struggled to determine a) whether to come back to the blog at all, b) how to come back and c) how to avoid a blogging void in the future. It is tempting to want to appear completely planned and ordered in how you conduct your life or business but the truth is that a full and interesting life often has too much going on to be able to control it to that extent. No matter how much we button down one area of our lives (like our housekeeping or work productivity) something else always suffers for lack of attention (health, sleep, stress level, relationships, finances, nutrition, exercise, etc. etc. etc.). Being an organized person means sometimes letting go of organization and knowing how to pick up the mess later.

As for me, my plan is to finish up my road trip first. That posting series is obviously of interest to many but more importantly, it is personally important to me to have a record of that journey. Once done, I am going to experiment with a change in format. While I generally start with a monthly theme, I am not sure this format is serving me well.

I like how monthly themes organize my blog, make it easier to summarize and easier for someone to jump in and pick up on the conversation without too much effort. On the other hand, it doesn’t really reflect how I (or anyone else for that matter) live life. It is a rare person who isn’t continually juggling one task to the next (home improvement disaster today, emergency involving a loved one tomorrow, business crisis the next day, etc.). The more realistic format would be lots of random posts on all kinds of things as they arose. But it is harder for readers to pick up on a blog written in this style, would force me to get out of my head faster and onto the blog and puts a premium on keeping up with the posts.

So for October, I am going to try a crazy blend of both styles. There will be a theme: Organizing for School Success (important to me as a homeschooling mom) but also a lot of random posts on other things too. I have a lot to catch up on.

If you are reading this month, I would really appreciate your feedback at the end of the month on whether you like or dislike this new format.

I am glad to be back with you and thanks for hanging around! Now, back to the road!

Bearing gifts for teacher on the last day of school.

This week was the end of the school year which means one of my top priority tasks was to organize thank you’s for my daughters teachers.

For this year’s teacher gifts, we went the entertaining route. I was a bit stumped for ideas but received a timely email from Pier1 Imports reminding me of their super-chic Tasting Party collection.

While realistically it might be hard for the average person to make little tiny hors d’ouevres to go on these beautiful serveware pieces, they will make even simple things like store-bought cookies or cut fruit look beautiful. We eat with our eyes “they” say.

If the teachers don’t cook or entertain they could also use them for:

• Bathroom caddy for toiletries like cotton balls, Q-tips and air fresheners
• Entryway caddy for spare change, cell phone charging, keys gloves and other pocket gear
• Stylish desk caddy for paper clips, tape, stapler, stamps, etc.
• Small craft supplies caddy for spools of ribbon, beads, stickers, etc.
• Modern Flower vase

Best of all, I got them for about the same tiny budget I spent last year.

I also saved a little time on the card this year without skimping on the style. Instead of hand glittering and gluing on a photo, I just used a pre-made photo card for teachers.

For this post, I blurred out the identifying info and faces to protect privacy (and yes, my daughter’s teachers are beautiful women). The card had the desired effect and the teachers really loved it, particularly my daughter’s hilarious expression.

Any other creative teacher gifts this year?  Can you think of another use for the serving dishes?  Please share in the comments.

P.S.  I have no affiliation with Pier 1 Imports.

"Schoolchildren at Greenhills, Ohio" (1938). Photo by John Vachon for the U.S. Farm Security Administration. From the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

This month at Ruly we have been discussing organizational strategies for the school/learning environment. Below is a quick recap of this month’s articles, reader comments and relevant news stories.

This month’s articles pointed out that there are two aspects to learning success. The first critical skill is the basic nuts and bolts of having binders and calendars and other physical organizing tools to track key information. The other critical skill is to take a step back and understand your learning style, your strengths and weaknesses, and position yourself for maximum success.

Positioning for Success

• August’s Theme: Organizing for the School Environment (along with a discussion of the reasons why I chose to homeschool my daughter this year)
• Could Defects in Executive Functioning Be Hurting Your Child’s Success in School (how to identify an executive functioning defect and learning and scheduling strategies to compensate)
• Adapting Your Organizing Style to Your School

Lou commented:

“Some professors, you noted, need to ‘hide the main points as obscurely as possible.’ As a young college student, I thought this was a sign of their brilliance and my ignorance. As a graduate student, I felt the professors were somewhat lazy and had not taken time for thoughtful presentation.

One of my mentors in graduate school told me, ‘The grade you get on your work often tells you more about where the professor is coming from, than what you may have learned.’ That advice helped me turn my “B” work into some of my best learning!

• Ruly Bookshelf: That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week (how to assist a discouraged or underperforming learner using organizational strategies)

Author Ana Homayoun recently Tweeted an article in which she is quoted titled “No. 1 Back-to-School Rule: Get Organized.” How true!

• Ruly Bookshelf: The Shut-Down Learner (a professional psychologist’s view that quite a few discouraged or underperforming learners in our public schools might actually be manifesting visual-spatial dominant thinking and weaknesses in language skills). I received several behind-the-scenes comments that this book struck a chord with people who saw themselves or loved ones.

Ruth commented:

“I don’t know the answer—but in our society the bottom line is if you communicate well–and that means verbal and written–you get hired more often, you make more money, and you have a much better chance at being successful even than someone who may inherently know the subject better but can’t communicate. . . .”

I was surprised to see an article recently on NPR titled: “Think You’re An Auditory Or Visual Learner? Scientists Say It’s Unlikely” indicating that typing people as categories of learners is not appropriate or effective to boost learning. The article indicates that we are better off looking for similarities in learning styles than teaching differently for different styles.

School Organizing Materials and Techniques

• Back-to-School Organizing Ideas from the 2012 IKEA Catalog

IKEA enthusiast Mary thoughtfully commented:

“[R]eceiving the IKEA catalog is a bit like Christmas morning for me! With three people, two home offices, and our array of hobbies and interests in 900 square feet, creative storage is a MUST!!!!! . . . The only thing that makes me laugh is when I actually put “real” items in the cases, they are never as zen and uniform looking as the catalog. . . . I *LOVE* IKEA, but have to remember to be realistic about the end outcome… catalog world and real world are NOT the same!”

• How to Organize School Papers and Your Home Work/Office

Social Commentary

Ruly Ruth shared wisdom from years of school volunteering emphasizing the need for school volunteers and the easiest ways to get involved.

• Ruly Ruth: How to Be a Great School Volunteer

Volunteer diadia commented:

“. . . Every parent helps and often artistic teens thrive on their parents’ underwriting”

Amy commented:

“[O]ne big assist to teachers is just to read with students one on one or small group…that is always a need…and math tutor, too…and definitely a male in the process…so many children without fathers in the home and the male presence always gives a certain feeling of security for the children.”

Sue Shellenbarger wrote a fascinating article for the Wall Street Journal’s The Juggle blog, noting:

“While volunteering used to be just a nice way to get to know your child’s teacher and classroom, now it has become a lot more – the last line of defense against a decline in the quality of education.”

–Sue Shellenbarger, “Needed: Parent Volunteers in Schools,” WSJ.com The Juggle Blog, August 31, 2011.

Other Posts

Finally, in light of the recent earth events occurring on the east coast of the United States, I posted some Hurricane Irene Preparation Tips. I am thankful to report that Irene passed by our house with relatively little impact. We will have more to say about Irene next month. Check back tomorrow to find out how Irene fits into September’s organizing theme.

Thank you for your readership and comments this month! If you have input for future topics related to school organization, please share in the comments.

"Turlock, California. Housewife, who is president of the PTA (Parent-Teacher Association), hands tomato plants to workman for planting in school garden. The tomatoes will be used for school lunches and the surplus canned. The hot lunch program in the school sponsored by the PTA; will continue it alone if the WPA (Work Projects Administration) help is discontinued. All children of all ages and income groups gained in weight with hot lunches." (1942) Photo by Russell Lee. From the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

With school beginning in just a few weeks in many parts of the country, I asked Ruly Ruth, school volunteer extraordinaire, to provide some advice to parents wanting to make a difference by volunteering at their child’s school. Unfortunately, some parents have negative experiences as school volunteers and are easily discouraged from participating in the school system. Ruth shares with us how to set the right expectations and make school volunteering a smooth and easy process.

I have over 8 years of experience volunteering in 4 schools–granted, all at the elementary school level, and have even been named Volunteer of the Year 2 years ago. I truly believe that every parent should volunteer in their child’s school—regardless of what year they are and whether it’s public, private, or even boarding school. This way you know what’s going on scholastically, you get to know teachers and administration on a personal level, the kids in the school, and in my experience you’re personal feedback and requests are honored more often as well.

The following are geared mainly to elementary school. Jr. high/Middle and high school is a whole other ball of wax. They don’t like/need parents in the classroom, but there’s loads you can help out with still–be it the school store, office or lunchroom administration, and PTA or the school’s student/teacher/parent organization, you just have to let the administration know of your desire to be involved.

Here are my tips to volunteering successfully–again, mainly for elementary school:

1) Write in the first week of school a personal note to your child’s teacher(s) expressing your desire to volunteer.

2) To be a good volunteer–and one that is sought after—you need to follow the directions the teacher gives you. They have in mind exactly what they’re looking for. If after working with the teacher for a while and you have a suggestion, you may give it then. Do NOT go in with your own ideas looking to run the classroom–this is a fast way to be short-termed or minimally used. I’ve seen both! Yes, volunteering is like a job! And the teacher is the Boss! (This experience should also be put on your resume, by the way, and that teacher can be used as a reference as well.)

3) Know in advance most teachers will not use volunteers until about October or after Columbus Day. This is so that the students know the teacher is in charge, and that this is THEIR classroom. Once order is established, only then do teachers usually bring in volunteers. Do NOT be offended if you have nothing to do in September. The older the grades, the less you will be used or less often. With younger grades, especially kindergarten, you may be called in almost immediately.

4) You may or may not be working directly with students. If you have a preference, let the teacher know. I’ve been a reading and math tutor as well as a copier/collator/stapler, a project office volunteer where I’ve done die-cuts, and PTA volunteer coordinator–volunteering to get volunteers for specific projects. There’s lots to do in a school! And whether or not you’re a people person doesn’t matter. Follow your passion. If you love science or math or music, let the school know–they’re usually very happy to let you help in your desired interest!

5) Treat the office staff and administration with respect. Do not steamroll or ignore them–they are part of the team. Volunteering, although our time and efforts and talents are given for free, is like a job! And the office staff are the coordinators/contact personnel almost always–not to mention the information vault. And almost always they are more than willing to help!!!

6) Have fun! If you dread going to volunteer, STOP!! This is, after all, volunteering. And although not every day will be a piece of cake, if most of the time you’re not looking forward to it, don’t do it!

I LOVE being around my children’s schools and the kids and employees. It’s a very fun and vibrant environment. And I hope you do too!

From Anne:

A few more perspectives on this topic:

• “Volunteer? No Way!” Anne Tergesen, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, May 8, 2006 (the comments are the most interesting part of this article, mentioning the many reasons women don’t want to volunteer in schools, also a suggestion to use a free service called SignUp Genius to make organizing and communicating with school volunteers easier.)
• “Dads Not Allowed? Is Your Classroom Father-Friendly? It should be!” Calvin Hennick, Scholastic, August 2008 (insight into why more men don’t volunteer in schools, including this interesting comment, “Schools are matriarchal . . . We discovered that school teachers actually preferred to have mothers there rather than the fathers. Who knows why?”  Also profiles the group Watch D.O.G.S (Dads of Great Students), a male-alternative to the PTA, asking Dads to volunteer one full day a year in schools)

Do you volunteer in your child’s school?  What tips do you have for school volunteers?  Please share in the comments.

The 2012 IKEA Catalog is out! While I generally don’t get too excited about snail mail, the IKEA catalog is one of the best reasons to walk to the mailbox these days. The innovative Scandinavian-modern design always manages to surprise and inspire me. If you didn’t get yours in the mail already, you can browse it online or request a mailed copy at this link.

The theme for the 2012 IKEA Catalog is “A House Doesn’t Need to be Big, Just Smart.” Since this month, we are focusing on back-to-school organizing, I was pleased to see several ideas in the IKEA catalog specifically related to organizing desks for work or study.

Child-parent shared office space. From the 2012 IKEA Catalog. Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.

The office on pages 242-243 (above) shows something we discovered in our family– that kids need a desk and office space too! IKEA does it with style, giving parent and child identical desks but downscaling the child’s desk to have less surface space, a nearby cart with drawers and hanging space on the wall to display art and store more supplies. Having children and adults working side by side may help to motivate both to get their work done while providing some family bonding time. In our case, it also makes for a messier office space—something we are still trying to get under control—but we enjoy working together.

MICKE desk from the 2012 IKEA Catalog. Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.

Page 261 highlights a new price on a great desk, the MICKE, which provides a long surface space and two drawers, perfect if you have two little ones sharing a desk.

Pages 248-249 provide great solutions to help keep the surface of your desk clear and ready for work. The flat space on your desk is the most valuable real estate in your office. You want to aim to keep it clear of papers and supplies (and computer equipment if possible!) so that you can spread out and work.

Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.	GRUNDTAL rail system, initially developed for the IKEA kitchen line, can be mounted to the wall and the cutlery caddies used to store pens, pencils, scissors, etc. Rail is $8.99 and each caddy is $5.99.
Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.	GALANT desktop shelf $35. If you have to store papers or supplies on your desk, add some more surface space to your desk with a desktop shelf and store them away from the main desk surface.
Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.	GRUNDTAL knife rack. More repurposing of kitchen organizing tools for the office! The GRUNDTAL magnetic knife rack stores scissors and keys and spice containers can be used for rubber bands, paper clips, thumbtacks, etc. I love the key idea! If you don’t have a designated spot for your car keys, this mag strip could also be placed wherever you tend to dump your keys.
Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.	EKBY slanted shelving. A brilliant IKEA idea to allow you to put shelves on slanted walls. While I don’t have need for this in my office, we have a bathroom that may benefit from this innovation! You may also find a use for this shelving if you need to carve an office out of an odd space.
Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.	RETUR recycling bins. Another creative repurposing for the office. . . IKEA uses its recycling bins as a sort of desk hutch. Mount it above the desk for a way to keep your desk surface clear and hide away any untidy-looking supplies.
Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.	For another great use of the RETUR recycling bins, see page 275 where they pasted kids artwork to the front of the bins to personalize them and display more art!
Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.	PLUGGIS waste bins. If you recycle, this is a great way to easily stack and sort the recycling using very small space. You could use one bin for waste and the other for mixed recycling or add another bin and use one for office paper.

5 OTHER 2012 IKEA FAVORITES UNDER $20

Aside from the desk and office organizing ideas, I couldn’t help but notice the great ideas below to add to my IKEA shopping list.

Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.	ENUDDEN double toilet paper roll holder $6.49 Holds two rolls AND gives you a small shelf to store other toiletries or decorative items! This would be great for a small bathroom or powder room to conserve space.
Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.	LJUSA hand powered flashlight $4.99 A must for your emergency preparedness kit– particularly if children in your home always seem to find the flashlights to play with.
Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.	HATTEN side table. The picture showing this table as a storage area for knitting had my attention immediately! Fantastic and a great conversation piece! $19.99
Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.	SKURAR hanging planters. These lacy-edged hanging planters are adorable and at $4.99 each add a huge boost of style. These would be particularly great in winter to remind us of plants and greenery as we wait for spring.
Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.	VARMLUFT light. When I first saw this simple paper lamp concept, I wasn’t quite sold on it. But then I saw how the IKEA designer staged it in a group of 3 in this bedroom and I saw its genius. Simple, modern, edgy, cool. And for about $9 with the cord set, a cheap way to give a modern art look to any space.

Image © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Used with permission.

Something else I loved about the 2012 IKEA Catalog . . .the shots of food starting on page 296. The food looks so fresh and delicious and inspires me to learn how to cook! Maybe next year they will include a recipe or two!

Has your 2012 IKEA Catalog arrived? What IKEA items are piquing your interest these days? Please share in the comments.

"Group of young women studying electro-magnets in normal school, Washington, D.C." (1899) Photo by Frances Benjamin Johnston. From the Library of Congress Prints and Photogrpahs Division.

Even the most organized person is going to face challenges once in a while adapting to the organizing demands of a particular situation.  School environments really test all of us.  There are many different ways of teaching the same subject matter, different teacher personalities, different textbooks and learning materials, and varying levels of difficulty within each subject area.

My experience in graduate school illustrates how one person can be very organized in one school context and struggle to stay afloat in another.  I pursued both an MBA and a law degree.  Each school had radically different approaches to teaching.

Straightforward Business

In the MBA program, the courses and materials were oriented toward working professionals.  The goal was to teach the concepts in a relatively straightforward way and then challenge students to apply those concepts to new situations likely to be encountered in the business world.  Textbooks were well-organized with each chapter providing a brief introductory overview, sections and examples illustrating each of the main points, highlighted vocabulary words and an end-of-chapter review.  Most professors taught according to the book’s structure, moving in order from chapter 1 to chapter 2, etc. and provided a detailed syllabus with reading assignments and due dates.  Occasionally, a chapter was skipped here and there or a supplemental reading packet was required but generally it was easy to anticipate what was coming next.

The biggest organizational challenge in the MBA program was in coordinating the numerous group projects required.  There was rarely any assignment that was not done in group format or that did nor require a group class presentation.  While an independent worker might find this frustrating, this group structure had a purpose.  It was a great way to practice leadership skills, resolve conflicts and understand different points of view.

Studying in the MBA program was relatively straightforward and similar to what I had done in college and even high school.  There was some memorization, some application of mathematical concepts and some creative thinking.

Hidden Law

In the law program, the Socratic method was used.  Ideally, with this method, the professor uses the class discussion to help students make leaps of knowledge, assuming everyone has already read and understands the material.  In practice, this is hard to achieve.

First, every law textbook I ever encountered was strangely organized, making it difficult to teach yourself the material.  There were always chapter headings but no introductory or closing summaries of law.  Each chapter contained various important cases, illustrating some concept or rare application of law.  After each case were a series of complicated questions illustrating a unique way to apply legal concepts that could only be answered with hours of additional research.  There were no answer keys, no bullet points, no highlighting of key terms.  Each professor had a unique spin on the law and almost never provided a straightforward lecture telling you exactly which points were important to study or whether your understanding of the material was correct.  It was always puzzling to me why professors felt that the study of law was not hard enough as it is and that the textbooks and lectures needed to hide the main points as obscurely as possible.

Second, the professors made it difficult to stay current with the immense reading assignments.  Some professors never provided a syllabus.  Even if they did provide a syllabus, only a few professors would list all the reading assignments on the syllabus, the rest would parcel out reading assignments at each class.  Most professors never went in textbook order.  One day you would start at page 33, the next day you were reading a supplemental class handout, then skipping to page 152 or back to page 12.

It seemed to me that the only reason the readings weren’t listed in the syllabus was because it was one more incentive to get students to attend class.  Believe it or not, some of the best law students my first year almost never attended class!  They read the textbook on their own (or a Cliff’s notes case summary version) and memorized various study guides instead.

Studying in the law program was a challenge.  I found that there was so much information to digest that most of my time was spent summarizing and re-summarizing material.  As an example, first you might read a very long case and write a 1-2 page summary about it.  After you had done this for 50 or 100 cases in a class, you realize that even your summary has too much information and that you need to remember that case only for one or two key concepts.  So you make a summary of the case summaries.  Then, you need to create a course outline highlighting the key concepts of law, drawing from class lectures, the textbook and supplemental study materials.  The outline often was 20 or 30 single spaced pages!  When you prepped for a test, there was no way to remember 20 or 30 pages so you had to take each concept in the outline and boil it down to about 5 points you could remember in case that concept came up on an exam. Multiply this effort times 4 classes at a time and you can see why most law students are a stressed out bunch.

Lessons Learned

These contrasting experiences taught me a lot about the learning process.  The MBA program was focused on teaching for clarity.  The refrain students heard most often was, “Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you’ve told them.”  This was the golden rule for presentations and papers.  Essentially, you were presenting the same material 3 times in different formats.  When it is critical that your message be understood, simplicity, repetition and clarity are the guidelines.

Teaching Strategies that Promote Comprehension

1. Textbook Organization. Choose a clearly written textbook with table of contents, index and end of chapter summary reviews.  Follow the textbook order or create your own custom reading packet that is read in page order so there is no guessing what comes next and students can work at their own pace.  Make the textbook and syllabus available as soon as possible, ideally as soon as the prior semester is over and students are registering for class.
2. Lecture Organization. Provide a lecture outline or slides that students can follow as they listen.  Reserve note-taking for fill-in-the blank items, questions or class discussion items.
3. Test Organization. Provide a review or study sheet of concepts to be covered on the exam.  Work through example problems/cases.

Some subjects, particularly those in the liberal arts, don’t lend themselves easily to organizational frameworks.  However, most people cannot make sense of a jumble of information without at least some structure.  If your instructor does not provide the structure for you and you can’t figure it out yourself, seek help from classmates or a tutor.  Look for clues from the instructor’s presentation style.  Does the instructor primarily compare and contrast different ideas?  Is the instructor more focused on the logical or historical progression of ideas?  When your instructor refers back to something you have already learned, what key points is the instructor focusing on? Those are the points to highlight and study.

Strategies to Cope with Unclear Instruction

1. Read ahead in classes where the assignments are given in advance so you will have time to adapt to classes where the assignments are unknown or vary from week to week.
2. Try not to get behind.  Create a running outline summarizing course information that you update after each class.
3. Highlight any information that the instructor repeats in subsequent classes or summarizes.  These are often important topics that appear on the exams.
4. Form a study or test review group and ask questions of the instructor.
5. Try not to get too stressed out. If everyone is struggling with the class, most often grades are curved upward in the end.

What lessons have you learned as a student or teacher?  Which courses were easiest or most difficult for you?  What study methods did you rely on?  Please share in the comments.

Last week was a huge event for our family. We welcomed a wonderful boy! Our son is tiny and cute and his arrival requires that my husband and I update our parenting skills to learn more about raising boys.

Ana Homayoun’s book, That Crumpled Paper was Due Last Week: Helping Disorganized and Distracted Boys Succeed in School and Life, was a timely read. Ms. Homayoun is a former financial analyst for a major Wall Street firm turned educational organizer. Her specialty is helping junior high and high school age children, particularly boys, organize their time and energy to do better in school.

Why the focus on boys? Certainly girls have many of the same organizational challenges when it comes to school. Ms. Homayoun gives a couple of data points here:

“Scientists have discovered in recent years that the brains of men and women seem to be wired differently; women can more easily handle language-based multi-tasking—writing notes while listening to someone speak, for instance—while men are superior at spatial-based multi-tasking, which comes in handy in sports and videogames, but is rarely any help in the classroom. . . .”

–Ana Homayoun, That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week

She also indicates that since boys end puberty as many as three years later than girls, differences in brain maturation rates also account for why boys struggle with school more often than girls. While the book focuses solely on the needs of pre-teen and teenage boys, the advice can be easily translated to girls or even adults.

First, a few things not to do . . .

1) Don’t take it personally. If your son is disorganized or not doing well in school, don’t assume that this is a reflection of your poor parenting or example.

“I meet a lot of parents who feel personally embarrassed and guilty about their son’s poor academic performance, detachment from school, and general malaise. Yet by complaining about their son’s shortcomings, they are actually (unwittingly) creating a more toxic environment. The parents who come into my office assuming the worst of their child (“He never gets it . . . he’s always doing this”) are often the ones digging their children—and themselves—a bigger hole, complete with the emotional baggage that makes it more difficult for their children to become organized, responsible and accountable.”

–Ana Homayoun, That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week

2) Don’t get too involved.

“Some moms who come into my office are terrifically organized—nearly perfectly so . . . and they wonder why their sons are so disorganized. Part of the problem is, of course, that with Mom so on top of it, these sons have never been forced to develop such skills on their own. When confronted with the need to organize themselves, they consequently react with frustration and, finally, give up on organization altogether.”

–Ana Homayoun, That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week

3) Don’t pay your child for grades.

“To help your child grow and develop as a student and a person, he needs to feel comfortable making mistakes and growing within his own abilities. By bribing him, you are setting the bar where you think it should be instead of allowing him to develop the intrinsic motivation that, who knows, could likely have him one day exceeding your wildest expectations.”

–Ana Homayoun, That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week

4) Don’t complain about your son’s shortcomings in his presence.

“By humiliating him, you’re telling him that mistakes and failure are synonymous; they’re not. If they were, we’d all be getting Fs every day of our lives.”

–Ana Homayoun, That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week

Ms. Homayoun then outlines 8 different personality types typically associated with disorganized boys. (Again, I think you can apply these personality types to just about anyone. I certainly found myself among the types.) The reasons for disorganization can vary from the “Over-Scheduled Procrastinator” to the “Sincere Slacker.” Different organizational techniques may be required to address each personality type.

Ms. Homayoun emphasizes the need to set goals with your student and gives child-appropriate questions to ask to help develop these goals. Ms. Homayoun encourages the whole family to get in on the act and post their goals in a public spot. Regularly, the family should check in with each other to see how everyone is doing with their goals.

“In coming up with these goals, students are taking two very important steps: They’re establishing a clear purpose and path for accomplishing what they want to accomplish, and they’re beginning to view being organized as an important part of finding their own personal pathway.”

–Ana Homayoun, That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week

For those excited about purchasing school supplies, Ms. Homayoun also has a chapter on specific organizational techniques. A few tips (and some examples from amazon.com) . . .

• She prefers binders, one for each subject, including subjects that don’t generally have a lot of paperwork, like music or P.E. Her argument is that everything generates at least some paperwork and you need a slot to put that in. Within each binder, create five tabs: notes, homework, handouts, tests/quizzes and paper.
• She prefers “reinforced binder paper” to prevent paper from tearing at the holes.
• Since creating flash cards is one of her recommended techniques for studying, she recommends that you purchase recipe card or index card boxes to store the flash cards in for easy access.
• All students need a planner and she recommends planners that provide one full page for each school day (surprisingly hard to find!).

Wilson Jones (W362-14W) 3-Hole View Binder, 1-Inch Rings, 11 Inch by 8 1/2 Inch, White at amazon.com.
Pendaflex Oxford Blank Index Cards, 3x5 Inches, White, 1000 cards at zmazon.com.	Plastic Index Card File Box, 300 3"x5" Card Capacity at amazon.com.
Academic Year Daily Business Planners - July 2011 at amazon.com.	Avery WorkSaver Insertable Tab Dividers, 5-Tab Set, 1 Set at amazon.com.

Ms. Homayoun’s expertise in the school environment really shows. She has chapters on learning differences, separation/divorce and chronic illness. She discusses the impact of technology on this age group, including cell phones, Facebook and online learning management systems. She suggests ideal study areas in the home–notably not in the child’s bedroom– and homework and test strategies.

For more from Ms. Homayoun, see the video clip below:

This book was a great read both for parents who have children in middle and high school as well as those, like myself, who have many years until that time. It was helpful to get a preview of the organizational skills kids need as they progress in school and has challenged me to come up with simple ways to begin developing these skills in my children now.

Do you agree that boys struggle more with school organization than girls? What techniques have you found especially helpful for organizing boys? Please share in the comments.

Being an elementary or secondary student these days is a tough job. You have to be to school on time, usually at an early hour of the morning, manage numerous classes and subjects every day, do your homework on time and cope with the stress of tests, papers, and everyday social interaction with fellow students. It is at least as stressful as having a full-time job.

Student success requires organization. You need to make sure you bring the right materials each day, turn in assignments on time, plan ahead and budget your time effectively to take into account any additional lessons or extracurricular activities. Add to this complexity, the high academic demands of today’s school environment and it is no surprise that many children struggle to keep up with it all!

Every student has some basic struggles with motivation, including studying, procrastinating and going to bed on time. But some students struggle more than others, taking hours to complete assignments or forgetting to turn in homework that has been completed. Other struggles these children may face include:

1. Easily distracted. Loses track of what they are supposed to be doing.

2. Inappropriate behavior even when the child knows how they are “supposed” to behave.

3. Cognitive rigidity. Easily stressed by any changes to established routines or new social situations. Frustrated when other kids don’t follow the rules.

4. Struggles to pay attention and follow directions; makes “careless” mistakes.

5. Difficulty setting personal limits. Does not realize when fatigued; needs help figuring out how best to manage stress.

6. Takes a long time transitioning to bedtime/rest.

7. “Reacts to failure with decreased effort, avoidance and declarations that they ‘don’t care.’”

8. Reading and writing difficulties.

– Extracts from Late, Lost and Unprepared: A Parents’ Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning by clinical psychologists Joyce Cooper-Kahn, Ph.D. and Laurie Dietzel, Ph.D.

Often, these students have diagnosed conditions like AD/HD or learning disabilities, but sometimes their troubles are undefined and described as failures in “executive functioning.”

Late, Lost and Unprepared: A Parents’ Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning by clinical psychologists Joyce Cooper-Kahn, Ph.D. and Laurie Dietzel, Ph.D. defines executive functioning as:
The executive functions are a set of processes that all have to do with managing oneself and one’s resources in order to achieve a goal. It is an umbrella term for the neurologically-based skills involving mental control and self-regulation.

Within the context of the school environment, Cooper-Kahn and Dietzel identify 8 cognitive functions in “executive functioning” that affect student success:

1. Inhibition (the ability to exercise impulse control, such as raising your hand and waiting your turn to speak, etc.)

2. Shift (adapting to changing situations)

3. Emotional Control

4. Initiation (getting started on a task, i.e. avoiding procrastination)

5. Working Memory

6. Planning/Organization

7. Organization of Materials

8. Self-Monitoring (follow-through and completion of tasks)

It can take until your early 30’s for the areas of the brain responsible for executive functioning to fully mature and some people may never fully develop these functions. If you are looking at this list and are thinking you still struggle as an adult with these functions, you probably do!

It is important to remember that executive functioning is not necessarily related to intelligence and it is possible to be a very intelligent person with weak executive functioning. I would be willing to wager that everyone struggles with at least one aspect of executive functioning on an ongoing basis.

As I read Cooper-Kahn and Dietzel’s book, I have to confess that I am still a bit confused as to exactly when a defect in executive functioning is a diagnosable problem! So many of the situations described in the book sounded like “normal” kid reactions, such as being too excited, forgetting, lacking enthusiasm for homework or assignments, etc. Likewise, much of the advice offered for these problems sounded like typical mom advice, like “If you want any help from me on your homework you must ask me before 9 p.m.” I wasn’t exactly turned on by this advice and it was the sort of mundane, repetitive advice that really irritated me as a child.

After thinking about this for a while, I realized that these defects in executive functioning aren’t necessarily problematic in all areas of a child’s life but can be very problematic in the typical school environment. When you have a classroom of 30 children to teach, it is hard to get anything accomplished if every single child can’t sit still, listen, remember, do their work on time and get along with their peers. Most schools and most parents don’t have the resources to tailor educational offerings to the needs of each child so the child must tailor his/her behavior to what is being offered. It is really quite amazing when you think about it that most children can adapt to what is expected and that the schools function as well as they do!

Therefore, I conceive of Cooper-Kahn and Dietzel’s book as more of a survival guide for the public (or private) school system. If you don’t have the option to change the type of education your child receives, then both parents and children need to adjust their routines and behaviors to match what the school system requires. When the balance does not seem to be working, the authors offer many suggestions based on the type of executive functioning defect present. Some of these suggestions include:

Solutions for People with Executive Functioning Defects

1. Lower the bar – avoid situations where the expectations are too high for your abilities (ex. change schools, switch to lower-level classes).

2. Cut back on extracurricular activities to alleviate stress/time pressures.

3. Develop habits and routines for everyday activities.

4. Have psychological testing done. There are many advantages to private testing but it is expensive and often not covered by insurance. Most public schools will provide educational psychological testing free of charge.

5. Obtain evaluation and treatment for other psychological disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders, OCD, depression and bipolar disorder

6. Enforce tighter limits and closer supervision for children with weak impulse control who may be susceptible to substance abuse and other risky behaviors.

– Extracts from Late, Lost and Unprepared: A Parents’ Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning by clinical psychologists Joyce Cooper-Kahn, Ph.D. and Laurie Dietzel, Ph.D.

I was, of course, particularly interested in the chapters related to helping children with organization. The ideas the authors put forward were not necessarily novel but certainly are part of any sound organizational strategy. Below are some of their suggestions and my own comments on how I would work to implement them with children.

Organizational Tools to Help with Executive Functioning in Kids

1. Calendars – I find calendaring a challenge even as an adult. I finally learned that I needed to write every appointment down twice—once in my digital calendar and once on my paper calendar to have the information available in the formats I needed it in to process the information. For a child, you may need to do the same thing and keep the calendar in more than one place or in more than one format. For example, the child may need a large multi-month wall calendar to understand how long the semester/term/school year is and a small planner the child can take to school to mark down daily or weekly assignments.

2. Daily schedule – If you have a predictable routine in your household and your child struggles to remember what the routine is, making a list of to do items may be helpful. For example, a list of things to do to get ready in the morning, after school chores, etc. If there is something essential that just has to get done every day, such as feeding pets, taking medicines, you may also want to formalize this in a daily schedule. Some people use wall-mounted charts with stickers or dry-erase markers. This was an interesting idea to create a Job Jar, by writing the individual tasks on popsicle sticks and transfer the sticks to a “done” area when complete.

3. Visual time aids – Time is something that is difficult to keep in your head. For a child who cannot tell time or make relationships such as “30 minutes until the bus comes,” using a visual time aid, like an hourglass, may be helpful. However, a child who struggles with time management is going to need a lot more help than just a colored clock and may need more intensive personal coaching from the parent.

4. Chore cards and checklists. If your child likes firm direction or forgets what needs to be done on routine chores, listing the individual steps to complete a task on an index card or a checklist can be helpful. For example, you could list the steps needed to clean a room, proofread a homework assignment, etc.

5. Note taking. I know many people who struggle with note taking even as adults. I have always been a good note taker. I don’t attribute this to any intellectual gift but rather as a coping skill to help me focus when listening to others in classes or meetings. Some people can just listen and remember and find that taking notes distracts them from the listening process. I have to take notes or my mind wanders or I forget. When I was in the seventh grade, a teacher arranged for an outside consultant to come to our class to demonstrate a new note-taking method where you used “summary” paper to write down notes from class on the left hand column of the paper. You left the right column blank until your designated review time where you would write questions about the material. You could then use your notes like flashcards to review the material by covering up the left hand side of the page and trying to answer the questions on the right side. After junior high, I don’t remember using this method but it might have helped me if I did!

6. Visual organizers/clustering. I was surprised to see the authors mention “visual organizers” so frequently in the text. When I was in school, this was called clustering and was primarily a technique that was taught in creative writing classes to help you organize your writing, such as main idea, topic sentence and supporting ideas. The authors suggest you could use this with a child with executive functioning to help the child understand simple planning like the steps in throwing a party for a friend. If you have no idea what a visual organizer or cluster looks like, an example illustrating the points in this blog post is below.

Overall, this book is a good starting point if you are concerned your child may have a serious problem with executive functioning. It may not answer every question that you have or provide all the solutions you are looking for but there is a list of references and resources as well to consult for further research.

Do you or your child struggle with executive functioning? Is the problem worse in the school setting?  Please share in the comments.

"Red House, West Virginia, schoolchildren" (1935) Photo by Ben Shahn. From the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

This month at Ruly we will be focusing on organizing for the school environment. Whether you are currently a student of any age or you are supervising someone else’s educational experience, school demands excellent organizational skills.

I have been fortunate to have had the benefit of years of education, including high school, college and graduate school. I have studied in the sciences as well as liberal arts. I have made a lot of organizational breakthroughs in my educational journey as well as made some incredible mistakes. This month, I hope to share some of these lessons with you as well as learn along with you from experts in education organizational strategies.

To kick off the month, I wanted to share with you my latest education organization challenge: homeschooling!

I never really planned on homeschooling my children and kind of fell into it by accident. I attended the fine public schools in my home state as a child and received an excellent education. The public school system provides an essential function in every community and I will always support them. Yet, the public school system has an almost impossible mandate to educate every child from the intellectually challenged to the intellectually gifted with limited funds. Inevitably, there will always be some child who is not well served in this system.

As I have spoken with numerous parents with children in public and private schools, many indicate that they need to supplement what is taught in school with their own instruction at home or through private lessons. Some argue that, in a sense, every parent is a homeschooling parent to some degree.

When you mention homeschooling to most people, they have a negative knee-jerk reaction. This is starting to change as homeschooling becomes more and more common but there are still a lot of negative stereotypes out there about homeschooling, such as:

1) Religious Fervor. This is probably the first stereotype that comes to mind when someone mentions homeschooling. Many assume that all homeschooling families are religious extremists who don’t want their children learning “real” science or any views that challenge their religion. Yes, there are many homeschooling families that have this perspective but there are thousands of other reasons why people homeschool too. Every homeschooling parent, however, has to acknowledge the legal ground these religious homeschooling families have boldly broken enabling all families to homeschool if it is their choice. These families have been on the firing line for years to secure these rights and for that I am very grateful.

2) Fear of Society. Another stereotype about homeschooling families is that they have an irrational fear of the dangers of society and believe that nothing good can come from socializing with anyone outside of their tight-knit circle. Yes, there are homeschooling families that believe this but again, many don’t and are socially well-adjusted individuals happy to interact with other children and families.

Even if people are aware of the broad number of reasons to homeschool (including wanting to teach a certain curriculum not available in your public school system or needing to give one-on-one attention to a child with special needs), the most common reaction I get from other moms when I mention homeschooling is:

“I don’t have enough patience to do that!”

Homeschooling is adding another really big and important job to an already overworked mom. It does also require a special patience to work with young children with microscopic attention spans. It also requires that you give up time for yourself. So, why would anyone do this?

For me, it all started because of a birthday. My daughter is born just a few weeks after the mandatory school cut-off for kindergarten. Last year, I started inquiring about whether any exceptions are made to this birthday cut-off based on academic readiness and was told a strict “no.” I found the same answer at both public and private schools alike. So, I decided to try an experiment and homeschool my daughter in kindergarten while still leaving her in preschool in case the experiment did not work out.

Last year was tough and a big learning year for me. I used a standardized curriculum from a third party provider. There were problems getting the materials on time, keeping up with the aggressive schedule and learning how to organize the lessons and prepare for each day’s instruction. Sometimes it was hard for me to work up the energy to teach a lesson that I was completely unenthusiastic about (and often, so was my daughter) but was required by the curriculum. After this experience, I can see why many homeschooling families prefer to design their own curricula and work to their own schedule. This is the strategy we will try this year.

Something that began as an experiment has blossomed into an addiction! Once you start the homeschooling process there are a couple of things that start to grab you about it. For example:

1. Academic Flexibility. You can mold the curriculum exactly to the needs and interests of your child. If you want to teach foreign language, advanced math, music or art, go ahead! You can travel, take field trips, and continue your lessons on the weekends or during vacations. It is all up to you. While most states require that your child learn the basics each year, there is nothing to stop you from supplementing the basics or teaching them in a non-traditional way that appeals best to your child.

2. Parent-Child Bonding. Yes, there are frustrating moments to the homeschool teaching experience. When you are trying to teach a young child something that they find “boring,” it requires an enormous amount of patience. However, the big payoff occurs when you see the light bulb go on when the child grasps something difficult and the excitement that it brings both to the child and to yourself. You develop an intimate knowledge of exactly how your child learns, which deepens your relationship.

3. Fostering a Love of Learning. It has always been my goal to have my children learn to love learning. Today’s economy focused on services and knowledge requires that everyone adopt a lifelong learning strategy. Ensuring that those first learning experiences are positive and enriching is a critical task. There were many times in the public school system I attended as a child that I did what was required but didn’t really enjoy it. When you are teaching a child one-on-one and you see the unique struggles each child has with learning, you realize what a difference it makes to have an education tailored to your unique needs. You learn to restate concepts in various ways until you find the way that your child grasps best. There is no need to stigmatize subjects as “hard” or “easy” and you aim to foster your child’s interest in every subject.

But yes, it does add a huge organizational challenge to an already organizationally challenged life to take on homeschooling. These challenges are similar to those faced by any adult student or parent supporting a child in the school system.

I hope that you will find the tips this month useful for a variety of educational situations and that we might all learn a bit about our own learning styles.

What are the biggest organizational challenges you face during the school year? Please share in the comments.

The end of the school year is upon most of us and that means it is also time to find teacher gifts! The teacher present is a bit challenging as most of us don’t know the teacher all that well personally and have to walk a fine line between giving a thoughtful and appreciated gift but not going overboard and embarrassing the teacher with an extravagant gift.

What are some ideas for teacher gifts?

Money

When I was doing some reading on Christmas presents a while back, one source mentioned that the tradition of Christmas presents for friends and neighbors began in large part when parents of schoolchildren gave money to the local school teacher at Christmas to help the teacher with living expenses.

With many school budgets being slashed and teacher wages frozen, I am sure many teachers still desire money as their first choice of present. One resourceful mom in my daughter’s preschool class organized a group Visa gift card from several parents. I once gave a creative teacher a gift card to Michael’s and she was very appreciative as she could use it to buy supplies she needed for the classroom.

If you aren’t comfortable giving money, however, what else might you give the teacher?

The Gift of Thanks

The gifts that have received the biggest teacher response have been homemade thank you cards. I have a very simple formula I use for mine.

First, at some point during the school year (preferably at a time when everyone is nicely dressed, such as a school program) take a picture of your child with his/her teacher. Print out the photo in 4”x6” (or smaller) size.

Fold a colorful piece of paper of your choosing in half lengthwise, and glue the photo to the front.

Run a line of glue that says “Thank you” and add glitter.

Write a nice message on the inside (or, have your child do it) and you are done! One year all I gave the teachers were cards and nothing else. I am sure for many teachers this is present enough.

Other Token Gifts

I suspect that most teacher presents fall into the “token gifts” category. Imagine if you were a teacher and received a ton of these every year. Last Christmas, I was absolutely shocked by the number of gifts the teachers received from parents. It was an entire table full! I have no idea what was in all of those presents but I imagine it must get overwhelming.

Unless if you know the teacher well and what he/she would like as a present, it is probably best to stick to consumables (i.e. things that can be used up quickly or can be easily given away to others who need them). The two most popular are probably food and bath and body products.

This year, I found a great sale at Bath & Body Works and created some cute teacher gift bags with a hand soap, body wash and lip balm. Thanks to a clever sales associate who steered me toward the clearance table, the entire gift cost less than $15, wrapping included!

Bath & Body Works is a great store for teacher gifts since the fragrances are unique and there is something for everyone. While their specialty is anti-bacterial hand soaps (which certainly come in useful for any teacher), after reading one too many cautions on triclosan (the active ingredient in antibacterial hand soaps), I have stopped using them in my household. Bath & Body Works’ selection of non-antibacterial hand soaps is far more limited (but still wonderful) but their shampoos, body wash and other products can be substituted instead.

Box Tops Reminder

Finally, a reminder that if your school collects them, now is a great time to gather up your supply of box tops and labels for education and drop them in the school office. While it may seem a small thing to clip these little 10 cent labels from various boxed and canned goods, the dollars add up over time, with $400 million paid out to schools since 1996! If you are wondering how much your school earns each year from box tops, the boxtops4education.com site allows you to look up your school.

Do you give teacher gifts? For all the teachers/school employees out there, what gifting guidelines would you pass along to parents? Please share in the comments.