daily homework planner

daily homework planner

The Importance of a Daily Homework Planner

1. Benefits of Using a Daily Homework Planner

Start requiring our students to keep the minimum of a daily homework planner while in seventh grade. Students soon begin to internalize the usefulness of diligently and promptly organizing themselves. The eventual habit of consistent preparation becomes their norm. It often involves but a quick note in the margin of a personal textbook, pad, or laptop. Many students elect to redesign, restructure, and maintain the planner for all activities that occupy their daily schedules. These are likely headed for college, or possibly into careers. Later in their adult lives, such young people frequently ask me, “How very did the habit of using a daily student planner assist my everyday life in organizational skill, study habit, and courtesy.” There are few equivalent memories that comfort an aging teacher as do those letters and telephone calls from former students.

There is simply no debating the importance of the daily homework planner. The development of such an academic habit has immediate and long-range positive consequences. For example, discovering the habit of thorough planning fosters punctuality and a general respect for the demands imposed by the contents of academic life. The early experience of preparing thorough daily schedules with a commitment to dates, times, and the nature of the assignment would serve as a fine foundation for a habit of lifelong punctuality and a general respect for life’s many obligations. Subsequently, we often must build new habits on previous ones. The prudent daily assignment planner benefits from the habits of integrity and respect so derived. All of this personal awareness logically extends to, and positively influences, relationships with others in our shared physical, social, political, and communal environments.

2. How to Set Up Your Daily Homework Planner

Write one of three letter abbreviations on how the subject’s assignment was completed. P = Participated fully; practiced to mastery. 75% or higher in that category. I = Initiated participation with prescribed minimum targets. Demonstrated putting effort to completing most parts of the assignment (at least 50%). W = Did not practice as told, demonstrated little effort of Q&A or assistance. A zero or less than half of the assignment completed. Include your grade on a separate grade tracker. Review the assignment planner daily to ensure the student records the homework. If not, it will be that evening’s ‘study’ homework assignment to list your daily homework in the other subjects. Also, it can be a way to review information quickly before testing on how the material may be used.

List monthly or weekly page/tab numbers with dates from the planner that you will be using for your schoolwork. (Example: planner Page = 30, in the homework planner write, “Planner Page 30, 9/10/15 to 12/25/15.”) Write the subject’s name (for math and chemistry I write “MATH” and “CHM” respectively). The location or description on how to find the assignments in detail. (Example: page 30, PS 1-4.) The page number is what the teacher will typically write on the board after the student has completed the assignment. Now it’s just a matter of looking up the page number for the student to take home and record in his/her homework planner.

3. Effective Strategies for Staying Organized

In preparation for the challenges of meeting the various commitments associated with each college semester, many students will benefit from sharing with one another those seeds that will enable them to take on the challenges presented upon the commencement of each new college semester. Here are some effective strategies that students can use to stay organized while attending college. One very important strategy that almost all students, especially those who take the maximum allowed course load in college, should always embrace is that of using a daily planner to write down all of their class assignments and extracurricular, social and professional commitments. Being disorganized will lead to a level of anxiety and stress that you don’t want especially if there is a forthcoming term paper that needs your attention on top of your social commitments.

For most people who are enrolled in college, school or university, one of the biggest challenges is being disorganized. The typical day of a hard-working college student is characterized by the need to juggle several tasks during each day. The usual college student usually gets to take classes in and listen to lectures in about 4 to 5 subjects or courses each day. This is followed by the need to get back to the dorm, apartment or home to get some rest and prepare for the next college day. But returning to the dorm or apartment only gives most people a few hours of rest, relaxation and unwinding time. After eight hours of sleep, they are then forced to get up and prepare for another full day of lectures and excursions to the college campus. For college students, being disorganized can lead to a lot of stress and anxiety. In fact, most students in higher level education institutions should have access to a computer and they should use the internet for researching term papers in the case where they need to work on the assignment and submit the same online.

4. Tips for Maximizing Productivity with Your Planner

In high school you need to be a bit more self-motivated. Students who don’t use the planner usually miss these benefits that are normally reserved for students who showed a moderate level of motivation (composition of homework grades will vary by teacher). Knowing what homework is for the next several days will help you plan the best times to work. It will also alert you to when you need help with your classes. After the next test and you are doing badly, those afternoons at the library will all repay you. Buy a 13 to 18 month planner… or use one that you already have. Marking the nights when you have large amounts of homework will remind you that you need to slow down and plan accordingly (paper or school supplies shopping should come first). Thermo, Physics and Chem students must do this more than math and biology students because of class difficulty. Planners don’t work unless you model the activities. Always adhere to your planner, especially on the tough nights.

Here are several strategies and tips to help you get the most from your planner. For some students, success will be getting a good grade. For others, a C or a D may be the mark of success. The latter’s use of the planner will determine the difference between these two levels of success. I said it – non-users of the planner will get D’s and F’s. When students lose points on homework because they didn’t do this or that, think of what those points really mean: the harder you struggle in a course, the more points’ homework is worth. Students who barely study for tests miss easy points. That’s low hanging fruit.

5. Overcoming Challenges and Maintaining Consistency

* 5 Overcoming Challenges and Maintaining Consistency * Realize your limitations and flaws. Nobody is perfect. Accept your human inabilities. Overestimating your capacity, expertise, skill-set, time, and capability to perform assignments will not make a 24-hour day any longer. This could possibly lead to frustration and defeat. Accept reality! You can’t complete all projects given to you at the very last minute! It’s a smart move to seek help from parents, siblings, or classmates. Accepting parental support or assistance is in no way a free ride. In any case, it demonstrates to your mom or dad that you are mature and humble enough to accept the responsibilities of being a mature high school student who understands that homework help supports your education, rather than completing it. Remember that success in the workforce necessitates the collaboration and help of co-workers and even less experienced team members.

It’s not always easy to get your homework completed, and what seems to be difficulty in completing the task is not always the most challenging part of homework. Consistency in completing daily homework can become a challenge and great concern for parents. The most difficult aspect of this is the quest of beating the clock. Thoroughly planning and managing your time can help you harness and execute the pressure of daily homework and make it a learning experience and an opportunity. Time plays an integral part in learning, and managing your time efficiently can help your daily homework planning to be accomplished successfully.