College Weekly Planning

As most of you know, I teach high school biology. I happen to teach a lot of really awesome, really wonderful, really not organized kiddos. (And I mean that in the most loving way.)

I happen to be a very organized person. Kids joke about the number of planners and lists that I have in my classroom. I guess I always thought that students would learn to be organized on their own and that I didn't need to take them through being organized step-by-step. However, according to numerous news outlets, teachers are expected to be responsible for more and more components of our students lives.

I am here to serve! So to speak.

So, in the photo below is the college planning checklist I used for each week. I will continue, over the next fow weeks, to share all of the checklists I used in college and in the last week I will share, for free, for a month, the entire set as one BIG file. All of these will be printables that will be free only for the time period that I have shared them for and then the links will switch to the fee based printable links.

This is a great planning guide for a college student looking to really manage their schedule. It has space for 7 classes, 2 activities, cleaning, shopping and miscellaneous. The cleaning, shopping and miscellaneous have 2 columns that are both blank, so they can be used whatever way works best! 

For most college students, this will provide the framework for total success in managing all of the things that are going on and need to be kept track of!

The link to the FREE printable is here.

I would recommend sitting down on Sunday to go over the needs for the week. I would also recommend printing 2-3 at a time so that you can write on them in advance of when things are going on.

Don't worry, there are more printable planners to come!!

Let me know, in the comments below, what printables you would like to see!

Ways to help our students be successful

Very seldom do my professional blog (it's for my students to keep up with my classroom assignments, etc) and my personal blog intersect and have basically the same need for the same thing. But I find myself wanting to share this blog post with as many people as possible. Below I have listed out 5 ways to help your student be successful in school. I know some of them are easier than others MANY days of the week. But, I also know the more we, as parents, work to help our students find ways to be successful the more we will see them able to succeed.

Ways to help your student:
1. Get them a planner!!! I use Erin Condren planners for my personal and professional calendars and tracking. I obviously, would recommend them, but there are truly hundreds of places to find great options! (The link gives you $10 off your first purchase at EC.) There are multiple options for how to lay out the week, this gives the user the chance to really see which method will best meet their goals and needs. (This is my personal planner shown below.)

2. A regular study/planning spot. Having a regular spot that is all theirs to plan their week, do homework and study is a game changer for most students! Making this a regular habit for your students is HUGE!

3. Quiet time! Try and set aside an hour or more that is just for them and you won't interrupt them! I know that in families with multiple children, especially older ones helping out, have a hard time setting aside time for students to focus. However, if you can make this happen, it will be a huge game changer!

4. A regular evening routine and bed time! Plenty of sleep is really important for our students.

5. Regular morning routine. This is hard in my house, so I know it can be hard in others. But, having a regular morning routine of everyone getting up, getting dressed, eating something, brushing teeth, etc. will really help you and your student to feel more capable and prepared to do well at school.

Feel free to share your ideas below! I'd love to hear what tips and tricks you have for helping your students find their own successes!