Organize

Tweet When I was teaching, there were some students who spent so much time organizing, they didn't get anything else done. Then there were the others who had no idea what an organized notebook was. Students should strive to find a happy middle ground between the two.

Elementary teachers will usually help their students stay organized. But by the time students get to high school, teachers expect them to know how to do this on their own. Unfortunately, many don't know how. They're usually the ones with dozens of crumpled up papers and leaky pens stuffed in their textbooks.

I found that students who had the most success were those who kept a separate notebook for each course. Three-ring notebooks work especially well. Their notebooks had dividers with places for assignments, notes from the textbook and reading material, notes taken during class, handouts, worksheets, papers to turn in, papers already graded, quizzes, tests, vocabulary, study tips, or any other category specific to a certain class, such as formulas, lab reports, research note cards, and so on. Pens, pencils, and paper can also be kept here.

The organized notebook makes it easy for students to find what they need when they need it. It also allows them to better study for tests because everything for the course is in one place; they just have to review the material. Also, the process of putting the notebook together and writing everything down, can be studying in and of itself. The organized students were almost always the better achievers.