Now that we are nearing the end of Term 1, in the southern hemisphere at least, students should now be getting the hang of organising their lockers and backpacks for school. If you are struggling a little, as are a few students I am working with, these 12 student organising tips will help:
Locker
- Your locker is for keeping all of your books and other items you might need for your day at school.
- It is important that you keep it organised so that you can easily find what you need when you need it and won’t be late for class. Take 5 minutes when you get to school in the morning to organise the books you are going to need throughout that day. Likewise at the end of the day work through what you need to take home so you can complete your homework.
- Have a copy of your timetable inside your locker door to make it easier for you rather than having to open up your student planner or diary each time.
- Even a little notepad or whiteboard can be useful inside your locker door so you can use it to remind yourself of things.
- Separate your locker into zones for different things ie your books, your sports clothes and your lunch box. Sometimes it might be handy to have another shelf inserted depending upon the size of your locker.
- A useful organisation tool could be the ‘My Zipper Binder’ (see pictures) whereby you can keep everything relating to that class all in one binder rather than having to search for loose bits of paper/books, or notebooks.
- Clean out your locker each week so that you keep in organised and don’t let the mess or clutter take over. As a bare minimum it should be done before the end of each school term.
Backpack
- The main purpose of your backpack is to take your belongings to and from school each day.
- Don’t transport all your books and belongings to and from school each day as your bag will be much too heavy to carry.
- Utilise the sections of your backpack for different items ie smaller pouches for personal items like your phone/makeup and the largest pouch for your books, notepads, device. Keep your lunch in a different pouch to your books just incase something happens to leak.
- Have a plastic folder to put all your notes in that you need to bring home or even your homework sheets so that they don’t get damaged in your bag.
- Once a week empty out the contents of your backpack to ensure you have nothing lurking inside that has been forgotten – food or school notices.
Ask your children how they are going with both of these things and whether they need some help. You could ask them to take a photo of their locker so that you can get an idea of the space in order to offer them some organising advice.
