2 Keys to Organizing Your Middle School Student, pt. 2

In the last post, I discussed the importance of cleaning out kid's storage spaces in order to help them get organized. In this post, I will share the topic of Establishing a Simple Binder System.


1. Get rid of looseleaf paper and only use spiral notebooks. Tweens just can't handle all the possibilities--ripping them out, having them fall out of the binder, taking notes out and finding them months later at the bottom of the backpack, etc. No. Do not set them up for this. And get a spiral binder. NOT the kind where papers can be ripped out. That leads back to the possibilities I mentioned previously. Spiral binders go on sale for less than 50 cents right before school starts. Do your kids and yourself a favor by starting right with spiral binders for each class.

2. A 3 ring binder. A big one, so it can hold all the notebooks.

3. Tabs. Label each tab with the name of the classes, in the order that your kid will have them. If your school is on the commonly found block day schedule, perhaps label the binder with "A" day colors and "B" day colors. Some families prefer to give kids 2 binders, one for "A" day and one for "B", and I say that is a BIG no no. Kids frequently bring the "A" binder to school on a "B" day and then they can't get work done. Or, if they have free time, there is no way they can do work from "A" day on "B" day. One binder with clearly labeled tabs.

4. Clean out the binder bi-weekly with kids.

5. An agenda, preferably kept in binder. If no agenda, a way to right down weekly assignments.

If you start your child our right with an organized system, and do frequent cleanouts of binder, backpack, locker and room, your kid will learn to be organized and will have a much better experience in middle school. Think back to your middle school days--you would have appreciated any step up you could have had, am I right? Do your kid a favor--get them organized.

Keys to organizing your middle school student

I've found that a middle schooler will find self-confidence and success as they learn to organize. On more occasions than I can remember, I've walked past these teens' searching through their lockers for that hairbrush or crumpled assignment, only to find it at the bottom of the whole mess. There are two keys to helping your child with organizing in middle school. These two things must be repeated for the whole two year stint (or three year, if it is a junior high). The first one I'll share in this blog, and I'll share the next one, Establish a simple binder system, in the next blog of this two-blog series.

1. Clean up the storage areas (locker, backpack, and under the bed)

Cleaning up the storage areas
I had to laugh and shake my head along with the mother of one of my 9th graders. This kid was student council president, happy to be at school, friendly with everyone and their dog, and the most absentminded of his kind. His mother was going out of her mind--somehow this good student was failing several of his classes and she couldn't figure it out. She'd seen him do the homework, she'd planned makeup times with his teacher, and he swore he had no idea where his work could be. Where did she end up finding it? At the bottom of his locker, stuffed in a corner under his bed, and stuck to other papers in his backpack. Does this situation sound similar? Could this child be one of yours? Then this tip is definitely going to be a lifesaver for you.

When your child's grade shows a missing assignment and he/she swears they did it, before you call the teacher and demand an answer, send your child to their binder. If nothing turns up, then send them through their whole backpack, having them turn it upside down and throwing it all out on the ground, like their halloween trick or treat bag. If you're lucky, they'll find it there. And if not, then send them into the jungle of their room (though not due to any lack of nagging on your part) and have them look under the bed, in the closet, and in whatever other rat hole they somehow managed to create. Guaranteed, your child will even find assignments they thought they already handed in! And, even if nothing turns up, if you mention this story to their teacher, you will find a teacher who is much more willing to look through her jungle of papers to find it because of the effort your child already went through theirs.


The next step is to get the main homework storage areas decently clean. Are we expecting perfection? No way--these are teenagers, right? But you can expect to be able to see the bottom of their room, locker, closet, etc. You can mandate a "Spring Cleaning" of their school work to become a quarterly event, after the end of the last term.


Is it easy as a parent to put yourself and your child through this hassle? No way. But will your student learn to place their papers in the right place after doing it half a dozen times (and, finger crossed, perhaps less)? Let's hope so. And maybe yes. And even if they don't, at least they know that you love them and that you will help them if they need it.

Helping Parents See the Teacher's Perspective

I don't really know what to say. I am a middle school teacher. I value education because it prepares a person to face life. I think it's important for a person to become a lifelong learner. I like to teach students who want to  learn--if I have a student who wants to figure out a problem, I will do whatever I can to help them figure it out. It's important for parents to understand the teacher's perspective concerning their student's progress. So I started this blog to share my perspective, and I hope to learn things from parents that will help me understand students, as well.