Introduction
Learning to manage your time and organise your school equipment is vital to your success at high school.
By the end of this session you should:
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be aware of your own use of time
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learn about the importance of time management skills
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learn about organisational tools such as diaries and weekly planners
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learn about organising books and folders.
Preparation and resources
To complete this session, you will need access to the following resources:
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a computer
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your school diary
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documents (found in the Activities section below)
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3.1 – My high school equipment
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3.2 – Homework questionnaire
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3.3 – Term planner
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3.4 – Sample study plan 1
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3.4 – Sample study plan 2
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3.5 – Homework and study plan.
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Activities
Suggested activities for this session:
In a small group, open a copy of 3.1 – My high school equipment and talk about when you might need to bring certain equipment to school. Consider if you need all of this equipment, what other equipment you may need and if you have everything you need.
Look at your school timetable now and decide what you will need to pack for the next school day. Look at your timetable each night to work out what you need to pack for school.
In this activity, you will reflect on your current homework practices and how you fit homework into your after school schedule. Open a copy of 3.2 – Homework questionnaire and answer the questions. The information in the survey will help you complete Activity 5 – Homework and study plan.
Using a diary is an excellent way to keep organised. You school may have supplied you with a diary or you may have your own. Diaries are not just for school work and can also be used to keep a record of personal, cultural and other important information. As a group, discuss how you use a diary and why it is useful to you.
If you are allowed, consider ways to decorate or personalise your diary.
Open a copy of 3.3 – Term planner. A term planner is an excellent way to keep track of important dates, such as school work, assessments, excursions and exams.
For example, if you know that your ‘Science oral presentation’ is due on Thursday of Week 4, you should note this on your term planner. Record any important dates that you already know about on your term planner. As you find out new dates, add them to your term planner.
Keep your term planner in a safe and visible place, such as your diary, so you can look at it regularly.
Remember to open your Google Drive and make a new copy of the term planner for each term of the year.
In this activity, you will be comparing 2 different sample study plans and deciding which is better. Start by opening 3.4 – Sample study plan 1 and 3.4 – Sample study plan 2. (You won’t be asked to ‘Make a copy’ as these documents are just for your reference.)
As a group, discuss if one plan is better than the other and if one student is using their time better than the other student. Remember to explain your answer.
Open a copy of 3.5 – Homework and study plan. You can use this to make your own homework and study plan. Remember to include your other commitments (sport, friends and family) and set achievable study goals.
Having a good method of organising your books or school folder can make it much easier to store and find important information for school work, study and assessments.
Your teacher will show you some different examples of ways to label, colour code and organise books and folders, to make it easier to file and find information and worksheets. As a group, discuss organisation methods that work for your books and folders. You can also discuss the use of diaries, term planners and study plans.
Conclusion
Discuss who you could talk to if you need help to set up a term planner, study plan or diary.
Take a flyer or make a note in your diary about any homework programs in your school or local community.
Make a note in your diary about the meeting time for Session 4.
Remember to thank your teachers and other students that you worked with during the session.
Teaching notes
The Welcome Program sessions are designed to be teacher facilitated. Students should not be left to complete the activities without guidance.
This session focuses on time management and organising learning equipment.
Aims
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Students will become aware of their own use of time.
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Students will learn about the importance of time management skills.
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Students will learn about organisational tools such as diaries and weekly planners.
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Students will learn about organising their books and folders.
Before conducting this session, read all of the information in this resource and plan accordingly. You may choose to conduct some activities without using student computers and will therefore need to print out copies of worksheets for the students.
Students will need access to the following resources:
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computers
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their NSW DoE student account to access Google Drive (test to see if students are able to log on to school computers and access the internet)
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if students are unable to access Google Drive, you may need to print copies of all the worksheets
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school/student diaries
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folders with coloured dividers or colour-coded exercise books to show students different ways to organise their school work
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information about school or local homework programs
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glue or tape.
Explain to students that the focus of this session will be to discuss skills that will help them to be organised for learning at high school.
Arrange the class into pairs or small groups. Have the students open a copy of 3.1 – My high school equipment and ask them if they have everything they need for school.
Suggest they check their timetable each night to work out what they need to pack for school. Ask them to look at their timetable and ask what they would need to pack for tomorrow.
The purpose of this is to allow the students to reflect on their current homework practices. Ask students to complete 3.2 – Homework questionnaire. They will use this information to complete Activity 5 later in this session.
Ask students who already use a diary to explain how they use it and why they think it is useful. Explain that diaries can also be used to note down personal, cultural and other important non-academic events. Ask students to take out their diary and to write down two important school events.
If it is permitted within your school, you may wish to suggest to student that they decorate or personalise their school diary to make it more recognisable.
Have the students open a copy of 3.3 – Term planner. Explain how this can help them to be more organised with important dates, such as their school work, assessments and exams.
Show students how to fill out the term planner using the following examples:
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Science oral presentation due Thursday, Week 4
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English essay due Friday, Week 5
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half yearly exams in Week 9
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permission note for Geography excursion (on Wednesday Week 10), due Friday, Week 9.
Encourage the students to print out their term planner and stick it into their diary or another safe place.
As a class group, compare the 2 different sample study plans: 3.4 – Sample study plan 1 and 3.4 – Sample study plan 2. Discuss if one plan is better that the other and if one student is using their time more effectively than the other student.
Direct the students to open a copy of 3.5 – Homework and study plan and explain how they might make use of this resource for their own time management.
Show the students some different examples of ways to label, colour code and organise books and folders so that they know where to file and find information and worksheets. If possible, invite some well organised students to visit the session and ask them to show and explain how they organise their school books/folders and use their diaries/term planners.
Remind students about where to get help. Check that students know who to talk to if they need help.
Tell the students about any homework programs in your school or local community and provide them with any promotional materials or permission notes.
Let students know the time and place of the next session.
For more information, visit the NSW Department of Education’s The Welcome Program website.