34 Organizational Coaching

Definition

Modeling, teaching, and supporting strategies to aide memory and efficiency in recording, prioritizing, and completing day to day and long-term tasks.

In action

Provide explicit instruction, scaffolding, and intentional supports related to organizational skills rather than relying on incidental teaching.

Support Strategies

  • Model organizational skills such as creating and adhering to a schedule by writing an agenda each day and reviewing it as a class
  • Colour code and label shared supplies so students know where to find them independently
  • Provide frequent feedback on the organization of students’ work, noting where they can add organizational elements such as headings and sub-headings
  • Teach students about time management in specific contexts such as assessments, group work, etc.
  • Provide students with the tools they need to stay organized independently, such as subject dividers for their binders
  • Provide scaffolded instruction on organizational tasks such as recording assignments, taking notes, study tasks, or noting important dates from the course syllabus.

Case Study

Student: Grade 10 student in a history class

Content: Students are asked to take notes during a class discussion on the social, economic, and political context between 1929-45.

Problem: The student takes notes diligently throughout class, though doesn’t use headings to organize them

Solution: The teacher collects students’ notebooks every other week to provide feedback, and suggests that the student separate their notes by date, headings, and sub-headings. The teacher provides the student of an example of what this would look like, as well as with different coloured highlighters so they can distinguish between headings and sub-headings. The teacher checks in the student periodically over the term to gauge progress and provide support as needed.

Additional Resources

License

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Ed Guide Copyright © 2022 by Jordan Shurr is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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