Tracking Assignments in a Digital Age

One of the most common battles I see between students and their parents at the beginning of the school year is the agenda.  Parents purchase expensive, often beautiful calendars so that their children can carefully record every homework assignment.  Their children obediently carry the calendar to and from school, but by week three, they have stopped recording homework assignments on its pristine pages.  The students protest that they have found another way that suits them better to keep up with homework, and a battle ensues. 

Of course, students need to track assignments to ensure that they neither miss deadlines nor fail to complete homework.  Old-fashioned calendars offer certain benefits, including the following two:

1.    Kinesthetic learners are often more likely to remember an assignment that they have physically written down, and 

2.    Helicopter parents have access to a ready checklist to verify their child’s homework completion. 

In this digital age, though, parents should be flexible about the way children track assignments, take notes, and complete work.  In high school, students are learning how to function independently and to develop their own to-do lists and organizational styles.  If your child prefers using an app like ClassManager or myHomework Student Planner to a physical calendar, by all means let him or her do so.  (I recommend My Study Life).  Your child may also prefer taking notes on a laptop.  By typing class notes into Google Docs, your child can access notes at home, even if his or her notebook and laptop are still in the school locker!   Parents may not be familiar with all of the new ways schoolwork can be tracked, organized, and completed.  Let your child take the lead.

 Allow your child to experiment, at the very least until he or she misses an assignment or deadline.  Offer suggestions, but cultivate your child’s independence by relinquishing control of these tasks to your high school-aged child.  You might just learn a better way of organizing!

Does my child need academic coaching?

I am often asked, “What is academic coaching, and how will I know if my child needs it?”

If you answer yes to any of the following six questions, you should consider academic coaching for your child.

1.    Does my child procrastinate?

It’s Sunday, and you ask your child if he or she has any homework.  The reply comes, “No, it’s all done!”  Fast-forward to Tuesday night, and your child is wallowing in assignments and assessment preparations. 

Perhaps instead, your child is taking an extended break after school or sports by catching up on his or her favorite television show, eating dinner, showering, and walking the dog.  By the time your child sits down to attack the night’s homework, the clock strikes nine.  At eleven o’clock, you go to bed, but your child is still toiling away.

Or maybe your child has had a research paper assignment for five weeks with one final week remaining before the deadline, but he or she has yet to nail down a thesis, much less secure resources.

 Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?  Any one of these situations could indicate that your child procrastinates and may benefit from academic coaching.

2.    Are my child’s notebooks and book bag cluttered with unfiled or misfiled papers, or are my child’s papers and books often missing?

A successful student needs to know how to manage not only time but also materials.  A well-ordered notebook, book bag, and desk can help your child be ready to learn.  If your child leaves materials at school or cannot find his or her math homework, he or she may need some help with materials management.  Academic coaching addresses this issue.

3.    Is my child underperforming in more than one class?

You know that your child is smart and can be successful in English class, but every time a test grade is posted, you are surprised that it is not higher.  Even your child thought he or she had performed better.  Moreover, your child’s teacher believes that your child is capable of much more.  And this seems to be a problem not just in English class, but in history class as well!  These grades are important because, after all, this is high school, but at this point, you are not even sure that a tutor can help fix these problems.  Academic coaching may be the answer.  Perhaps your child understands the concepts; he or she simply may not know how to study.

4.    Is homework a constant battle in my home?

Every night it is the same story: you remind your child of the tests looming and the busy weekend ahead, but all your child can do is either assure you that he or she has it under control or completely shrug you off.  You just cannot seem to get through to your child; you offer simple suggestions that would make homework and school preparation so much easier, but your child will not listen to you.  And raising your voice is not helping!

Academic coaching can offer just the right solution:  your academic coach will cultivate your child’s academic independence and enable you to refocus on parenting.

5.    Does my child have test anxiety?

Your child is smart and has an excellent work ethic.  He or she carefully completes every homework assignment and submits it on time.  Your child may even earn high scores on quizzes during a grading period, but when the test comes along, your child freezes.  He or she scores poorly.  Maybe your child has test anxiety or maybe your child does not know how to prepare properly.  Either way, you know that your child’s grades could be even better if your child could become more confident on major assessments. 

Academic coaching will offer your child strategies to build confidence and test-taking techniques to improve performance.

6.    Is my child asking for help, either directly or indirectly?

If your child wants to be successful in school and asks for help, then of course academic coaching may be the right solution.  Perhaps, though, your child is feigning disinterest in school and simply claims not to care; this too could be a cry for academic support.

Securing an academic coach as soon as possible in high school will help your child develop and refine study habits throughout his or her secondary school years and ready him or her for college and beyond. 

To find out more about academic coaching, call Arbor Road Academy today for a free consultation.

The Redesigned SAT

If you are a rising junior, then you need to consider your standardized testing plans for the year.  Will you plan to take the ACT, the old SAT, and/or the redesigned SAT?  This is a multi-layered and critical question that requires careful, individualized consideration.  If you need help figuring out your plan of attack, I recommend a consultation to assess your strengths and weaknesses and to determine which test(s) is/are best for you.  The sooner you know your testing plans, the sooner you can earnestly begin your preparations.  One thing is obvious:  with the redesigned SAT launching in March 2016 and its PSAT launching in October 2015, you need clear guidance now more than ever.