Assignment Planner Sample/Use

Shown below is a 5" x 8" assignment planner purchased from a typical store for about $7.00.

Students in Mrs. Cerimele's classes are required to have a dedicated assignment planner for writing down and completing homework to promote organization, independence, responsibility, and work management skills. The dedicated planner may be a regular spiral notebook no smaller than 4" x 6" or a purchased assignment planner. Using the planner will be modeled and encouraged in class. Using a well-organized, dedicated planner is a major support to a student's study and learning success. All assignments should be written succinctly, neatly, and as simply as possibly. Students should not depend on their memory to remember the details.

Suggested procedure for writing down homework and using an assignment planner effectively:

Entry Example: o History read text* pp.3-5; o Do WBK p.5 #1-6

Make a circle about the size of the line at the beginning of the the line.

The procedure is to write in the following order: the SUBJECT, the ACTION, the SOURCE, and the NUMBERS.

1. Write the name of the SUBJECT.

Examples: History, Lit., Art, Writing,...

2. Write the ACTION that the student will do for the homework assignment.

Examples: Read, Do, Finish, Answer,...May use a consistent, understandable abbreviation for less writing per line (Example: "RD" for "read")

3. Write the SOURCE of the assignment using abbreviated, consistent "code" to keep it simple and succinct. The "rule of thumb" is to write as little as possible but as much as needed so you know EXACTLY what to do when you are at home a few days later. No abbreviation is helpful if you don't know what it means later or have to think too hard to remember.

*The source may be omitted IF it is always the same thus already implied.

Examples: WBK (workbook), WSHT (worksheet), H/O (handout), ...

4. Write the NUMBERS needed to be done. These include: page numbers, problem numbers, question numbers, ...Be accurate. Don't rely on memory.

Examples: p.31 #1-30 (odd only); p.6 all; Day 7; pp.1-3;...

SUGGESTION: For each "piece" of work or each page number, put a different circle in front of that page number. That way, if you get one of the pages done, but not all of them, you know just which ones are done and which ones need to be finished still.

Using Carryovers: Write the assignment down on the day it is given.

• If the assignment is totally completed, put a check in the circle at the beginning of the line.

• If the assignment is not totally completed, do not put a check in the circle, BUT write the assignment precisely as it is written (omitting any part that may have been completed) on a line of the next day.

• If the assignment is not totally completed, do not put a check in the circle, BUT again write the assignment precisely as it is written (omitting any part that may have been completed) on the next day.

• Continue to write the assignment each day in the same method until it is totally completed.

• Check off the assignment at any point on the day that all parts are totally completed.

So with homework, use a SACK: Keep it ... SUCCINCT (SIMPLE), ACCURATE, CONSISTENT, and you'll KNOW what to do and when it's due!