A tween is all about distraction. Their brain is just going through so many changes that focus can be an issue under the best of circumstances. They are trying to settle on an identity, their cast of friends changes from act to act, and for many, this is the first couple of years changing teachers throughout the day. But responsibilities are static, and despite our understanding what a tween is going through, we still need to teach deadlines and responsibility. So when teaching about time management to a tween, it can be all about providing enough options that they have no choice but to look their deadlines in the face.
When it comes to time management, we have to specifically teach tweens, and that means introducing them to different ways to look at time in the hopes that one method might ring with one student or another. Think about adults: some like wearing a watch. Some still like to write all their events in the little Filofax in their bag, crossing out what’s accomplished or dog-earing a completed page. Others like using something like Google docs or some other online program. Still others like their iPhone to ring them when something’s coming up. As adults, we differentiate how we manage our time.
Students, however, are sometimes at the whim of the method that works for that particular teacher for that particular year or the one designated by the school site. Yet middle school is a vital time for tweens to learn multiple strategies. In elementary school, much was given to them explicitly, and once they enter high school, there’s this expectation that they can manage their time already independently. So when else are they going to learn these skills but in middle school?
It’s constantly a work in progress, but I have a few methods that I use with students to help them manage their time so that they can take responsibility for their own deadlines:
I have multiple ways in my ELA classroom that students can look at their workload and time management. I also post our agenda online (web.me.com/bulldogradio) so that they kids have access to the weekly information from home. After all, school should mimic real life, and folks outside of education have access to information 24/7, why shouldn’t we grant it to our students as well?
Here are some strategies I provide for my students, from micro to macro:
1. Weekly agenda - This reflects the online agenda, changing from week to week. The students come in to a board
with a brief summary of what’s being planned for the week. Each day has the gist listed in blue, and if there’s something in red, that means it’s due that day. The students copy all information into their school agenda that they keep in their backpacks. So this incorporates color-coding as well, another great tool for time management. This actually also helps me as a brief outline of what I need to accomplish that is posted in the room, like my own personal checklist. In addition, this method forces me to weekly lesson plan. I make sure the upcoming week has this brief outline worked out by the time I leave on Friday afternoon so that my weekend is less stressed and more devoted to my own personal life.
2. Monthly Calendar - This is just your run-of-the-mill calendar I purchased at Office Max that hangs in my classroom with bright color coded indications of when tests, days off, and events are occurring. It gives a slightly broader view of upcoming responsibilities and deadlines.
3. Quarter Timeline – This is a taped timeline that stretches over the back of my room, divided by lines that represent the weeks of the quarter. It gives an indicator using symbols which days are off, which are testing days, holidays, minimum days, etc…I use a post-it in the shape of an arrow to indicate where we are in the timeline. A student moves the arrow during my first period class each day. Again, it widens out their perspective of time and what’s coming up. 
Introduce tweens to multiple strategies of time management. Let tweens into knowledge of the master calendar, and give them the tools to manage their own responsibility. In the end, you’re giving them the ability to make your own middle school classroom run smoother and, more importantly, you’re giving them the skills that they will take into their lives beyond school.
Hi Heather. I’d love to hear about what you have been up to. I enjoyed reading your article and I’m glad to hear you are teaching! Please keep in touch! Your 3rd grade teacher, Cathy Lydon. (Hi to your family!)
Hi, Heather.
I enjoyed your article very much. CH now has a rotating schedule divided into blue and gold days. Everybody has a year-long planner with the days and rotations. Students have 4 classes per day; each class meets every other day. If I did not have a planner myself, I would never know what is going on.
Pat Sauve
I teach work habits, time management and organizational skills to middle school students. (The Middle School Student’s Guide to Ruling the World!) I love your micro to macro approach! The macro ie. the school’s annual calendar, is often overlooked by students. It’s considered by them to be something for parents, teachers or administrators. I teach time management a little differently — in a layers concept: first the day-to-day academic obligations; layer onto that the annual calendar obligations, and then personal obligations, such as dentist, doctors appointments, sports practices, social events, etc. I ask students to consider their planner or agenda as kind of a personal radar screen. As part of the lesson, students also review their planners to identify information that they need to share with others about their schedule (ie. parents, carpool drivers, coaches, teachers, group project members or study buds) and how and when to best and timely communicate that information (calls, email, facebook, texting, notes.)
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This is great! And thank you for acknowledging the fact that the students need to be taught multiple strategies for time management and allowed to find, and use, what works for them.
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