My son has learning disabilities and struggles with organization. When he was younger, he had fewer assignments so we could usually keep on top them. Now that he has several different teachers and multiple assignments each day, he’s really struggling to keep them all straight and remember when he has homework. Is there some kind of online program that could help him? Are there tools that teachers, students and parents could access to keep up on assignments, grades, quizzes, etc.?
Keeping track of multiple assignments can be a challenge for many middle and high school students. As students enter the higher grades, having a different teacher for each class can make staying on top of assignments and quizzes difficult. For some students with learning disabilities, difficulties with organization and task management can make keeping track of work even more challenging. It might be helpful to do some reading on organizational strategies for your child so you can get an idea of some of the different ways of building organization and study skills.
There are also a number of tools (both high tech and low tech) that can help your son stay organized. One of the simplest and most frequently used tools is a basic day planner. One benefit to using an assignment book or planner is that it is inexpensive and easy to use. However, this does require that your son either consistently writes down his assignments, or that he ask his teachers to check his planner each day to ensure that he has everything down properly.
An alternative to using a planner or assignment book is to use a web-based calendar or to-do list. Google Calendar is one option. It is simple and free to use; users can share calendars and get email reminders before events or tasks. Again, your son would have to reliably enter information into his calendar, but he may find the use of technology more engaging than a pencil and paper planner. Because Google Calendar enables you to share calendars, this could also be a great way for parents to keep an eye on approaching deadlines.
Another popular program for reminders, to-do lists and project planning is Remember the Milk. Remember the Milk is a free task tracking and organizational program; users can receive reminders via email, instant message, and text message. Adding tasks can be done online or via email (even sent from your phone). Remember the Milk interfaces with both iCal (Apple) and Google Calendar, so you can add tasks to your personal calendar as well.
If students have a web-enabled cell phone, they can even access their lists that way. Like an online calendar, your son would have to be sure that he enters his assignments. However, young adults are active users of text and instant message, so they may find these features motivating. As with Google Calendar, you can share to-do lists with others, so as a parent you can check your son’s assignments for the week.
Finally, many teachers are starting to use online calendars and assignment tracking for their students. Some teachers use more feature-rich programs that allow students to upload assignments directly, rather than printing them out and handing them in the next day. Others may use a simple online calendar for assignments and quizzes. It might be worthwhile talking to your son’s teachers to see if they are using a program like this. If they aren’t, you may ask them if they’d consider it, both as a way to help your son stay more organized, and as a way to help other students and their parents keep track of important assignments.
There are a variety of different programs, many of them free. They range from programs that track grades, attendance, test scores, assignments and lessons such as TeacherEase, SmartGrading, or Engrade, to programs that are a classroom calendar only, such as Assign-a-Day. Many schools are using these types of programs system-wide, so you may also want to talk to administrators and see if this is something they’re considering.