Mr. Martin Spoerlein

MSN Sixth Grade Teacher

Science

Assignments

I do not list student assignments on my website.

I believe an integral component of any student's education is the development of organization skills.  Organizational skills are fundamental life skills that students will require throughout their lifetimes.  I know from experience that if students are denied the opportunity to develop and practice skills, then those skills won't be learned, developed, internalized and implemented.

  In order for students to acquire and fully develop essential life organization skills, students must first learn organizational strategies and then put those strategies into practice for themselves.  At MSN, students receive instruction on organizational strategies for their assignment notebook, assignments, binders, lockers as well as time management.

     A vital first step in the organization process is recording assignments.  The initial step of writing down assignments is so important that I make a point of prompting students and allotting class time for them to write assignments down in their agendas daily.   Once recorded, the agenda (assignment notebook) provides an inventory of responsibilities that the student needs to attend to.  Students can see at a glance what they need to accomplish.  They should also use this list to prioritize and manage their time so everything that needs to get done gets done in a suitable manner.

 To support and reinforce this concept at home, parents can make certain that their child has the assignment written down for every subject in her/his assignment notebook every day.  Students should never leave a subject blank or simply write “NONE” (if no assignment is given, they should write “none” followed by something learned or done in class that day; never leave blank).   Parents can also check for assignment completion by checking the subject section within the binder for the completed assignment.  

 The sooner your child makes a habit of and masters this essential skill of recording assignments, the more successful s/he will be this year and in the future!

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