I spend a lot of time at my seminars and workshops, on the phone and via email discussing the subject of homework organization. Actually, I spend a lot of time listening to parents complain that their children’s homework disorganization is driving everybody crazy!

Many students have such a hard time getting it together that by the time they finally sit down to do their homework, they are exhausted. No wonder they don’t want to do it! Getting organized will help alleviate exhaustion, bad attitudes, procrastination and rebelliousness.

Homework organization just makes life easier for everyone.

These are the homework organization tips that I use as a student, teacher and parent. Print this list and read it with your children. Then, post it on the fridge and refer to it often so that everybody (parents, kids, babysitters, grandparents) will be on the same organized page.

At School:

• Write down every, single homework assignment in one place. I strongly recommend using a bound or wire notebook- definitely NOT a loose leaf binder. I don’t care how careful you are, pages will fall out, and then what? You won’t know what to do nor when to do it! A plain notebook is fine, but a datebook or calendar is the best. Some schools even provide these to students. Use it.
• Write down homework assignments as you get them. This is mostly for older students that change classes and teachers, but it is a good habit for everyone. If the teacher says, “Oh, tonight I want you to read Chapter 4,” write that down in your notebook.
• Write down every, single due date for a project or paper- even if you have a handout or syllabus. Handouts disappear (I think they hang out with loose socks), but you will still know what to do and when to do it if you have everything written down in your homework notebook.
• Keep ALL of the day’s homework assignments together in one place. Don’t have a special place or page for math, another for writing, etc. You want to see everything in one spot.
• Check your homework notebook Three (3) Times A Day: Before you leave school (or each class), double check to make certain that you have everything (books, paper, materials, etc.) that you will need later.

At Home:

• Before you start doing your homework, look at your notebook and make sure that you are doing the right assignment, the right page, etc.
• Before you put everything away, take one more quick look. Did you do everything? Good!
• Make a decision about where you will put your completed homework: into a binder pocket, a special homework folder, etc. You may decide to have a color-coded folder for each class. If you choose to use folders, I strongly recommend using 3-hole punched folders and keeping them together in a 3-ring binder. Whatever you choose, stick to it! Don’t put your homework in your a binder today, a folder tomorrow… And, never, ever fold your homework into a

The first homework assignment of every school year for every student in each of my middle school math classes included a 9-question “interest inventory.” This particular interest inventory is a self-assessment tool that invites students to reflect on their past experiences.

My students agreed that answering the 9 interest inventory questions was a nice change from the typical “What’s your favorite this/that” survey, and I certainly had fun reading my students’ responses! Straight away – at the very start of the school year – it is a very good way to get a bigger picture (even just a slightly bigger picture) of each student.

For teachers, the interest inventory can provide good initial information about student strengths and weaknesses. In fact, I think this questionnaire invited some students to talk with me in person about their strengths and interests, giving me even more information about learning styles.

Here is the 9-question inventory. I always asked students to answer all parts of each question, and to neatly write their answers in complete sentences.

1. What is your favorite activity or subject in school? Why? What is your least favorite? Why?

2. What subjects are difficult for you? What makes them the hardest?

3. If you could learn about anything you wanted to, what would you choose to learn about? Please be specific. (For example: meteorology, science fiction writing, architecture, cooking, carpentry, movie-making, etc.)

4. If people were to come to you for information about something you know a lot about, what would the topic be?

5. If you could plan a field trip, where would you go? Why?

6. Fill in the blank and rate EACH choice 1 = best, 2 = ok, 3 = worst

I learn ____ alone.

I learn ____ with one other person.

I learn ____ in a small group.

I learn ____ in a large group.

7. What helps you learn? (For example: hands on experience, reading quietly, taking notes, reading out loud, etc)

8. What projects – either past school assignments or outside of school – are you most proud of? Why?

9. Think of a great teacher you’ve had. Describe what made this teacher so terrific.

One student knew a lot about horses, and throughout the year gave me unsolicited tidbits of information (such as defining riding styles and saddles), and every once in a while updated me on her training and competitions. Getting to know her a little bit more outside the math classroom helped to engage her inside the math classroom.

Another student was proud of training her hamster, named El Noche, to win the local Petco Hamster Derby! I had to ask her about it because I had never heard of Petco Hamster Derbies. She happily described how she executed her training regimen in one of the hallways in her home.

The student who answered “I want to learn how to draw faces” is now a student at LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts. Without asking her …

Chemistry is acknowledged as the most interesting of all science subjects. However, a lot of students, after taking a look at the Chemical formulas, go into a tizzy – probably due to a fear of the unknown. The fear of Chemistry pervades fundamentally from a lack of understanding of the subject which itself stems from following a random approach to learning Chemistry

I reiterate here that Chemistry is very interesting and easy to comprehend. However to understand it, Chemistry must be learnt in a systematic manner. The subject itself follows a beautiful pattern and as one learns, the pieces fall into place, fitting well into each other.

With the proliferation of online learning, understanding Chemistry has become much more easier, simpler and faster too. The power of Online Chemistry Learning lies in its ability to create interactive tutorials which make understanding Chemistry much simpler. Learning Chemistry is now more fun, enjoyable and interesting.

The human element in learning chemistry ie Chemistry Tutors however can not be ignored. While the tutorials have become more and more effective, the need for a tutor always remains to get the insight into the subject. It is only a tutor – whether online or face-to-face who can gauge your learning requirements and plug the gaps in knowledge to make a complete understanding. The online tutors available today are much more affordable, flexible and as effective compared to the face-to-face tutors. The Online tutors complimented with Chemistry learning aids make the best combination for success in Chemistry.

The Basics of Chemistry. For those with little or no background of Chemistry, the first step must start with the learning about the atom itself. One must fully understand the structure of atom, the way the electrons, protons and neutrons are arranged and how they affect the properties of substances. The ideal way of learning this is by animated tutorials, a lot of which are easily available on the internet.

The next step is to graduate to the Periodic Table which gives complete insight into the Chemical and Physical behavior of elements. I will give a example here – the Sodium (Na) atom has 11 electrons. If one looks at its electronic configuration which is 2-8-1, following the Octet rule, Sodium can lose one electron – this makes it a metal. The same analogy is applicable to the other elements of the periodic table which can lose electrons. Thus one simple concept is applicable to a number of elements of the Periodic Table and can be used to predict their metallic and non metallic nature. From the periodic table itself, one can learn how to write chemical formulas. Once that is done, its easy to write Chemical equations and balance them.

It has been my experience that a majority of the students are not able to understand the Periodic Table completely by themselves which affects their further learning of Chemistry. This is where the services of a tutor prove invaluable. Here it is imperative that the gaps in knowledge …