Thinking Organized Book Review
Students Manage Time, Improve Study Skills and Develop Better Memory
In Thinking Organized for Parents and Children, author Rhona M. Gordon provides planning tools to help students with Executive Functioning Weaknesses.
Thinking Organized
Rhona M. Gordon's 2007 Thinking Organized Press title, Thinking Organized for Parents and Children: Helping Kids Get Organized for Home, School and Play, provides practical advice for students who struggle with Executive Functioning Weakness. Teachers of all levels should keep this helpful guide in their libraries so that they can offer practical management techniques for students who struggle to stay organized.
Executive Functioning Weakness
Executive Function refers to the cognitive processes that allow people to organize, prioritize and work towards future goals. Students with Executive Functioning Weakness may seem disorganized, inattentive or forgetful. They may also be unaware of time or schedules. Teaching these students may be frustrating, as they may have trouble keeping track of assignments and may often forget their homework. No matter how bright a student with Executive Functioning Weakness may be, forgetting to study and inattention to homework assignments typically leads to poor school performance.
Executive Function Weakness is frequently associated with a variety of developmental disorders such as ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders and Tourette's Syndrome. However, other children may have varying levels of weakness pertaining to Executive Function as well.
Helping Students with Organizational Skills
In clear and practical language, certified speech and language pathologist Rhona M. Gordon, M.S., CCC/SLP recommends strategies developed while working with students and parents over the past 30 years. The book helps students to better handle a variety of areas necessary for academic success:
- Material Organization
- Time Management
- Learning Styles and Studying
- Memory Strategies
- Note-Taking for Reading Comprehension
- Written Language Skills
Gordon's first strategy emphasizes the importance of organizing materials. "When a student learns to document assignments and has a system for keeping track of his materials," she states, "he saves time and lessens frustration." To help students to better organize materials, Gordon provides templates and instructions for an assignment calendar and binder organization.
Time management is the second objective outlined by Gordon. The student with Executive Functioning Weakness, she says, "may have trouble estimating how long an assignment will take and therefore experience frustration when she leaves too little time to complete a project." Gordon's strategies are thus geared to improve awareness, time estimation skills and ability to break down assignments.
Gordon encourages students to understand their own learning styles in order to develop better study strategies. For instance, while a visual learner might learn best with graphs, pictures or diagrams, an auditory learner might memorize better with oral repetition or musical jingles.
The author further empowers students by teaching them them about the types of memory. Gordon suggests that "(g)iving labels to different types of memory... demystifies the learning process." Students who understand relationships between long-term, short-term, and active working memory will be more effective at using memory strategies like chunking information and mnemonic devices.
Visualizing, note-taking and outlines are cornerstones for better reading comprehension. Gordon provides examples of two column and Cornell outlining systems for students who need to develop active reading strategies.
Written language can be a challenge for students with Executive Functioning Weaknesses even when they clearly know the material. To help students better organize their information, Gordon suggests several visual organizational approaches, specific writing frameworks, research paper strategies and tips for preparing for essay exams.
All in all, this is a must-have guide for every teacher who is interested in providing clear and specific guidance for students who struggle with Executive Functioning.
