Activities 24 - 25

Planning Calendars

What Students Do

Students develop a planning calendar and investigate important events to in their school (Activity 24) and at colleges using the Internet (Activity 25). For example, if students have written a goal that requires a four year college, they will want to have college seminars, pre-college testing dates, and due dates for FAFSA forms on their calendars.

Planning

Planning for college requires students to organize dates and deadlines. Explain the Planning Calendar to students as one method to keep track of college-related activities. Consider gathering different organizational systems (both high and low tech) to show students. Meet on a yearly basis with counseling staff and review important college deadlines. Create your own college-planning calendar that you can use for quick reference. Include college fairs, speakers, financial aid and application deadlines. Create and maintain a bulletin board with important college planning information.

Introducing the Activity

Talk about different ways to remember things. Ask students to brainstorm how they remember appointments, assignments, and other important dates. Point out methods used at home and at school. Discuss the systems that the students currently use. Some may need help recognizing the system they use.

If students do not have a system in place, have them experiment with a variety of methods (paper, electronic, hand held, computer, daily, weekly, monthly, and color-coded). Have the students practice using an organizational system. It may help to review the information in the Assistive Technology section prior to this discussion.

In Activity 25, students develop a list of the college planning activities they need to remember. They are instructed to transfer the information onto a calendar. Although a calendar is a great organizational tool for most people, it may not work for all. Discuss alternatives to calendars. If students remember dates well with their system, switching to a calendar isn't necessary. Adopting or modifying their system may be all that is needed. For instance, a student may put sticky notes all over the inside of his locker. You might suggest that he should put the sticky notes pertaining to the college planning activities in one spot.