Helping students remember to turn in homework

I've been talking about organization a lot this week. A challenge many students with executive function deficits face is keeping their school work and backpack organized and then remembering to turn in (and being able to find) homework. There's nothing worse than a student doing their homework and then not getting credit because they didn't turn it in.

Today's quick tip is one I picked up from the book, Organizing the Disorganized Child by Martin L. Kutscher and Marcella Moran. The authors suggest giving the student a simple two pocket folder like the one pictured above.

Any papers that the student touches or doesn't have time to correctly file during the school day goes into the "Take Home" side of the folder. Part of the student's homework is then to take 5 or 10 minutes to place all of those papers in the correct places in his or her school binder. Students will probably need help with this step, especially when first learning how to organize.

In the evening when all of the student's homework has been completed, it is to be placed in the "Homework" side of the folder. The next day when the teacher asks the class to turn in their homework, the student will know where to find it.

Some students may also benefit from placing a post-it note on the top of each homework assignment, with the name and time of the class written on it. The homework can then be placed into the folder sequentially. Chronological/sequential organizers may especially like this technique.