Who is minding the storms
What must it be like for the child that finds him or herself in a moving class room environment with multiple teachers,
each having a different teaching style, and unique learning requirements for each subject. What must it be like when asked
to handle a barrage of work that arrives in a blizzard of papers, electronic information, and oral communications, with explicit
obligations to deliver results on time, and often with unforgiving deadlines. What if the experience for that child is like being
on a flood plain during a “100 year storm”, and what if that child is protected by weakly constructed levees. If this were remotely
the case, we would certainly want to ask what we might do differently to provide our child with organization readiness skills. We
would want to give our children the gift of being able to not only sense the weather change, but also fortify their own rivers
with the best available flood controls.
However, we adults, whether as parents or teachers, often tell our children “go study”, or “get organized”, but in all reality ,
don’t offer them a consistent, consensus based approach to accomplish this task. There are well established methods for reading
and math readiness, but we do not teach them the mechanism, the “how to”, that would allow them to go about getting self-organized.
If there is a curriculum event that occurs as a planned part of their education, it all too often arrives late under the name “study
skills”, a regimen that is typically an “outside-in” approach that doesn’t allow the young child an opportunity to explore their own
learning style. We want an approach that is designed to work for the child from the “middle-out”, an approach that will allow the child
to discover the internal organizing mechanisms they naturally posses, means that would allow them to become self-organized on their own.
Redrawing the battle lines
The hard fought battles for curriculum change in reading and math have resulted in standards everyone can buy into, and schools
are moving full tilt on delivery. It’s time to draw a new battle line. If the goal is to get another bump up in student achievement
and performance, then we believe the next place to fight for an edge is in organizing skills. Our new mission should be to provide
really great organizing readiness training to our students at the earliest possible age, and to reinforce it at each new level of skill.
We need to evaluate the methods being used now and debate best practice approaches for teaching our children organization readiness.
The kind of organization readiness we refer to not only includes the basics of event recognition, calendar management, homework recording,
and assignment tracking, but extends into standard methods for storing and referencing all forms of class room papers, notes, homework, and handouts.
We believe that one of the easiest places to get a fix on the fundamental problem of disorganization is to work with students on “notebook
organizing”. This is a very practical crucible to establish best practices, since it is very clear that most students have trouble in this zone.
The objective would be to find a solution that elicited “self-organizing” behavior from the outset. Further, we would want an approach that
integrated naturally into the teacher/student/parent paper work experience without requiring any curriculum revision. The goal would be to
find a performance enhancer that the child could own for themself.
Binder Buddies® to the rescue:Training wheels for the mind
The good news is that there is an organization readiness solution that is already in practice with students around the country, and which
has been standardized on by some schools already. The solution is “tools based” and has been used most effectively in 5th and 6th grade.
Lovingly referred to as “Binder Buddies®”, the tool kit is a novel construction of pockets and a notepad which can be used in any 3-ring
binder and is like a set of “training wheels for the mind”. The tools work for the target application of notebook organizing, and they
empower the child to systematically handle the disorganization linked to paper flow and paper overflow in the typical class room environment.
The tools are compatible with every calendar/planner system that may already be in use by the student or at the school. The best part is that
the tools fit naturally into the regular class room experience without requiring curriculum re- examination or development of additional course
materials.
The unique configuration of Binder Buddies pockets are designed to unlock the mystery at the heart of disorganization and provide the child a
reliable way to not only get organized, but to stay organized. The tools look different, in much the same way that an airline pilot’s simulator
is uniquely designed to teach flying, or the rock climbing experts equipment is structured to enable vertical ascent and descent. The form and
function of the notebook is best described as a group of dual pocket “cocoon” portfolios, each nested with a uniform set of specially designed
pockets. The structure supports the same basic “process” for organizing each and every subject. The pocket locations provide a “one touch system”
where there is a place for every kind of paper the child gets. They are set up so the child can easily learn to categorize and place each paper
in it’s proper place, and find and reference it just as quickly, without opening a ring or leafing through a messy pile. There is a pop-out,
windowpage® pad holder that makes notetaking fun and effective by permitting the pad to be placed in various positions for viewing with other
notes and papers. The pockets are designed to support the step of incremental removal of completed works, called archiving. Binder Buddies teaches
and then enables the child to carry around only the current work they need for a subject unit, a blessing in this day of overweight book bags filled
with older, dated materials. The underlying principle is based on “input-process-output”, a dynamic we can find in every walk of life from
photosynthesis, to communication, to the basic process of life itself. The method of use, called “Program Your Notebook™” is completely
procedural or “rule based” and has a regular construction form or “grammar”. This enables the teacher to use examples from Math, English,
or Science to reinforce the principles of organizing and discovery that the child readily makes for themself. So the tools allow for a fun
and unexpectedly powerful way to introduce their use and blend them into any school subject. It is for this reason that the tools can be used
to teach the skills of paper handling and organization without requiring any curriculum change or extension.
Why we are pleasantly surprised
Think back to how you learned to ride a bicycle. You probably used a three wheeler, then graduated to a two wheeler with trainers, after
which you were provided a guided shove into biking history. We know that a pilot learns to fly a jumbo jet by using a tool called a simulator.
We would not trust our lives to the pilot if he or she were not properly trained on the exact equipment they would use in day to day practice.
And, without doubt, no one would deny the rock climber his or her tools of the trade to scale the precipices so often selected to demonstrate
expert skill in that field.
It now seems obvious that we should have been looking for a tools based solution to the problem of getting kids organized with their notebooks.
In fact, we should have reasonably expected to find such a tool to solve the problem of disorganization. The fundamental reason for this is that
“man” evolved by creating tools which enabled the formation of “new intelligence”, intelligence that has been culturally passed along from generation
to generation by a larger process known as cultural inheritance. Therefore, we should find this to be true for organizing intelligence.
In these examples, tools are used to both teach and then to practice in the field of art. This should be true when instructing children
in the application of “organizing”. The best surprise of all is that the Binder Buddies approach to teaching organizing readiness also uses
a simple and effective tool kit. The tools stimulate the child's critical thinking about organization, link event management and list making
to the actual objects about which records are being made, and allow the child to own the discovery process of why, when, and how to handle papers,
events, and commitments. The child “programs” their own solution for document organization by working with the pockets, windowpage® pad, and record
keeping forms.
What’s really going on
Notebooks have been around for decades, along with pockets for holding papers, so it is fair to ask whether the tools that have been available are
being put to proper use. Yet, disorganization continues to confront our children, since in excess of 80% of the teachers and parents asked
acknowledge this is a problem. We could fault the teacher, the teaching methods, or the child, or simply accept fact that the tools have
not been up to the task. Binder Buddies is a unique type of tool in that it is what we call a “transitional system trainer”. With this t
ype of trainer, the user is provided the actual tool in an “incubator” setting. Like the rock climber that practices on a dimpled wall with
his rappeling gear and safety lines, the user can experiment with out fear of failure or harm, and safely discover key underlying principles
of behavior and learn best practices. Then, instantly, the user can turn around and apply the tool as a practical means for solving real problems
in the actual field of use. Binder Buddies provide an innovative, simple, easy to use system that the child can employ to discover the underlying
principles of work flow and organization. Then they can go directly to the task of developing strategies and solving specific organizing problems
using the very same notebook. It works for each and every one of their subjects, day to day, and the solution is theirs.
The structure and configuration of the pockets have an “architecture” that is not unlike the file system on a computer. This is not surprising,
in fact, it is reassuring that the same mechanism that the brightest minds in computer science have determined should be used on the computer to
store and order digital work now exists in mechanical form and fits into any 3-ring binder! This speaks to the relevance and importance of the
binder tools. A side benefit is that Binder Buddies teaches thinking that is critical to living life in an all digital world.
Furthermore, the tools can easily be employed by both teachers and parents in their own day to day filing. So, in much the same way that a
child learns a sport like baseball, soccer, or field hockey using the same equipment as the adult, all can employ one in the same tool to
solve common problems in organization. Teacher, student, and parent, alike can use a common language about the objects and process of
organizing. As a result, the “leader” can build an important communications bridge with the child that enables higher performance for all,
and that yields improved results in areas that might otherwise be unexpected. For example, teachers experience better overall student effort,
have less down time in the classroom, and are better able to develop an understanding of a child’s learning style.
Best of all, the tools are self-motivating by empowering the child to maintain their own portfolio of work from day to day, week to week,
and month to month. When it comes time to study for a test or present work for review, they are the experts, they deliver the goods, and
they enjoy the emotional high of success.
Why should we expect a standard solution to this problem
Think about how much the computer does that we take for granted. All the work is performed by what is known as the “operating system”.
Among other things, it enables the user to interact with the computer, run applications, and file documents. This thought will help
us better understand the importance of Binder Buddies for students and teachers around the country. Here’s the reason why. For the
same reason that we would never give a child a computer and tell the child to program their own operating system, we would not want
to give a child an empty binder and expect them to “program it” for organizing. And, for the very same reason that it is unproductive
to expect every teacher or parent to provide an “operating system” for that same piece of computer hardware, they shouldn’t be asked
to each create a notebook binder “operating system program (for storing, ordering, filing, and referencing school papers)” in isolation.
Yet, in the world of notebooks, if we don’t cast our children off to solve the problem on their own, often with weak or limited “hardware”,
we make them live in an incompatible world of babble, with each teacher or parent employing a different system, language, and means for
“getting their child organized”. We need to give the child an operating system for their notebooks in the same way we give them one for
their computer.That’s just what Binder Buddies does. Binder Buddies work with any 3-ring binder “hardware” and deliver a consistent set
of operating procedures: means for storing, ordering, keeping track of, finding, and archiving all school papers so they can be referenced
in a timely manner, on demand.
No one questions the potential impact the computer will have on our children's style of learning, and the dramatic impact it will have
on their ability to learn in new ways at a younger age. Starting with a notebook tool that acts as a standard bridge to the computer will
make it affordable. In addition, it will promote consistent communication and ensure better testing and intervention.
Are there any strings attached?
There are some necessary steps that should be taken along with providing the tool kit to the child. It goes without saying that one of
our responsibilities is to make sure we give the child a good piece of hardware that doesn’t “crash” on them, and help make sure the
binder hardware they have is properly maintained. For the same reason that you discard the supermarket cart with the wobbly wheel that
steers you right into the shelf, so to, it is essential to provide a good quality binder with sturdy rings of adequate dimension and a
durable cover so the child wants to keep and use it every day. Additionally, proper support, care, and reinforcement of successful
behavior is recommended during the “burn-in” period, while the child develops good organizing habits. Once they have their own strategy
in place, they will protect their notebook from damage, detect any failure in their rings or cover, and seek to have it fixed on their
own initiative. This is the kind of general and responsible work ethic we would like to see coming from all students. The good news is
that if Binder Buddies is provided at the right age, and with the right style of delivery, the child will develop the organizational
skills we demand and expect. This will allow each and every child to meet, indeed, exceed our expectations in this skill set. Once
the process of manipulating the “goods of knowledge acquisition”, i.e. the papers and communications of various kinds, is in the child’s
hand, and once they each posses the secret weapon to greet and successfully navigate in a world of information overload, the reduction in
stress will put the fun back into both learning and teaching. It will also contribute to installing in the child's psyche the holy grail of
intelligent behavior,“learning how to learn”. As you might hope, with the process of organizing in hand, the challenge for all participants
shifts to a focus on content. The result of this is the single most important benefit this tool kit can offer.
Conclusion
It is our hope that this manifesto has served to raise the collective consciousness of educators and parents about the
need for organizing readiness. We want to let people know that a product is already available that can enable the child
to solve many of the common problems of getting organized with their school work. No one can deny the potential impact we
can have with our children by providing each and every one of them with a secret weapon of their own to deal with the daunting
task of handling school work loads. With Binder Buddies, students take control of their own work portfolios and become progressively
self-organized. Binder Buddies is the secret weapon that offers a simple way to develop organizing intelligence in the child, in the
context of their work, in each and every one of their subjects. Since the method can be self-taught, the child can naturally invent
ways to tap into their own individual organizing machinery and evolve adaptive mechanisms as circumstances change. The tools lend
themselves to group training and peer mentoring, so it is easy for an entire grade or school to adopt the system. Larger benefits
accrue when a grade or school standardize on the Binder Buddies approach. The notebook organizing tools serve to enhance the teaching
process in any subject. Once a school gets started, they discover rich opportunities to develop curriculum enhancements which can amplify
the results for all. Fay School in Southboro MA, Hillside School in Marlboro MA, and Spring Cove Elementary in Roaring Spring PA offer good
examples. The Document Organizing System™ approach built into Binder Buddies® is so basic to the way we learn, it is comforting to find as
simple and effective a solution for the often underestimated, and more often ignored problem of disorganization. The delivery of the
win(student)-win(teacher)-win(parent) approach that is part of the Binder Buddies experience enables teachers to amplify their unique
teaching strengths, offers students a chance for better individual achievement, and helps parents, teachers, and students work together.
This leads to a stronger culture of effectiveness, and superior overall school performance.
David C. Schwartz is CEO of PEI, the company he founded in 1989 to develop and patent the Binder Buddies® notebook system. Mr. Schwartz is the author of the book "Growing Smarter: a crash course on the intelligence of being organized/©August 1999". He has his BSEE from Cornell University, MSEE from MIT and his MBA from Boston University. David worked in the computer industry for 16 years. Just prior to starting PEI, he spent 5 years at the computer firms Symbolics and Texas Instruments working in the field of Artificial Intelligence.
Claude Guidroz runs his own Sylvan Learning Systems franchises. Mr. Guidroz has been an educator for the past 30 years and a principal at both the elementary and high school level for 12 years. Mr. Guidroz has his B. A. in communications and English and his M.A. in Gifted and Special Education from the University of Southern Louisiana.
>>Suggestion:read the book->Growing Smarter: a crash course on the intelligence of being organized