An old manager of mine used to say “I got burned on such-and-such and I think I over-learned on it.” Meaning that the learning pendulum had swung too far to the other side after the negative experience.
In World War II, British Engineers were studying aircraft returning from bombing runs and noticed that the tail sections and wings were all shot up. So they decided to beef up those sections with armor. It didn’t make a dent in the number of lost planes. Why? The Germans were aiming for the engines and cockpits and finding their marks. These planes were not making it back home for “analysis” by the Engineers. The planes needed armor on the engines and cockpits…not the tail and wings. Are we missing the obvious in the school planner business?
I’ve talked to a number of schools that have decided that school planners are a poor use of taxpayer money. In some sense they may be right. I’ve talked to countless parents that find their child’s school planner stuffed behind the sofa cushion with the first 2 weeks of school filled out and nothing past that. Or it’s jammed under the car seat and only very little writing in it at all. But we may have learned the wrong lesson. Is it really that student planners are not effective or is it something else we’ve overlooked.
I’ve also talked to teachers, parents and students that see some students using their day planner to the max. Each day is filled out and it’s used exactly as designed. These students say they couldn’t live without their planner. For many, getting that planner is an exciting event in the semester.
I don’t have statistics to back this up, but with antidotal feedback I’d say that 50% of academic planners end up unused. That effectively doubles the cost for those school planners that are used (and of the 50% that are used, what metric is being moved with use of the planner and can it be measured?). But more importantly is the potential lost opportunity for those students that don’t use their planner because they are quite likely the ones that need them the most! The kids that really use them would make due with a Big Chief pad and Number 2 pencil…they just get it.
So what is the best planner students can use? Well, that depends on what you mean by “use”…if the question relates to “writing down assignments” then we have one potential answer to the best student planner. If we are talking about imparting skills that will transcend homework assignments then we have a whole new conversation.
A waste of money or lost opportunity? Next time.
