Skip to main content

Progress Calendars

I have done quite  a bit of reading over the past several days, and I can't remember where this information was mentioned:(   But, wherever I was reading, it was mentioned that Jerry Seinfeld's method to ensure that he stayed productive was to get a big wall calendar of the year and put it in a visible place. Then he used a red marker and made an X on each day that he worked on writing (in order to create better jokes). He said that once there are red Xs in a row, there's motivation to "not break the chain" of Xs, thus creating motivation to write every day (or complete whatever task/activity it is that you need to create motivation to work on each day).

I like this idea, but since there are several things I want to make sure I do every day, one red X wouldn't be enough to cover these activities. So, I took the calendar pages I had made for my organizational binder (I only have until July, so I'll have to add the rest of the months later) and I separated each date into several sections. Then, I made a little key, with each activity being a different color. As I complete those tasks each day, I can fill in the different sections.


Click to download
For example, so far today, I have exercised and I have completed this blog post, so I colored in those two sections of my calendar. I will print these calendar pages (and of course get different colored markers) and even though it won't be a big wall calendar, as J.S. uses, it should be big enough to catch my attention. I'm very excited to use this and see how well it works as a motivational tool in these areas. I'm thinking that I also have some space on the calendars, where the dates are written, so if I want to add a 5th item to work on, I can keep track of it in that section.

If you're interested in using the calendars (for yourself, or to help your students track progress), you can download them by clicking below the first image. I tried to upload the PowerPoint version, but too many lines were lost, so it is in PDF form. I took out my key so that you can fill in your own:)

Happy New Year!












Comments

  1. What a great idea! I need visuals to keep me on track.
    Little Room Under the Stairs

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love this! Thanks so much for sharing! I am printing it right now and will definitely use it. What a great idea!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Memory Wheels - First Day, Last Day, and Any Day in Between!

This post has been moved to:  http://www.cognitivecardiowithmsmm.com/blog/memory-wheels-first-day-last-day-and-any-day-in-between

Love to Doodle (and a freedbie)

Exponents Color by Number For most of my school life as a student (and even as an adult, during PD), I have really liked doodling! During lectures, discussions...it would help me focus, but also give me something to make me look busy, so I wouldn't get called on in class! I always hated being called on and almost never participated voluntarily:) I liked to draw cubes, rectangles, squiggly lines, etc, and color in different parts of the doodles. Download this freebie:-) I really wanted to make some color by number activities. Since I am not good at creating actual pictures, I decided to make my color by numbers similar to my random drawing/doodling. My Exponent Color by Number is most similar to my past doodles, but I thought it was a little too random, so I started using actual shapes. The Integer Operations Color by Number (freebie), as well as most of my other color by numbers are more structured, but so much fun for me to make! Computerized doodling! Anyone else

Math Class - First Day Activity

Rectangle of pentominoes Many 6th graders seem to have a pretty negative attitude about math, so I try to do something interesting to "grab" them during our first class. Last year, during the first math class, we spent part of the period working with pentominoes. Before working with the pentominoes, however, we played a name game so we could learn each others' names (I find it impossible to start anything else if I don't know some names, and fortunately, I learn them fairly quickly). rectangle outline For the activity, I divided the students into groups of 3 or 4. The directions for the activity were not complicated - the task was to make a rectangle, using all of the pentominoes. I gave students an outline of the rectangle, as pictured to the left, so they would know the correct size of the rectangle. The squares in the grid are each one inch. The rectangle is 5 squares (inches) wide and 13 inches long (13 inches includes the row that has the "Pent