August 27, 2025 • 23 mins
Canyons students are back in the classroom, and those first few weeks of school can be a little jarring. Whether it's remembering to set that alarm clock or getting acquainted with a new class schedule, it can take a while to get back into the learning groove.
So, we’re devoting the first Connect Canyons episode for the 2025-2026 school year to helping students and parents alike find that rhythm again. Joining us for this episode are Canyons Instructional Coach Susan Young and Canyons AVID Specialist Jay Rudel who share their insights into things parents can do at home as well as tips for students to stay organized.
“For me, I love the start of school,” says Rudel. “Everything is new, and everyone gets a fresh start. And if you attack Day One like Day 180 and say, ‘this is what we’re going to do each day,’ you’ll have some success with that. It takes time. It’s hard work. It’s not easy. But we have to teach ourselves to do hard things and it’s OK to do hard things and fail sometimes. You get up on the horse again and try a different strategy.”
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Connect Canyons, a podcast sponsored by
Canyon School District.
This is a show about what weteach, how we teach and why we
get up close and personal withsome of the people who make our
schools great Students, teachers, principals, parents and more.
We meet national experts too.
Learning is about makingconnections, so connect with us
(00:26):
experts too.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Learning is about making connections, so connect
with us.
Canyon students are back in theclassroom kicking off the
2025-26 school year.
With the first few weeks ofschool, naturally comes a bit of
chaos, whether it's studentsnot waking up on time or
forgetting to bring something toschool.
It can take time to get backinto that groove of the school
year.
Welcome to Connect Canyons.
I'm your host, frances Cook.
This week, we want to helpstudents and parents alike find
(00:50):
that rhythm again and to setstudents up for success.
Joining me now are two Canyonsexperts Susan Young, one of our
Canyons instructional coaches,and Jay Rudell, our AVID
specialist.
Thank you both for being here.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Now you're both involved in AVID programs here
at Canyons, which we'll get intoin a little bit of the moment,
but it means you know a thing ortwo about organization.
Jay, I'd like to start with you.
Would you first just tell uswhat AVID is?
Speaker 4 (01:20):
AVID is basically a system and a philosophy on how
to reach higher levels ofachievement with students, and
it goes from the teacher's lensto the administrative lens, to
even the student lens in what wecall relational capacity.
At different levels it's moreintense than at the elementary
levels, for example.
For example, it's much moreteacher-driven at the elementary
(01:48):
level and much morestudent-driven at the secondary
levels, where they have theirown class for AVID, the entire
school teaches a certain way,using WICR, which is Writing,
inquire, collaboration,organization and Reading, to
maximize student engagement inthe classroom.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
And we have five schools throughout the district
that are avid schools.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
We do have five.
We have two elementaries, whichis Sandy Elementary and Glacier
Hills Elementary.
The two middle schools areEastmont Middle School, which is
a national demonstration school, and Mount Jordan Middle School
, and then Jordan High School isthe feeder system we call it,
and all those kids, or a lot ofthem, go through that system,
through Jordan.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Very cool and shout out to Eastmont.
They got that nationaldemonstration recently.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
And wouldn't have happened without the lady
sitting next to us.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, buddy, that's really awesome, Aw thanks.
So, as you mentioned,organization is part of AVID,
but it's deep in the roots.
That is AVID, right?
So let's get into theorganizational side of things.
There are a lot of things thatour students can do, our parents
can do, that can keep themorganized throughout the school
(02:56):
year.
Just off the cuff, what kind ofjust tips and tricks would you
have that just immediately cometo your mind?
Just tips and tricks.
Would you have that justimmediately come to your mind?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
I think, first of all , having an organizational
system is really key.
From the teacher, from theEastmont lens and from the
teacher lens, which is where Ireally specialize, we give every
student a binder with dividersand we set up purposeful time at
the start of school forstudents to organize that binder
with classes in the order thatthey have them from first to,
(03:27):
you know, seventh period, forexample.
So I think having anorganizational system like that
in place is really important.
But we also know that in ourdigital world today, that we
also have to have digitalorganization.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
That's important, even as, like an adult right, we
have things on paper, we gethandouts.
Well, what do we do with ourhandouts after we go to a
meeting?
Or we get emails, how do weorganize our emails?
Or even, how do we organize ourto-do lists at home?
So I think the key for both ofthese things, whether you're a
student or a parent, is that youhave to kind of figure out what
(04:02):
is your system going to be andsystem going to be, and at
eSmart, we make it easy, becausewe just tell students you have
to have this binder.
We just give them a binder andtheoretically, teachers are
supposed to be intentional aboutmodeling the organization.
But hopefully, as thattranslates at home, the parents
should then say oh, you havethis binder.
I see it has dividers.
Let's put papers in thethree-ring binder together.
(04:24):
Let's make sure that there'snothing in your backpack
scattered papers, I don't know,nasty pieces from lunch,
whatever it is and make surethat we are going through it.
So I might be getting ahead ofmyself here, but I think just
having a system and reallythinking through what that
system is going to look like andfor different kids and for
different parents and familiesthat's going to look different,
(04:46):
but we have to have a system,that's like the first key thing
that comes to mind.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
That's such a great idea.
With the binders and the youknow what, be it tabs or folders
, you've got your English class,you've got your math class and
everything.
You know a place for everythingand everything in its place.
I think everybody hears thatphrase so often because it's
just so innately true.
Exactly, jay.
How about you?
What comes to mind just off thecuff?
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Well, from a teacher's perspective or a
parent or even a student'sperspective, I think getting in
a routine and understanding howto maneuver that routine
throughout the school week isreally important and it's going
to look different from anelementary perspective compared
to a secondary, middle schooland high school perspective.
The one nice thing about AVIDschools and Susie mentioned that
(05:31):
is we do the organization orteach the kids the organization
all the way through.
So the kindergartners at Sandyand at Glacier Hills they're
already starting to learn thatorganizational skill at a very
early age and each grade levelup they get it gets more
rigorous for them.
So instead of just one tab inkindergarten, now in first grade
(05:53):
we're two tabs and we'reworking on math and english and
also with that piece is whenthey get to the middle school
they should be ready to be inthat organized frame of mind
from the very get going carryingthrough high school.
I've talked to parents inpassing why can't we have AVID
in my school?
Because that would really helpmy kid be organized and it is a
(06:18):
philosophy and a system thateach year these kids get more
organized with things.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
And it's something that I think even if not every
school is an avid school, likeyou said, it's a philosophy,
it's something that parents andstudents alike can adapt on
their own and really lean into.
I'd like to dig into theroutine of things.
When I was a kid, I couldn't domy homework in my bedroom,
(06:44):
right, there were too manydistractions.
Or what time are you doing yourhomework?
Can you dig into that a littlebit more about what kind of
routines they can set up?
Speaker 4 (06:55):
One of the things I'll say is and especially from
a perspective of a parent, whichI was now they're growing up,
thankfully you need to develop asystem.
Each night and obviously having, for example, middle school,
you have seven or eight classes.
That's a lot for a sixth graderto manage.
And so, breaking it up, it'sgoing to be Math Mondays how are
(07:17):
we organizing our math book onMonday with math, and then
Tuesday ELA, and then Wednesdaywe're going to do science, and
then Thursday we're going to dohistory and elective classes.
That way it's not.
Oh, I got all of these eightclasses I have to worry about
tonight.
And then another thing I say inthe high school level, because
we have A days and B days, havean A day binder and a B day
(07:38):
binder, and you just switch themout each day and you know which
homeworks you have to do duringthat night.
Elementary is and Susie and Iwere talking about this is well,
I get this folder, they bringit home, I put stuff back in it,
they bring it back to school,and that's great, but it's going
to get harder as they growthrough the years of elementary,
(08:00):
and so, anyways, setting up aroutine like that is really
important to say this is what wedo, and maybe it's five minutes
to start.
Let's just take five minutes.
Don't put all of the pressureon the student and say we got to
do this for a half an hourbecause it's not going to work
that way.
Sure, let's work on fiveminutes and get that five
(08:20):
minutes solid with that math forthat Monday.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Working your way up.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Can I just jump into and just say I think one of the
issues where kids do haveorganizational problems and I'm
just talking kind of maybe morelike general population things,
not not people who might have,you know, special needs or
whatever that might take somefurther scaffolding or some more
intervention.
But I think that sometimes asand I'm I'm now parent to almost
(08:46):
a second grader and so I see itfrom now as a parent going
having a kid in elementaryschool but I think sometimes
parents assume well, theteachers are going to teach my
kids this.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
And the teachers assume well, the parents are
going to enforce this and teachthis to their kids, and I think
obviously we also.
We know what happens when youassume right.
So I think the issue is thatsometimes parents and teachers
they're not maybe workingtogether in the sense of like,
oh, this is a partnership, andso I think that creates like a
really big.
(09:17):
The parents and teachers needto realize that they need to
take ownership of teaching thesethings in a classroom setting
and also in a home setting, andso that's why AVID is so
wonderful, so wonderful andthat's something that we
encourage our teachers to do atEastmont is take time, build it
into your classroom routine.
Yeah, that at the when you do astarter or a warm up, then,
okay, you're putting that paperback into your binder in the
(09:38):
three ring binder and you shutyour binder and you put it in
your backpack, like create theroutine and then, with, as a
parent, create the routine, likeJay mentioned, of I'm checking
a section a day with my studentand I'm building that into our
evening routine and schedule.
And so I think we just can'tassume that the other party is
doing it.
(09:59):
We both have to do it together.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
And we were mentioning phrases that we use
all the time.
It takes a village right?
Yes, again, it's a phrase wesay all the time because it's so
very true, the parents havetheir side.
And then it's a phrase we sayall the time because it's so
very true, the parents havetheir side.
And then it's teamwork with theteachers as well.
Uh, you mentioned, you know,putting things back in the
binder.
One thing I've heard a lot ofparents say is their students
(10:23):
will, their kids will, completetheir homework, it's done, but
then it stops.
It doesn't get back to theclass.
And so it doesn't get turned inand so they don't get the grade
for it.
So is there another layer tothat?
You know, beyond helping themto put it back in the folder,
(10:45):
Then how do we get that folderback into the classroom and that
piece of paper back out of thefolder?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Right.
I mean, I would just say I seeit from both perspectives
because I'm both a teacher and aparent.
But I think on the parent sideit's helping your student
develop skills to advocate andsay I have this homework, do I
turn it in today?
Where do I turn it in?
Hopefully they know where toturn it in.
But you know things happen.
(11:10):
Yeah, but just making sure,like talking to your, like
role-playing it.
Okay, this teacher maybe has ahard time reminding us to turn
in homework.
Okay, so role-play it.
Hey, excuse me, you know miss,whatever.
Where do I turn in my homework?
Or is this due today?
I have it right.
So I think that advocacy isimportant as a student when
(11:31):
maybe they're not turning it inbecause maybe the teacher isn't
reminding them or has a systemin place.
But then it goes back on theteacher, right, the teacher
needs to be providing thatroutine to have a place where
kids are turning homework in thetime and place to do it and
that hopefully they're usingfeedback to say now is the time
(11:52):
to turn in your homework.
Oh look, johnny has it, sallyhas it.
Right, right, right, like thatfeedback is really important for
the teacher.
So again, it is a partnershippiece and I would encourage a
parent if they're finding thattheir student isn't turning
things in.
It could be a student thing,but it could also be a teacher
thing and I would explore whichone it is and then work on that
relationship.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
I agree totally with what Susie was saying.
One thing as a parent is maybemodeling that at home and saying
okay, mrs Young, where do Iturn that in?
Because I from my experience asa 29 year teacher is some kids
just don't want to make thatjump and have that conversation
with the teacher going.
I have this where do I put it?
Speaker 3 (12:34):
It makes them nervous .
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Yes, makes them extremely nervous, especially at
the younger grade, sixth grade,seventh grade and modeling at
that home and say, okay, this ishow you do it.
One of the big things with AVIDis we want student agency and
Susie said it as well is how thestudent advocate for themselves
.
That's a key piece to life andgoing through that and
practicing that with yourchildren, I think is extremely
(12:55):
important.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
It gives them that opportunity to be proud of the
work that they've done, tooright.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
I finished this.
I completed this task, I'mproud of it, and I want you to
be too Right.
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
And that ownership is really important and is also
very key to the AVEN mission.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Absolutely.
We were talking a little bitabout routines and I was reading
up, before we sat down together, about some of the other ways
that we can help students to beorganized at home.
And you know, I read like ahomework caddy right, just a
(13:31):
little basket that has theirpens, their pencils.
Do they need a calculator?
Do they need a ruler?
Even I thought this one wassuch a unique idea having a
specific place where you keeptheir after-school snacks so
maybe they are coming home andimmediately sitting down and
doing their homework but,they're also grabbing a snack,
so they know where their snacksare.
They know what their afterschoolsnacks are and they can grab it
(13:52):
.
Then at the end of the day,again making sure those
assignments are back in thosebinders and the binders are back
in the backpack.
The backpack's packed the nightbefore so we're not scrambling
in the morning, right?
But I also read then, settingout at least that next day's
outfit, right?
Is it crazy sock day?
Is it crazy hair day?
(14:13):
What do we set again?
Set our children and ourstudents up for success.
Any other tips and tricks foryou know kind of that at-home
modeling by example.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
I think that's an excellent idea of having
everything laid out for the nextday, just like when we talk
about high school studentshaving an A-day B-day binder,
knowing which one is which, andall those things.
I think setting up the routinewhen does the student or the
child start their homework isreally important.
(14:45):
Every situation is going to bedifferent.
Do you have a place or, likeyou said, a caddy for them to go
?
Oh, this is where I need to go,and we live in this very
multifunctional world with a lotof distractions, and it's very
difficult to get the kid focusedjust on the homework.
(15:06):
And I get that, and that's whatI'm saying.
Maybe smaller chunks, the firstfive minutes of each hour at
night.
We're going to study this, thisis what we're going to do and
getting them the idea that this,you study a little bit, you
play a little bit, you study alittle bit, play a little bit,
and you need to reward them too.
I mean, if, going back to theexecutive functioning, if they
(15:29):
turn that in to the teacher andyou ask them when they come home
from school did you turn thatin?
Great, hey, great job, let's goget a piece of candy or
whatever the case may be to givea positive reward for that, and
I think then the student willsay, okay, this is just part of
the routine that I have to gothrough as a student.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
I would agree with that and I would just add, I
think, some type ofself-monitoring checklist, you
know, like this just kind ofgoes off of what you both said,
but the parents need again.
The word intentional comes up.
But the parents may need to beintentional about what the space
looks like, what is theschedule, what are the rewards,
but what are also theconsequences?
(16:07):
Where does the phone go Ifthey're you know?
a middle or high school student,what are your expectations with
screen time around this time?
And I think um, I know I get introuble when it's like as a
parent, where I don't thinkthrough those things, and then
it's like, oh, it just feelslike a free-for-all at home,
right.
So having some structures inplace, but also giving them the
opportunity to have thestructures there so that
(16:29):
eventually the kids are takingownership of that checklist or
whatever, they'reself-monitoring, so that
eventually the kids are reallyowning the homework, and that's
what we want to see more,especially as they get into high
school.
Because guess what?
You're going to be in collegeor career and you're going to
have to figure out how you'regoing to organize your life and
your schedule.
I think, unfortunately, we allhave good intentions but
(16:51):
sometimes, maybe, as parents, wejust we maybe do too much
monitoring or we take things offtheir plate and maybe we need
to let it go.
And one thing that my principal, stacey Kurtz, always talks a
lot about is like middle schoolis a really great time to let
kids fail, because there's notreally big consequences for not
(17:14):
turning in your homework.
Yeah, so I think, just asparents, sometimes we just need
to like, maybe let go of thereins a little bit too.
We give them the structure, butwe need to let the students
take the ownership.
That's what I'm really tryingto say.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Let them learn from their mistakes.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, Like don't make it too casual or too easy at
home, but we need to like letthem take ownership.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Because, like you mentioned before, you know, the
later in school that they get,the more responsibilities
they're going to have.
They're going to have sports,they're going to have bands,
they're going to have clubs, youknow, or even just wanting to
hang out with their friends, andso all of that kind of piles on
.
So having those routinesestablished early I think you
hit the nail on the head it'sreally going to help them out.
We touched lightly on thisearlier.
(18:01):
A number of students in theCanyons District have special
needs when it comes to needing alittle extra help in the
classroom, and that can come inmany forms.
Maybe they have ADD, maybe theyhave other mental difficulties
that they need an extra hand.
What advice would you have forthose students and their parents
and, vicariously, whatresources do we have available
as a district for them?
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Well, I mean, I think we have a lot of resources
available with a lot of ourdistrict departments.
There's a lot of people whohave taught in the classrooms
here.
We have student wellness and soI know there's resources from
them and I believe they alsooffer things like classes and
things like that for parents.
So we have resources here.
But I would also talk with theteacher.
(18:44):
The teacher who is teachingthat student is going to have
especially if your student ismaybe has an IEP or a 504,
you're going to have teachersand also counselors and social
workers and school psychs thathave experience and have really
specific interventions andthings that can help your
(19:06):
student thrive.
And yeah, it is going to look alittle, may look a little
different, but we do have peoplewho have those specialties.
So I would work in partnershipwith those teachers and those
staff members to come togetherand to get ideas to help your
students succeed.
And I found as a teacher thatif a parent was really with me
with a student, we were able tocome to a place where we could
(19:27):
both support that student in ourdifferent roles.
So don't hesitate.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
I strongly suggest going to the counselors.
They do a great job with theresources and Canyons is
fantastic with a lot ofresources.
We have a ton of them out there.
The one thing I'll say too isjust like Susie's, what she said
.
It was talk to that teacher.
I mean teachers are in this tohelp kids.
I mean, it's not the money,okay, we're here to help the
(19:53):
kids.
We want the kids to succeed andin my experience I haven't seen
any teachers would say, oh, Idon't want to help that kid, we
want to help.
That's why we are here.
So please reach out to theteacher and say what can we do
to help your situation with thatparticular class?
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I think in all of the podcasts that we do, that's
probably the number one word ofadvice that is constantly shared
Reach out to your teacher andestablish that partnership.
They're there to help.
They want your students tosucceed and I think for the most
part teachers are going to lovehearing from parents.
(20:32):
It shows that the parent'sinvolved.
They can say I noticed Johnnydid really well with this and
that's something he's beenstruggling with.
And then the parent gets thatpositive feedback and then it
only you know helps the studenteven more so.
Any final words of wisdom orencouragement for parents and
students alike as we enter ournew school year.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
I mean, the thing that comes to mind is just don't
give up and persevere.
I think what's tricky aboutteaching or parenting is that
there's a lot of variables thatwe can't control.
I mean, I think about I havethree kids and my kids are all
very different from each otherand the way that I parent my
oldest versus my middle childright now is very different
(21:16):
because they're very differentpersonalities.
And so for my middle child,we're currently trying to figure
out some things for him, and itlooks different than what I did
with my daughter at the sameage, and just recognizing that
there's not always going to,there's never a silver bullet,
I'm sorry everyone.
I'm sorry, there's not a silverbullet, you know I wish there
was a silver bullet for life andfor teaching and for parenting,
(21:37):
but there's just not.
And so sometimes you have totry something and then it fails
and you're like, oh that, thatthat did not work well, and then
you have to try somethingdifferent.
And so I would just say, ifyou're a parent feeling like I
don't know what else to do, keeppersevering and, um, you know,
keep Googling, use chat, gpt,talk to your resources, um, talk
to your teachers and schoolcounselors and admin.
(21:59):
Don't give up and have faiththat you're going to find what
you need for your student.
It's not going to be perfect,but you do the best that you can
.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
As do we all.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Right, that's all we can do, so just don't lose hope.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
For me.
I love the start of the schoolyear because everything is new
and everybody gets a fresh start.
And if you attack day one, likeyou know, day 180, and say this
is what we're going to do eachday, you'll have some success
with that.
Now again, like Susie says,there's no silver bullet.
It takes time, it's hard work,it's not easy, but we have to
teach ourselves to do hardthings and it's okay to do hard
(22:38):
things and fail sometimes andyou get up on the horse again
and try a different strategy andstuff.
But I will say this canyons isloaded with resources.
You can reach out to the aviddepartment and the instructional
supports, as well as studentwellness, special education.
We will be there to help youawesome, Awesome.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
It's like Thomas Edison said he failed to make a
light bulb a thousand times, buthe didn't count it as a failure
.
He learned a thousand ways notto make a light bulb, Absolutely
Well.
Thank you both so much.
This has been eye-opening forme as an adult on ways that I
couldn't even organize my life,Nevertheless teaching our young
students early on how to getthat organization, that
(23:21):
ownership and pride in the workthat they do.
So thank you.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
No problem, thank you .
Speaker 2 (23:25):
And thank you for listening.
If there's a topic you'd liketo hear discussed, send us an
email to communications atcanyonsdistrictorg.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Thanks for listening to this episode of Connect
Canyons.
Connect with us on Twitter,facebook or Instagram at Canyons
District or on our website,canyonsdistrictorg.
Welcome to Connect Canyons, a podcast sponsored by
Canyon School District.
This is a show about what weteach, how we teach and why we
get up close and personal withsome of the people who make our
schools great Students, teachers, principals, parents and more.
We meet national experts too.
Learning is about makingconnections, so connect with us
(00:26):
experts too.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Learning is about making connections, so connect
with us.
Canyon students are back in theclassroom kicking off the
2025-26 school year.
With the first few weeks ofschool, naturally comes a bit of
chaos, whether it's studentsnot waking up on time or
forgetting to bring something toschool.
It can take time to get backinto that groove of the school
year.
Welcome to Connect Canyons.
I'm your host, frances Cook.
This week, we want to helpstudents and parents alike find
(00:50):
that rhythm again and to setstudents up for success.
Joining me now are two Canyonsexperts Susan Young, one of our
Canyons instructional coaches,and Jay Rudell, our AVID
specialist.
Thank you both for being here.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Now you're both involved in AVID programs here
at Canyons, which we'll get intoin a little bit of the moment,
but it means you know a thing ortwo about organization.
Jay, I'd like to start with you.
Would you first just tell uswhat AVID is?
Speaker 4 (01:20):
AVID is basically a system and a philosophy on how
to reach higher levels ofachievement with students, and
it goes from the teacher's lensto the administrative lens, to
even the student lens in what wecall relational capacity.
At different levels it's moreintense than at the elementary
levels, for example.
For example, it's much moreteacher-driven at the elementary
(01:48):
level and much morestudent-driven at the secondary
levels, where they have theirown class for AVID, the entire
school teaches a certain way,using WICR, which is Writing,
inquire, collaboration,organization and Reading, to
maximize student engagement inthe classroom.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
And we have five schools throughout the district
that are avid schools.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
We do have five.
We have two elementaries, whichis Sandy Elementary and Glacier
Hills Elementary.
The two middle schools areEastmont Middle School, which is
a national demonstration school, and Mount Jordan Middle School
, and then Jordan High School isthe feeder system we call it,
and all those kids, or a lot ofthem, go through that system,
through Jordan.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Very cool and shout out to Eastmont.
They got that nationaldemonstration recently.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
And wouldn't have happened without the lady
sitting next to us.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, buddy, that's really awesome, Aw thanks.
So, as you mentioned,organization is part of AVID,
but it's deep in the roots.
That is AVID, right?
So let's get into theorganizational side of things.
There are a lot of things thatour students can do, our parents
can do, that can keep themorganized throughout the school
(02:56):
year.
Just off the cuff, what kind ofjust tips and tricks would you
have that just immediately cometo your mind?
Just tips and tricks.
Would you have that justimmediately come to your mind?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
I think, first of all , having an organizational
system is really key.
From the teacher, from theEastmont lens and from the
teacher lens, which is where Ireally specialize, we give every
student a binder with dividersand we set up purposeful time at
the start of school forstudents to organize that binder
with classes in the order thatthey have them from first to,
(03:27):
you know, seventh period, forexample.
So I think having anorganizational system like that
in place is really important.
But we also know that in ourdigital world today, that we
also have to have digitalorganization.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
That's important, even as, like an adult right, we
have things on paper, we gethandouts.
Well, what do we do with ourhandouts after we go to a
meeting?
Or we get emails, how do weorganize our emails?
Or even, how do we organize ourto-do lists at home?
So I think the key for both ofthese things, whether you're a
student or a parent, is that youhave to kind of figure out what
(04:02):
is your system going to be andsystem going to be, and at
eSmart, we make it easy, becausewe just tell students you have
to have this binder.
We just give them a binder andtheoretically, teachers are
supposed to be intentional aboutmodeling the organization.
But hopefully, as thattranslates at home, the parents
should then say oh, you havethis binder.
I see it has dividers.
Let's put papers in thethree-ring binder together.
(04:24):
Let's make sure that there'snothing in your backpack
scattered papers, I don't know,nasty pieces from lunch,
whatever it is and make surethat we are going through it.
So I might be getting ahead ofmyself here, but I think just
having a system and reallythinking through what that
system is going to look like andfor different kids and for
different parents and familiesthat's going to look different,
(04:46):
but we have to have a system,that's like the first key thing
that comes to mind.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
That's such a great idea.
With the binders and the youknow what, be it tabs or folders
, you've got your English class,you've got your math class and
everything.
You know a place for everythingand everything in its place.
I think everybody hears thatphrase so often because it's
just so innately true.
Exactly, jay.
How about you?
What comes to mind just off thecuff?
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Well, from a teacher's perspective or a
parent or even a student'sperspective, I think getting in
a routine and understanding howto maneuver that routine
throughout the school week isreally important and it's going
to look different from anelementary perspective compared
to a secondary, middle schooland high school perspective.
The one nice thing about AVIDschools and Susie mentioned that
(05:31):
is we do the organization orteach the kids the organization
all the way through.
So the kindergartners at Sandyand at Glacier Hills they're
already starting to learn thatorganizational skill at a very
early age and each grade levelup they get it gets more
rigorous for them.
So instead of just one tab inkindergarten, now in first grade
(05:53):
we're two tabs and we'reworking on math and english and
also with that piece is whenthey get to the middle school
they should be ready to be inthat organized frame of mind
from the very get going carryingthrough high school.
I've talked to parents inpassing why can't we have AVID
in my school?
Because that would really helpmy kid be organized and it is a
(06:18):
philosophy and a system thateach year these kids get more
organized with things.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
And it's something that I think even if not every
school is an avid school, likeyou said, it's a philosophy,
it's something that parents andstudents alike can adapt on
their own and really lean into.
I'd like to dig into theroutine of things.
When I was a kid, I couldn't domy homework in my bedroom,
(06:44):
right, there were too manydistractions.
Or what time are you doing yourhomework?
Can you dig into that a littlebit more about what kind of
routines they can set up?
Speaker 4 (06:55):
One of the things I'll say is and especially from
a perspective of a parent, whichI was now they're growing up,
thankfully you need to develop asystem.
Each night and obviously having, for example, middle school,
you have seven or eight classes.
That's a lot for a sixth graderto manage.
And so, breaking it up, it'sgoing to be Math Mondays how are
(07:17):
we organizing our math book onMonday with math, and then
Tuesday ELA, and then Wednesdaywe're going to do science, and
then Thursday we're going to dohistory and elective classes.
That way it's not.
Oh, I got all of these eightclasses I have to worry about
tonight.
And then another thing I say inthe high school level, because
we have A days and B days, havean A day binder and a B day
(07:38):
binder, and you just switch themout each day and you know which
homeworks you have to do duringthat night.
Elementary is and Susie and Iwere talking about this is well,
I get this folder, they bringit home, I put stuff back in it,
they bring it back to school,and that's great, but it's going
to get harder as they growthrough the years of elementary,
(08:00):
and so, anyways, setting up aroutine like that is really
important to say this is what wedo, and maybe it's five minutes
to start.
Let's just take five minutes.
Don't put all of the pressureon the student and say we got to
do this for a half an hourbecause it's not going to work
that way.
Sure, let's work on fiveminutes and get that five
(08:20):
minutes solid with that math forthat Monday.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Working your way up.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Can I just jump into and just say I think one of the
issues where kids do haveorganizational problems and I'm
just talking kind of maybe morelike general population things,
not not people who might have,you know, special needs or
whatever that might take somefurther scaffolding or some more
intervention.
But I think that sometimes asand I'm I'm now parent to almost
(08:46):
a second grader and so I see itfrom now as a parent going
having a kid in elementaryschool but I think sometimes
parents assume well, theteachers are going to teach my
kids this.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
And the teachers assume well, the parents are
going to enforce this and teachthis to their kids, and I think
obviously we also.
We know what happens when youassume right.
So I think the issue is thatsometimes parents and teachers
they're not maybe workingtogether in the sense of like,
oh, this is a partnership, andso I think that creates like a
really big.
(09:17):
The parents and teachers needto realize that they need to
take ownership of teaching thesethings in a classroom setting
and also in a home setting, andso that's why AVID is so
wonderful, so wonderful andthat's something that we
encourage our teachers to do atEastmont is take time, build it
into your classroom routine.
Yeah, that at the when you do astarter or a warm up, then,
okay, you're putting that paperback into your binder in the
(09:38):
three ring binder and you shutyour binder and you put it in
your backpack, like create theroutine and then, with, as a
parent, create the routine, likeJay mentioned, of I'm checking
a section a day with my studentand I'm building that into our
evening routine and schedule.
And so I think we just can'tassume that the other party is
doing it.
(09:59):
We both have to do it together.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
And we were mentioning phrases that we use
all the time.
It takes a village right?
Yes, again, it's a phrase wesay all the time because it's so
very true, the parents havetheir side.
And then it's a phrase we sayall the time because it's so
very true, the parents havetheir side.
And then it's teamwork with theteachers as well.
Uh, you mentioned, you know,putting things back in the
binder.
One thing I've heard a lot ofparents say is their students
(10:23):
will, their kids will, completetheir homework, it's done, but
then it stops.
It doesn't get back to theclass.
And so it doesn't get turned inand so they don't get the grade
for it.
So is there another layer tothat?
You know, beyond helping themto put it back in the folder,
(10:45):
Then how do we get that folderback into the classroom and that
piece of paper back out of thefolder?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Right.
I mean, I would just say I seeit from both perspectives
because I'm both a teacher and aparent.
But I think on the parent sideit's helping your student
develop skills to advocate andsay I have this homework, do I
turn it in today?
Where do I turn it in?
Hopefully they know where toturn it in.
But you know things happen.
(11:10):
Yeah, but just making sure,like talking to your, like
role-playing it.
Okay, this teacher maybe has ahard time reminding us to turn
in homework.
Okay, so role-play it.
Hey, excuse me, you know miss,whatever.
Where do I turn in my homework?
Or is this due today?
I have it right.
So I think that advocacy isimportant as a student when
(11:31):
maybe they're not turning it inbecause maybe the teacher isn't
reminding them or has a systemin place.
But then it goes back on theteacher, right, the teacher
needs to be providing thatroutine to have a place where
kids are turning homework in thetime and place to do it and
that hopefully they're usingfeedback to say now is the time
(11:52):
to turn in your homework.
Oh look, johnny has it, sallyhas it.
Right, right, right, like thatfeedback is really important for
the teacher.
So again, it is a partnershippiece and I would encourage a
parent if they're finding thattheir student isn't turning
things in.
It could be a student thing,but it could also be a teacher
thing and I would explore whichone it is and then work on that
relationship.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
I agree totally with what Susie was saying.
One thing as a parent is maybemodeling that at home and saying
okay, mrs Young, where do Iturn that in?
Because I from my experience asa 29 year teacher is some kids
just don't want to make thatjump and have that conversation
with the teacher going.
I have this where do I put it?
Speaker 3 (12:34):
It makes them nervous .
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Yes, makes them extremely nervous, especially at
the younger grade, sixth grade,seventh grade and modeling at
that home and say, okay, this ishow you do it.
One of the big things with AVIDis we want student agency and
Susie said it as well is how thestudent advocate for themselves
.
That's a key piece to life andgoing through that and
practicing that with yourchildren, I think is extremely
(12:55):
important.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
It gives them that opportunity to be proud of the
work that they've done, tooright.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
I finished this.
I completed this task, I'mproud of it, and I want you to
be too Right.
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
And that ownership is really important and is also
very key to the AVEN mission.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Absolutely.
We were talking a little bitabout routines and I was reading
up, before we sat down together, about some of the other ways
that we can help students to beorganized at home.
And you know, I read like ahomework caddy right, just a
(13:31):
little basket that has theirpens, their pencils.
Do they need a calculator?
Do they need a ruler?
Even I thought this one wassuch a unique idea having a
specific place where you keeptheir after-school snacks so
maybe they are coming home andimmediately sitting down and
doing their homework but,they're also grabbing a snack,
so they know where their snacksare.
They know what their afterschoolsnacks are and they can grab it
(13:52):
.
Then at the end of the day,again making sure those
assignments are back in thosebinders and the binders are back
in the backpack.
The backpack's packed the nightbefore so we're not scrambling
in the morning, right?
But I also read then, settingout at least that next day's
outfit, right?
Is it crazy sock day?
Is it crazy hair day?
(14:13):
What do we set again?
Set our children and ourstudents up for success.
Any other tips and tricks foryou know kind of that at-home
modeling by example.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
I think that's an excellent idea of having
everything laid out for the nextday, just like when we talk
about high school studentshaving an A-day B-day binder,
knowing which one is which, andall those things.
I think setting up the routinewhen does the student or the
child start their homework isreally important.
(14:45):
Every situation is going to bedifferent.
Do you have a place or, likeyou said, a caddy for them to go
?
Oh, this is where I need to go,and we live in this very
multifunctional world with a lotof distractions, and it's very
difficult to get the kid focusedjust on the homework.
(15:06):
And I get that, and that's whatI'm saying.
Maybe smaller chunks, the firstfive minutes of each hour at
night.
We're going to study this, thisis what we're going to do and
getting them the idea that this,you study a little bit, you
play a little bit, you study alittle bit, play a little bit,
and you need to reward them too.
I mean, if, going back to theexecutive functioning, if they
(15:29):
turn that in to the teacher andyou ask them when they come home
from school did you turn thatin?
Great, hey, great job, let's goget a piece of candy or
whatever the case may be to givea positive reward for that, and
I think then the student willsay, okay, this is just part of
the routine that I have to gothrough as a student.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
I would agree with that and I would just add, I
think, some type ofself-monitoring checklist, you
know, like this just kind ofgoes off of what you both said,
but the parents need again.
The word intentional comes up.
But the parents may need to beintentional about what the space
looks like, what is theschedule, what are the rewards,
but what are also theconsequences?
(16:07):
Where does the phone go Ifthey're you know?
a middle or high school student,what are your expectations with
screen time around this time?
And I think um, I know I get introuble when it's like as a
parent, where I don't thinkthrough those things, and then
it's like, oh, it just feelslike a free-for-all at home,
right.
So having some structures inplace, but also giving them the
opportunity to have thestructures there so that
(16:29):
eventually the kids are takingownership of that checklist or
whatever, they'reself-monitoring, so that
eventually the kids are reallyowning the homework, and that's
what we want to see more,especially as they get into high
school.
Because guess what?
You're going to be in collegeor career and you're going to
have to figure out how you'regoing to organize your life and
your schedule.
I think, unfortunately, we allhave good intentions but
(16:51):
sometimes, maybe, as parents, wejust we maybe do too much
monitoring or we take things offtheir plate and maybe we need
to let it go.
And one thing that my principal, stacey Kurtz, always talks a
lot about is like middle schoolis a really great time to let
kids fail, because there's notreally big consequences for not
(17:14):
turning in your homework.
Yeah, so I think, just asparents, sometimes we just need
to like, maybe let go of thereins a little bit too.
We give them the structure, butwe need to let the students
take the ownership.
That's what I'm really tryingto say.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Let them learn from their mistakes.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, Like don't make it too casual or too easy at
home, but we need to like letthem take ownership.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Because, like you mentioned before, you know, the
later in school that they get,the more responsibilities
they're going to have.
They're going to have sports,they're going to have bands,
they're going to have clubs, youknow, or even just wanting to
hang out with their friends, andso all of that kind of piles on
.
So having those routinesestablished early I think you
hit the nail on the head it'sreally going to help them out.
We touched lightly on thisearlier.
(18:01):
A number of students in theCanyons District have special
needs when it comes to needing alittle extra help in the
classroom, and that can come inmany forms.
Maybe they have ADD, maybe theyhave other mental difficulties
that they need an extra hand.
What advice would you have forthose students and their parents
and, vicariously, whatresources do we have available
as a district for them?
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Well, I mean, I think we have a lot of resources
available with a lot of ourdistrict departments.
There's a lot of people whohave taught in the classrooms
here.
We have student wellness and soI know there's resources from
them and I believe they alsooffer things like classes and
things like that for parents.
So we have resources here.
But I would also talk with theteacher.
(18:44):
The teacher who is teachingthat student is going to have
especially if your student ismaybe has an IEP or a 504,
you're going to have teachersand also counselors and social
workers and school psychs thathave experience and have really
specific interventions andthings that can help your
(19:06):
student thrive.
And yeah, it is going to look alittle, may look a little
different, but we do have peoplewho have those specialties.
So I would work in partnershipwith those teachers and those
staff members to come togetherand to get ideas to help your
students succeed.
And I found as a teacher thatif a parent was really with me
with a student, we were able tocome to a place where we could
(19:27):
both support that student in ourdifferent roles.
So don't hesitate.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
I strongly suggest going to the counselors.
They do a great job with theresources and Canyons is
fantastic with a lot ofresources.
We have a ton of them out there.
The one thing I'll say too isjust like Susie's, what she said
.
It was talk to that teacher.
I mean teachers are in this tohelp kids.
I mean, it's not the money,okay, we're here to help the
(19:53):
kids.
We want the kids to succeed andin my experience I haven't seen
any teachers would say, oh, Idon't want to help that kid, we
want to help.
That's why we are here.
So please reach out to theteacher and say what can we do
to help your situation with thatparticular class?
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I think in all of the podcasts that we do, that's
probably the number one word ofadvice that is constantly shared
Reach out to your teacher andestablish that partnership.
They're there to help.
They want your students tosucceed and I think for the most
part teachers are going to lovehearing from parents.
(20:32):
It shows that the parent'sinvolved.
They can say I noticed Johnnydid really well with this and
that's something he's beenstruggling with.
And then the parent gets thatpositive feedback and then it
only you know helps the studenteven more so.
Any final words of wisdom orencouragement for parents and
students alike as we enter ournew school year.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
I mean, the thing that comes to mind is just don't
give up and persevere.
I think what's tricky aboutteaching or parenting is that
there's a lot of variables thatwe can't control.
I mean, I think about I havethree kids and my kids are all
very different from each otherand the way that I parent my
oldest versus my middle childright now is very different
(21:16):
because they're very differentpersonalities.
And so for my middle child,we're currently trying to figure
out some things for him, and itlooks different than what I did
with my daughter at the sameage, and just recognizing that
there's not always going to,there's never a silver bullet,
I'm sorry everyone.
I'm sorry, there's not a silverbullet, you know I wish there
was a silver bullet for life andfor teaching and for parenting,
(21:37):
but there's just not.
And so sometimes you have totry something and then it fails
and you're like, oh that, thatthat did not work well, and then
you have to try somethingdifferent.
And so I would just say, ifyou're a parent feeling like I
don't know what else to do, keeppersevering and, um, you know,
keep Googling, use chat, gpt,talk to your resources, um, talk
to your teachers and schoolcounselors and admin.
(21:59):
Don't give up and have faiththat you're going to find what
you need for your student.
It's not going to be perfect,but you do the best that you can
.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
As do we all.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Right, that's all we can do, so just don't lose hope.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
For me.
I love the start of the schoolyear because everything is new
and everybody gets a fresh start.
And if you attack day one, likeyou know, day 180, and say this
is what we're going to do eachday, you'll have some success
with that.
Now again, like Susie says,there's no silver bullet.
It takes time, it's hard work,it's not easy, but we have to
teach ourselves to do hardthings and it's okay to do hard
(22:38):
things and fail sometimes andyou get up on the horse again
and try a different strategy andstuff.
But I will say this canyons isloaded with resources.
You can reach out to the aviddepartment and the instructional
supports, as well as studentwellness, special education.
We will be there to help youawesome, Awesome.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
It's like Thomas Edison said he failed to make a
light bulb a thousand times, buthe didn't count it as a failure
.
He learned a thousand ways notto make a light bulb, Absolutely
Well.
Thank you both so much.
This has been eye-opening forme as an adult on ways that I
couldn't even organize my life,Nevertheless teaching our young
students early on how to getthat organization, that
(23:21):
ownership and pride in the workthat they do.
So thank you.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
No problem, thank you .
Speaker 2 (23:25):
And thank you for listening.
If there's a topic you'd liketo hear discussed, send us an
email to communications atcanyonsdistrictorg.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Thanks for listening to this episode of Connect
Canyons.
Connect with us on Twitter,facebook or Instagram at Canyons
District or on our website,canyonsdistrictorg.
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