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Are you looking for a planner for improved executive function? Let me tell you a secret: the planner or agenda book the school sells for students to use might not be the best option. Don’t get me wrong — I generally applaud these well-intentioned efforts to help with organization strategies. But the mass-produced planners often miss the mark for a variety of reasons.
- They’re spiral bound, and they probably contain a lot of pages students don’t need or use. Things like reference material, a student handbook, and extra weeks or even months that students won’t be in school make it bulky.
- They can be small and flimsy, and easy to lose.
- Often the design is poor. Students don’t have enough space to write all the information they’re expected to keep inside it.
- And they’re one more thing to keep track of. For people who struggle with executive function — the skills that help you plan and organize yourself — that’s a pretty big ask.
Better Planners for Executive Functioning
Today, I’m sharing a better alternative to a generic school planner: a fully customizable full-size disc-bound planner. It’s what I like to call “the Frankenplanner.” Disc-bound planner systems allow you to constantly modify your planner design to suit your needs — adding and subtracting pages when it makes sense. When’s the last time you could ADD pages to a spiral bound planner? And if you ripped some out, you’re not ever getting them back in.
Unlike bulky binders, disc-bound planners hold things securely through 11 discs rather than three rings. As a result, you’re less likely to accidentally tear out pages. Plus, if you’re someone who gets irritated by the sound of binder rings opening and closing all the time, you’ll appreciate how quiet discs are.
Setting Up a Student Planner for Middle School and Beyond
When it comes to school planners, I like the Happy Planner system. This year, my middle school-bound tween is using a BIG 8.5 x 11” planner with their 12 month dated teacher layout. Even though it’s a teacher layout, the design works well for students. In fact, any of the teacher or homeschool layouts will work. And don’t stress out over the cover, either, because those are customizable, too.
Once you have your planner, then the real magic can start in customizing the planner for executive function needs. Read more below about how we set it up, or watch a video of the complete customization on YouTube.
How to Customize Your Planner for Executive Function Success
The best part of a disc-bound system is that you can get rid of some of the bulk. We never leave more than a semester’s worth of pages in. Here, our semesters run August through December, and then January through May, so we carefully pulled out the January through July sections and put them in a safe place for later. We also wrote down a reminder about where that safe place is toward the end of the December pages. That way, we can reset the planner at the end of the semester.
Customizing for Classes
Once the planner had slimmed down a bit, we added dividers to the back — one for each class. We also added some sheets of paper that’s already punched for disc-bound planners. There’s traditional notebook paper, one specifically designed for note-taking, dot paper (which is my personal favorite), and graph paper — which can be especially good for someone who struggles lining up numbers in math.
Adding Folder Pockets
Then there are folder pockets. We used two of them — one for the front of the notebook and one for the back. Each pocket has two sides. The very front pocket is where my daughter will put her things to do: homework assignments, worksheets, forms to get filled out, etc. Then, when she finishes those items, she moves them to the back side of the pocket. That’s her “almost done” spot because she still has to go through the step of turning things in. For students still developing their executive function skills, this is key. Many will do the homework, but forget to turn it in. Designing this planner with those executive function challenges in mind makes it easier for her to see that final step.
The folder pocket in the back of the planner is where she puts things that need processing. Handouts from class, graded papers that get handed back, etc. Each night, as part of her homework routine, she will take those items out of that pocket and put them where they belong.
Additional Customization Options
It’s easy to modify any pages to fit inside the disc bound planner system using a special hole punch for disc-bound planners. We have two — one that’s bulky that I leave on my desk, and another that’s smaller capacity but more portable. So any paper that needs to be kept can live in this notebook. You could even design and print your own pages to support the individual executive function needs of the user. That’s one of the best reasons it’s a great option for an executive function planner.
With a disc-bound planner system, you can also change out covers. And if you find that your notebook is growing too large, you can also change out the size of the discs and get something larger. Finally, if you really want to make it all in one, you can get a disc-bound zipper pouch to keep some basic supplies like your pens and pencils.
Benefits of a Disc-Bound Planner System
The reason I prefer this system is because it allows students to streamline supplies. It can be hard for students to keep track of binders, folders, notebooks, papers, and a planner. This system makes it so that there’s one thing to keep track of. While students will need to do some regular maintenance on it to keep it organized, that’s true of any system. But it’s easier to do when everything is in one place.
Another nice feature of the disc-bound system is the ability to move things around and remove things. For example, once students finish the first month of school, they can remove August from their planner. And then September, and October, and so on until it’s time to reset your planner for the next semester. Then they’ll pull out everything they’re done with and file it away. We’ll talk more about that along with how to use a planner effectively in future blog posts.
So what do you think? Does a frankenplanner sound like a good option for your tween or teen? If not, what else are you using? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
