How to Improve Organizational Skills Through Student Talk in High School Classrooms

Posted In Discussion On April 17, 2025

If you’re looking for ways to improve organizational skills in your high school students, the key may lie in giving them the space to talk. Helping students articulate their thinking and habits is one of the most effective ways to develop their executive function skills, particularly in the area of organization. When students engage in open discussions about their personal strategies, challenges, and successes, they become more aware of their own executive function system and are more motivated to make changes that lead to improved outcomes.

Using structured discussion questions to teach executive function skills—especially those related to organization—builds student empowerment, encourages student engagement, and supports student confidence building. Below are five student-centered discussion prompts you can use to guide your classroom conversations and integrate executive function instruction into your daily routines. These questions not only help students improve organizational skills but also support student self-awareness and positive student behavior management habits.

Why Organization Matters in the Classroom

1. Organization is important for students to use during class. Organizational skills include developing systems to keep track of materials and information. Explain how your classroom environment would improve if students used more organization and why organizational skills are sometimes difficult to use.

Start your conversation here to establish a shared understanding of the executive function definition as it relates to organization. Invite students to reflect on how disorganization—whether it’s losing papers, forgetting supplies, or missing deadlines—affects the class as a whole. Then, shift the conversation to potential solutions. What systems have they tried? Why might they be difficult to maintain?

This discussion helps students grasp the “why” behind efforts to improve organizational skills and gives you a chance to introduce executive function tools they might not be aware of yet.

Learning Environments That Support Organization

2. Describe the organization of learning environments that make you feel most productive.

This prompt taps into students’ personal preferences and gives insight into their student learning needs. Some students may mention quiet spaces, clear visuals, or structured routines. Others may prefer flexible seating and digital tools. By sharing and listening to one another, students gain ideas they can apply to their own systems.

This is also a great time to introduce executive functioning tools and student strategies that align with the environments students find most helpful. Encourage them to experiment and adjust their settings to improve organizational skills and, ultimately, improve academic performance.

Morning Routines and Preparation Habits

3. What process do you use before school to make sure you have the materials and supplies you need for class? Why is having a process in place important?

Routine is a cornerstone of any solid executive function intervention. This question encourages students to evaluate and share their current morning systems. Some might use checklists, others rely on memory, and a few might admit they don’t really have a process at all.

As students reflect, they’ll see that proactive strategies for organization are crucial for solving executive function challenges. Use this opportunity to introduce or reinforce the importance of routines and systems that help them improve organizational skills and meet the demands of high school more independently.

Learning from Frustration

4. What’s frustrating about forgetting to bring home an assignment or needed item? How can an organizational system help manage those frustrations?

Many students can relate to the stress of arriving home only to realize they forgot the very thing they needed. By naming this frustration and connecting it to organizational habits, students begin to see the cause-and-effect relationship between their behaviors and their outcomes.

This discussion builds student self-awareness and helps them recognize the emotional impact of disorganization. When students understand that they can control some of that stress through better organization, they’re more likely to adopt new executive function strategies and tools that support them.

Have students reflect on their notetaking to improve organizational skills.

Are Your Notes Helpful?

5. Do you find your notes helpful? Why or why not? How could you improve the way you take and organize your notes?

Organized note-taking is a learnable skill. Discuss the value of intentional note systems, from color coding and headings to digital organization. Encourage students to share what works for them and experiment with what others suggest.

Practicing and refining note-taking is one of many executive function lessons that can directly improve students’ academic performance and build independence. Remind students that like any skill, their notetaking will improve with feedback and practice.

By using these discussion prompts in your classroom, you are doing more than teaching organization—you’re embedding executive function instruction into everyday learning. You’re modeling what it looks like to reflect, adapt, and grow. And in doing so, you’re helping students not only improve organizational skills but also build the habits that support success in school and beyond.

Looking for more ways to improve organizational skills?

• Click here for additional organization questions for Grades 1–4.
• Click here for additional organization questions for Grades 5–8.
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• Learn more about our Executive Function Curriculum and how it can support your students and teaching goals.