Should Blake Provide Planners?

At the start of each year, Blake gives a planner to each student, which has Blake-specific classes, events, and other information. According to a survey with 59 responses, 66.1% of 6th and 7th graders don’t use their planners often. Still, planners can be useful, especially to the 25.4% of 6th and 7th graders who use them regularly. If Blake stopped providing planners or made them optional, then many students would become disorganized. Here are arguments for both sides:

Yes - Students Should Be Given Planners

By Gabriel Shen

School-provided planners are extremely important for the Middle School, especially for 6th graders who are still getting used to it. More than 25% of 6th and 7th graders use their planners. If Blake stopped providing planners, many of those students would become disorganized. Even if Blake made the planners optional, students would feel pressured not to choose to get one. One might argue that students can just buy their own planner, but that would cause families to spend money on something that was once school-provided (and was custom to the school). Blake’s mission statement is this: “Blake engages students with a dynamic, academically challenging education in a diverse and supportive community committed to pluralism and a common set of values. [...]” A diverse and supportive community should make sure that every student has the resources to be organized and successful, and should recognize that not everyone learns in the same way. This means Blake should provide planners, even if the majority of the school community doesn’t use them. Blake’s custom planners also have many other benefits. They include Blake-specific classes, events, tips, and schedules. They have special sections for writing other to-do items or events. As long as Blake keeps providing planners, they are promoting being organized, an important skill for a Middle Schooler.

No - Students Should Not Be Given Planners

By Aidan Lall

If you look at the data, it is clear that most students don’t use their planners—about ⅔ of the responses. If it costs a good amount of money and takes a reasonable amount of effort to make all of them, why provide them? When you look at your calendar in Canvas, it is easy to see exactly what to do. If you are just using your planner and you write do math sheet and you have multiple math sheets, what sheet do you use? Canvas shows exactly what to do and I would argue that it takes less effort to see it. To see what to do on Canvas, you just open up Canvas and look at your calendar. If you are using your planner, you need to find your bookmark, find the day, find the class, and then look at your unspecific writing to see what to do. For Canvas you can click on the assignment and it shows you what to do. You can’t just click your planner! All you’ll end up with is a hole in your paper. If 66.1% of student don’t use their planner often, that is money going to waste. Blake is wasting about $3,000 making planners that they could have spent on a fun field trip.