TRISMS & Trello

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After struggling on several different occasions to figure out a way to sort of “schedule” TRISMS for my middle schooler, it finally hit me: Use Trello!!!

If you’re not sure what Trello is, please, please, PLEASE check it out! It’s a highly customizable organizational tool that you can use for virtually anything you can come up with!

I originally downloaded the iPhone app when I was going through the book Getting Things Done. (You can purchase it here.) It was supposed to be my dumping ground for all of my personal to-dos, but then it morphed into a great space to keep track of things for my businesses, too. I have boards that contain lists for potential hostesses, potential recruits, upcoming parties, paint colors I need to stock up on when I hit up Hobby Lobby, etc. K even made an account with her own board that she’s used to keep track of chores and things she needed to pack for our vacation last summer.

Then, when I sat down to work on planning out K’s freshman year, I turned to Trello once again. (YES!!! We’re THERE already! I can’t believe it!) Once that project was complete, I started googling different ways to utilize Trello in a homeschool setting. I was lying in bed just this morning when the idea of using it for TRISMS crossed my mind. I went to work, and viola! I think it’s the best thing I’ve come up with.

Now, if you’re not familiar with TRISMS, it’s a history program that centers on research. Students are told to read about a certain topic to get a general feel for it, then they’re given questionnaires for scientists, inventions, and explorers that they need to fill out by researching. It also integrates IEW as a writing component and offers many suggestions for reading selections. At the high school level, you can actually earn history, literature, writing, rhetoric, and many other credits for thoroughly going through the material. At this point, our plan is to use it for history and literature credits.

Here’s how the student book is laid out:

It’s quite thorough, and it makes sense once you figure out how it’s meant to be used, but I feel like it’s a little complicated for my middle schooler to figure out on her own. Also, it’s divided up into five days, and we do history over two days, so that complicates it even further.
So, rather than list what she’s supposed to do in her bullet journal, which didn’t seem any better than looking at the book to me, I decided to try it out in Trello instead. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:
Each “lesson” is designed to be done over one to two weeks. Since K is more than capable, I’m having her do it over one week. She actually really enjoys the format of this curriculum, so she has no trouble doing the necessary research. Each different task that she’s supposed to complete during the week has been put onto it’s own “card.”
I have made this even easier for her to complete without using her book by adding details onto the “back” of each of the cards in each list. The vocabulary cards have the words listed, the questionnaires have the subject to study jotted down, and the writing assignments have a list of the steps to follow. I even made a card with all of her timeline items to be added to her Book of Time.

 

 

 

 

If she has any questions about a task, she can add a comment so that later I can help her complete anything she’s having trouble with. Once she completes each task, she can archive the card. She has always worked well with checklists, so I think this system will be a good fit for us!
And the nicest thing about it is that I can copy the list onto a board for H, so the work is already done for when she starts the program next year!
2 thoughts on “TRISMS & Trello”
  1. This is a great idea! I love all the tools the program has. I wonder if teachers could use this with students🤔 How did it end up working out for your daughter?

    1. Do you mean Trello? It’s still fantastic! My girls don’t use it as much for organizing their day as I would like, but I use it for EVERYTHING! Even my blog workflow.

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