Teaching · For Tutors · Study skills

A big assignment,
cut into days
you can actually do.

Choose the kind of assignment and the dates. The generator splits the work into steps, gives each a finish-by day sized to how much work it is, and tells you what finished looks like, so the night before is for the final read.

Plan an assignmentWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Tutoring business kit, $69 for 64 items.

The assignment planner

The worked example is a made-up nine-hour history essay over three weeks of weekdays. Nothing you type leaves this browser.

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What you get

Teaching · For TutorsAlso for Academics · Study SkillsAlso for Teaching · Special Education$12

What you finish with
A step-by-step plan: each step with a finish-by date, the hours it takes and what done looks like, plus hours a day and the finish date. It prints as a plan and downloads as a spreadsheet.
Who it is for
Students from middle school to college, and the tutors, parents and special educators who help them plan.
Format
Browser planner for a phone, tablet or computer, by touch or keyboard. Prints a one-page plan; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Tutoring business kit ($69) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Tutors space in Caveat Teaching; also listed for Study Skills (students plan their own assignments); also listed for Special Education (task breakdown for students who need it).
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Name the assignment and choose its kind.
  2. Set the start and due dates.
  3. Type the hours it should take, or leave it blank for a typical figure.
  4. Choose weekdays or every day, and how early to finish.
  5. Print the plan and tick steps off as you go.

Plan an assignment

How the plan is made

Calendar time in proportion to the work.

The worked example: a 9-hour essayWorking days14 daysweekdays, Nov 30 to Dec 17Thesis done at32%5 + 15 + 12 percent of the workDay ⌈0.32 × 14⌉day 5Fri Dec 4Draft done at 62%day 9Thu Dec 10The worked example: a 9-hour essayWorking days14 daysweekdays, Nov 30 to Dec 17Thesis done at32%5 + 15 + 12 percent of the workDay ⌈0.32 × 14⌉day 5Fri Dec 4Draft done at 62%day 9Thu Dec 10
Each step gets the share of the calendar that matches its share of the work, so the long draft gets several days and the final read gets one.

Where the steps come from

Each kind of assignment has its own steps, written for this page: an essay moves from unpacking the prompt to a final read; exam study moves from listing topics through two passes of practice to a timed run. Each step carries a share of the total work, and the draft or build step is always the biggest. Change the hours to match your teacher’s guidance or your own speed.

Why plan this way

People reliably underestimate how long their own work will take, even when they know past projects ran late. Breaking work into dated steps makes slippage visible early, when it can still be fixed. For exams, practice spread over several days and practice that tests you are two of the best-supported study strategies.

Sources

  1. Buehler, R., Griffin, D., and Ross, M. (1994). Exploring the “planning fallacy”: why people underestimate their task completion times. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(3), 366–381.
  2. Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., and Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58.
  3. Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., and Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: a review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380.
  4. Purdue Online Writing Lab. The writing process (owl.purdue.edu).

The step shares and typical hours are planning defaults, not rules; your teacher’s instructions come first. Your plan stays in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.