I love to be organized!! I think that without organization,
there’s no way I’d be able to teach.
Some people keep everything on their computers- and while I
do keep all of my files on my computer- I also like to have a hard copy of
things as well- I think this stems from my deep mistrust of computers. I always think back to Skynet and the
Terminator movies ;)
But in all seriousness, I do love to keep a hard copy- this
way I don’t have to be logged in to my computer to access all of my data. And until our school systems and teachers are
all doing everything online, there will be hard copies of things you will have
to keep track of.
I do love to create my own binder covers and make them fun-
I’m going to have to look at them daily for the next 9 months, so I need them
to make me happy! I created several
binder covers (and the matching spine labels- you can’t have a cover without a
matching spine label!) that have helped me IMMENSELY throughout the last few
years, and now I want to share with you how I organize my teaching life.
Binder #1- The
Teacher Organization Binder
I could not live my day-to-day life without this
binder. I literally use it every
day! The sections in this binder are:
To Do Lists- A
page for my sticky-notes of my to-dos
Info Lists- Class
Lists, Photo Release Lists, Approved Parent Volunteer Lists, etc.
Calendar- A copy
of the school calendar- where I write all important dates and meetings down.
Year Long Plans-
A copy of our district’s year long plans, broken down by quarter.
Common Core Checklist-
A list of all of the year’s Common Core objectives.
IEP Info- A quick
reference list of my IEP student’s modifications and needs.
Lesson Plans- A
copy of each week’s lesson plans. (I have these templates in my TPT store!)
Meeting Notes- A
place to put any notes from school or parent meeting notes- I always know where
my notes are- it has come in handy more than a few times!
PLT Meeting Notes-
A place to keep notes and records of PLT meetings.
Student Info- I
keep a list of my student’s parent contact info here and any allergy info as
well.
Lent & Borrowed
Items List- A place to keep track of who you’ve lent things to- and who you
borrowed stuff from… trust me, you’ll forget if you don’t write it down!
Binder #2- The
Gradebook
Now I know many of you, like myself have an online gradebook
that you use for all of your grading during the quarter. However, as wonderful as online gradebooks
are, there is always the risk that the data you inputted may not be there
later.
Each quarter, I print my final gradebook so that I have a
printed record of each student’s grades throughout the quarter, and this also
makes it so much easier when speaking with a parent in a conference to be able
to show them their child’s grades in print.
I also keep track of homework and morning work in a separate
section of my gradebook.
Binder #3- Parent
Contact Log
This binder is essential.
I have a page for each student in this binder (pictured above) with their name at the
top. Any time I have to contact their
parent (with the exception of email), I make a quick note of the date and time
I spoke with them or sent them a letter or a discipline referral. I also write down if they’ve contacted me
with a note or a phone call, and will insert the note in the binder behind that
child’s paper.
This helps out so much if you need to go back and check your
records if a parent has a concern. I do
not keep track of emails sent and received from parents, because I send and
receive about 20-30 parent emails each day.
And I save every email I send and receive so that I have a record of
those. There is no need to write these
down, in my opinion.
Binder #4- Reading
I am mainly a reading teacher, so I like to keep good
records on my students. Here are the
tabs in my Reading Binder:
Assessment Info-
Benchmark testing data (ie: mClass scores, DRA scores, etc)
Reading Levels- A
list of the reading levels of the students in my classroom.
Meeting and
Conference Planning- a monthly calendar where I write which students I will
be meeting with on what days.
Conference Ideas-
Ideas for individual meetings with students and what they need to work on.
Book Clubs- a
place to keep the meeting checklists and work from student book clubs I’ve met
with each week.
Student Data- any
other info or data on my students that I feel is important.
Anecdotal Notes and
Labels- a place to keep address labels so that I can jot down something
quickly about the student and put it on their conference sheet.
Binder #5- Notes for
my Teacher
I love when my students are thoughtful enough to take the
time to write me a note or draw me a picture.
But if you’re like me, once you put one drawing up, 10 more students
have drawn you something to put up as well.
As sweet as this is, after awhile, your wall is littered with
drawings. When do you take them down? Do
you throw them away after you have?
I saw this idea and I put it into place last year- and I
LOVE IT!! I made a “Notes for My
Teacher” binder, and put clear plastic protector sheets in it. Any time a student draws me a picture or
writes me a note, I make a big deal about it, thank them for it and tell them I
am putting it in my special notes binder.
I do it in front of them so that they know I am keeping it. It still makes them feel special, and you do
not have a wall of drawings falling off every day.
Also, at the end of the year, you can go through and clean
out that binder and use it again next year.
If a student spent a lot of time on something or you have something
sentimental in the binder you can keep it instead of wondering where it
went.
I hope this peek into my organizational binders has
helped! I urge you to create your own
binders (or revamp the ones you currently have) to help keep yourself
organized.
I have all of the above mentioned binder covers will be for sale soon in
my Teachers Pay Teachers Store individually and I am selling them as a pack
together (for a discounted price). Visit
my store if you’d like to see these guys!
Have a great day,
Ashley J
