This post is going to focus on 5 things you can do to help yourself stay organized. Read more to learn about:
1. Curriculum binders
2. Email and Google Drive
3. Collecting papers
4. Documenting and reflection
5. Calendars
1. Curriculum binders
If you will be creating your own handouts for students, I suggest printing a copy for yourself and creating your own binder. Living in a paperless world is great, but I personally think it’s faster to flip through a well organized stack. For every document I create, I include the file name in the footer so I can easily find it again to modify.
I organize my binders using dividers labeled by topic rather than chapter sections. During the course of your career, the order in which you teach things will change, so it’s just easier to look for the topic. Label the spine of your binder with what’s inside. You can see mine are NOT cutesy! Ain’t nobody got time for that their first year!!
2. Organize your Google Drive and email
If your school is Google Docs obsessed like mine, your Drive will be overwhelmingly cluttered in no time and finding the files you want will seem daunting. Before the school year starts, create general folders. I suggest the following:
- Curriculum (with subfolders for each subject or level you teach)
- IEPs/504s
- Meeting agendas
- Evaluation / PD (professional development)
When someone sends you a new document, be sure to put it in that folder. Click on the little folder that appears next to the document title and then select where to move it.
Similarly, if you are making a new doc for yourself, open the folder you want before creating it.
As a last resort, you can always use the search bar in Google Drive if you remember the title =).
3. Have a designated area where students turn-in papers. Never let them hand you anything.
I never want a student to accuse me of losing their paper, so I make it their responsibility to put it in the tray. I label the trays by period, rather than level, because it helps me track down the owners of no-name papers more easily. From the tray, it goes into my accordion folder to be graded. My students grade their own homework in class (it’s based on completion), so I don’t pass that back, but I do keep all assignments paper-clipped together in different identical “graded” trays on my desk. Each graded tray also has a folder in it for work that I need to pass back, such as tests. I keep the papers until the end of the quarter just in case the online grade book glitches, or a student wants to argue with me that s/he “really turned something in.” I let them look through the pile for that assignment and find it.
4. Write down everything and REFLECT!
What you plan on Tuesday may not be what you actually accomplish on Wednesday. As soon as you have a minute, write down what you actually did. If it went great or horribly, write that down too. Next year when you get to that unit, these notes will help you change your pacing and know what to revamp!
5. Keep a calendar
You will have SO. MANY. MEETINGS. Put them in your phone with alerts, write them in your date book, or find a system that works for you, but don’t miss or be late to those meetings. That’s a huge red flag to administrators
