Now that I am half city/half suburbs (read: I now have a car to drive to mega-stores and fill up instead of schlepping only as much as my two hands can carry on the NYC subway), I rushed to Target to stock up!
Holy moly, does Target have a ton of cute and fun things to help organize!
Here's what I got to keep me afloat and on top of things this year:
TEACHER BINDER: This is what I will take to and from school on a daily basis. I wanted something a little more fun and easily recognizable as my go-to binder, so I picked this adorable navy and pink patterned binder. Notice the fun polka-dotted binder clip to keep my calendar in place? YUP.
The first page will hold my class list and a list of all other classrooms in a clear sheet protector.
Then, I have dividers that separate sections like weekly planning calendars, important contacts (parents/staff), and a section for staff meeting and professional development notes.
SUBJECT BINDERS: Each binder represents a different subject, including Math, Reading, Writing/Word Study, and Social Studies.
Each binder has a clear sheet protector with my (tentative--how quickly plans/schedules can change!) calendar of lessons in that subject for the month. Then, there is a section for lesson plans, a section for worksheets, and a section for homework sheets.
STUDENT INFO BINDER: This one's a biggie! It contains a section for each child in my classroom. This is where I will hold all of the parent questionnaires that were sent out prior to school starting, as well as any other notes I take about students (academic/social/emotional) as the year goes on. This will (hopefully) prove helpful for conferences and report writing! In the back, I have lined notebook paper to jot down any informal notes that I can put into each student's section. I also have copies of a
"Parent Contact Sheet" in the back. I use these to document any communication with a parent regarding an issue in the classroom. This also goes into the student's section...hopefully I won't need TOO many of these :-/
Here's that contact sheet:
Parent Contact Log
Name: Parents:
Phone: Email:
Date:
Who:
Type:
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Reason/Response:
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Date:
Who:
Type:
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Reason/Response:
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Date:
Who:
Type:
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Reason/Response:
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Date:
Who:
Type:
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Reason/Response:
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PORTABLE FILE FOLDER: How cute and stripey is this little guy? Not totally sure how I will use this, but I can see pulling out a student section or two when I need to write reports/do conference notes at home and don't want to lug the entire student info binder home. I could also stick assignments that need to be graded in here if I need to do those at home too (although I am praying I get most things done before I go home each day).
DAILY FOLDERS: I am constantly looking on Pinterest for organization ideas. I saw someone use a dish drying rack as a file folder holder. GENIUS! I picked up a simple white dish drying rack (and realized that the utensil container is perfect for holding pens/pencils/paper clips!)
I bought file folders for each day of the week, plus one folder for copies (6 folders altogether). Whatever worksheets/homework sheets/parent letters are going out that day will live in that day's folder. The copy folder is for anything that needs to be xeroxed.
CLIPBOARD: I wanted a clipboard for writing down anecdotes during student work-times and to take notes during staff meetings. I didn't want just ANY clipboard, though. I found a regular, boring brown clipboard...and then I found PATTERNED PACKING TAPE! What?!?! I immediately snatched up two different patterns (lime green and white chevron and blue and white leaves) and got to work creating a funky, fun clipboard to carry around with me. Viola!
PHEW! Let's hope this makes the school year a little less hectic!
A good way to start the school year!
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