Alright y’all. It’s confession time. I am the leastorganized person I know. I would love to be more minimalistic and put together but I always have that {horrible} mindset that “maybe I’ll need this CottonballSetof100Rulers59,000CalculatorsBook15ExtraMathBooks”. And so I keep too much stuff. And guess what? I never ever need it!
So I’m really working on getting more organized. One thing I’ve learned in teaching secondary {heck, any grade level!}, is that it’s vital to keep good records. Anecdotal notes and all data collection are super important come parent conferences, report card time, and, most importantly, next steps. So, while I may not be able to find that set of 100 extra half-used pencils I came across one day and stashed in a random drawer… I can always find my data. As long as I can remember which binder it is in 🙂
I use binders for EVERYTHING {even for filing some things}! Binders can be super bulky and cumbersome but they work best for me, and isn’t that what it’s all about? I have a binder for each subject and then sometimes multiple binders for each subject.
In most of my binders I placed numbered dividers and then I assign each student a number alphabetically. If a new student comes in, I just add them at the end. Then, I tape a numbered class list in the front of the binder. I haven’t had to waste valuable classroom prep time switching dividers out each year, and I usually memorize their numbers pretty quickly!
One of my favorite binders is my all-subject anecdotal notebook. It has each Common Core Standard & all of the State Standards so if I know what standard I’m hitting, I can grab this notebook and jot quick anecdotals. I usually just use a 4, 3, 2, or 1 {see below} to mark how well students are grasping the concept. Sometimes I’ll even jot a super quick note about it. If we are doing different things, I’ll use different colored pens to keep track! This is SUPER handy for planning small group work as well as during report card time!
