Please tell me I’m not the only one who is drowning in all the papers that seem to come with teaching! Well, I used to be drowning in them anyway! I think I’ve finally found a teacher organization system to keep all papers at bay, from the important forms to the random flyers in mailboxes. If you are getting ready to set New Year’s Resolutions or maybe just a goal to clear the classroom clutter then these tips are for you.
In general, having a teacher organization system in place has been a lifesaver. For me, my system is a teacher binder + clipboard + recycle bin. Some teachers use turn-in trays, some use file folders. Pick something and try it out. If it doesn’t work, try something else! There are so many teacher organization supplies on the market that there is sure to be one that fits your needs and your teaching style.
1:: Important Papers
These are papers like IEPs, 504s, and student information cards. Pretty much if a students’ name, birthday, and phone number are on it, it’s important. I keep these papers filed away in my teacher binder. My teacher binder is a staple in my classroom for keeping like with like. Important papers get filed away in this binder for future use.
A teacher binder doesn’t have to elaborate. I simply have a divider per class period and add in all important papers behind that divider. I do alphabetize it, but you don’t have to go that far if you don’t want to. Every single time an Important Paper is handed to me, I file it away. This is one thing that I don’t let pile up.
Other important papers that go in my teacher binder include those beginning of the year papers that are teacher orientated. Things like evaluation cycles, phone lists, the school calendar all go at the front of my teacher binder. Other papers like handouts from professional development days or note catchers from meetings get filed away in my binder at the back.
2:: Student Work
This category is the toughest, especially coming from elementary to middle school. In elementary, I’d send student work home in Friday Folders or just keep them until conferences and hand parents a file of all their student’s work from the quarter. In middle school, it seems to be a lot more paper because you have a lot more kiddos!
I tackle this category in 2 ways. First is the things I hand back: tests and quizzes. These are things that once everyone has taken it, I hand back and students make corrections if they want to retake. I use math folders for student organization so they can keep their own papers in their own folders. If you use math interactive notebooks, you can have students make a pocket and keep their papers in their own notebook.
The second category of student work is the random activities that seem to get collected to just hold students accountable. Some of these make it into the grade book for a quick completion grade. Most of these get recycled. I try not to collect too many student work papers as I want students to have their own work to refer back to. Sometimes I’ll give students a star or stamp on papers at the end of station time just to show that I looked at it. Sometimes I tell students to hold on to the paper in their folder for a folder check grade.
3:: Random Flyers
My routine is to go get my mail in the morning and as I’m walking back to my room, I read the mail. (This is also what I do in my real life 🙂 If anything is important, it gets filed away in the all-important teacher binder. If there is something I need to fill out, I put it on my desk. Better yet, I put it over my keyboard so I have to look at it before doing anything else. I try to keep my desk clutter-free so if there’s a paper on the surface I need to take care of it right away. If it’s anything else from my mailbox, I just recycle it right away.
4:: Book Orders & Field Trips
This category may not apply to everyone, but for the things that you need to collect that involve money, I keep a roster to check off on. Then the money is locked in my cabinet. The roster is on a clipboard so I can reference it easily.
I usually have a few rosters on my clipboard for different things. The clipboard is easy to take with you so I have grade sheets, fire drill rosters, money check-offs, and seating charts. I like clipboards and it’s easy to leave out for subs. I usually have 2 clipboards for that reason: 1 for me with my papers and 1 for a sub with rosters and seating charts only.
5:: Artwork & Notes
In elementary, I’d get beautiful coloring sheets and sweet little notes from kiddos during the year. They made me smile, so I hang them up around my desk area. It got quite full by the end of the year, so then I’d take them all down and start fresh the next year. I think a binder that kiddos could look at in a classroom library would also be a cute way to show them off, without taking up so much wall space.
6:: Notes from Home
If a student has to hand me something from home, I have a red bin that I have near my desk. Students can put notes from home in there and I will go through them later. This keeps parent notes out of the turn in the bin and because it sits on my desk, I can look at it during lunch. I don’t often have notes from home at the middle school level but the same rule applies. I’ve also seen teachers use a mailbox for this purpose!
7:: Reference Papers
Things like testing windows, lunch duty calendars, data cut points, important things that you will need to reference at some point (no actually you will) go in my teacher binder. That way they are all in one place. This teacher binder is really the way I save my sanity. It’s almost as valuable as my planner at this point in the school year.
Now if it’s a calendar, I will put the dates in my paper planner so I don’t forget about them when planning. That way I’m combining the paper trail to only include what I actually need. And if the dates are in my planner then I’m less likely to forget about the random benchmark test.
8:: Master Copies
Call me old-fashioned but I love having my master copies printed out and stored away. I know that I have a digital copy in my Google Drive but I also like having hard copies. It’s easy to take my masters to the copy machine and batch prep the copies I need for a whole unit. I keep my master copies in binders with page protectors. This is a nice way to flip through what activities I used last year. I also will leave post-it notes about the lesson or activity to refer back to the following year. When I’m ready to plan a unit, I have both the copies I made and the reflection about the lesson all in one place. I will also leave myself notes about the activity and if I need to change anything.
If you are interested in learning more about how I batch prep my units be sure to check out this post. And if you want a step-by-step guide to making your teaching life easier, drop your email below!
9:: Math Games
I keep my math games in a binder with page protectors similar to my master copies binder. This works for a couple of reasons. The first is that my math games don’t have little pieces to keep track of so they fit in a page protector. The second reason this is a game-changer is that they are ready to use it at a moment’s notice. I simply open the binder to the games I need and pull them out. By storing the games in page protectors I don’t have to switch anything around. Just take out the whole game and put it in the game bins. Ready to put away the old games? Just store them in the binder. So simple but so effective.
Looking for other Teacher Organization Systems?
These teachers have other ideas for keeping you sane and organized. The paper trail doesn’t need to drown you!
- 29 Pictures of Teacher Organization Perfection that Will Make You Drool (serious organization inspiration for more than just papers!)
- 5 Ways to Stay Organized as a Teacher (great round up of tips, I totally need to work on number 3!)
- How to Organize your Google Drive (Drive is where everything is these days, so get it looking clutter-free and organized!)
Teacher organization systems don’t need to be complicated. Simple is best when it comes to keeping track of the millions of papers that come across our desks each week. I’d love to know how you tackle all the paper that comes with teaching! Any tips to share?
[…] I control the classroom clutter. If you are looking for even more ways to stop drowning in papers, be sure to check out this post! I share 9 ways to reign in the chaos and keep track of all the important […]