Saturday, August 25, 2012

Getting (and staying) Organized

Yes, I was being completely self-serving when I posted this weeks blog topic of organization. If I am not queen of the disorganized, I am one of the reigning princesses! Just this week, I had a handout that I gave to my 4th period Algebra 2 class for homework. I was supposed to give the same page to 5th period Algebra 2 - and I couldn't find it!

School only started on Tuesday, and I've quickly remembered the must haves. Labeled baskets by the door for kids to put signed syllabi, exit slips, late work etc. If a student hands me a loose page the chances are pretty high it will get eaten by the PILE. You know what I mean, I'm sure!

My team-mate found this great cart at Michaels:

With 5 periods, its perfect for an In and Out for each class. I am totally getting one of these.

This year I decided to try an online google form for my students to fill out with their contact information and student survey. Wow! I am so thrilled at the results! Now instead of a huge binder full of papers that I would have to alphabetize and sort, and then invariably leave at school/home when I needed it at home/school all my information is in my Google drive folder where I can get at it anywhere. I don't even remember who I first heard about this from, but they are my hero!

I also have several stacks of these around my desk:

One for each period, one for tests waiting to be taken, one for tests needing grades, things needing to be handed back... etc. It still means I have piles - but at least everything in the pile needs the same thing done to it.

I have a HUGE 4 drawer filing cabinet. Right now it holds workbooks, tea, construction paper, and lots of empty hanging file folders. There are a few folders bursting with every worksheet I used last year, but they are really useless since they are only sorted by class. In my dream world, everything is labeled, organized and color coded. I'm sure someday it will happen. Really.....

2 comments:

  1. I use paper trays all over the place too and I totally forgot all about that in my post. I really really love that cart and wish I had it even though I don't currently have a use for it. I usually find myself buying containers and other things to organize with just because I like them, not because I have a plan for them...I just really love containers :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Staying organized is a lot harder than GETTING organized for me. It seems like I'll randomly decide that I want to get organized and spend a day organizing. Two weeks later, my stuff is all over the place again. Maybe this is a math person thing?

    ReplyDelete