Get Organized & Lower Your Stress
Use a Teacher's Binder
A well-organized teacher binder helped me have everything I needed right at my fingertips. Once I had mine set up, reusing it year after year was easy.
Make your own pacing guide
Once the school calendar for the upcoming year is approved, I print out 2 sets of blank calendars. I use each set to pencil in the scope and sequence of a subject I teach.
Two Weeks
Regardless of how many students I have in my class or who those students are, I know what activities and lessons I will be using the first 2 weeks of the school year.
Create A Back To School Checklist
Every school year I found myself completing the same back to school tasks. Then one year it occurred to me that I could write down all those things and create a checklist I could use each year.
Use a Catch all Drawer
After numbering all the weeks in the year, I create a folder for each week. All the resources I use during that week are stored in that file. Each year, prior to the start of that week, I pull out the file and I have a collection of resources at my fingertips.
Daily Must Do's
Every day I had the same beginning and things that needed to be done like check my mail or clean my desktop. Again, I made a checklist, laminated it and secured it to my desktop. It served as a reminder of what I needed to do before and at the end of each day.
Develop A Bulletin Board Rotation Schedule
Each year I became more and more irritated by the large bulletin board that loomed right outside my classroom. And then it hit me. Come up with six good boards and put them on a rotation schedule..
Change Calendar & Boards the final week of school
With a bulletin board rotation schedule in place, I am able to change my hallway board quickly at the end of the last day of school. Oh, might as well change that calendar to August too. I then cover both, but leave with the satisfaction of knowing both are ready to go for the coming year.
Take Care of you
All of these organization tips are useless if I don't take care myself. Each July I set goals for myself. I write them down and then keep track of my progress. I also I schedule milestones I want to meet by a certain date as well as rewards for reaching those milestones.