Readers, I'd like you to meet my sanity saver. This is where I start each year before working in my classroom. My binder. This baby is my planner, organizer and keep-me-sane-inizer. That's why I'm devoting an entire post to it. No, really, it just plays a huge part in my day and I'm excited to share it in the hopes that it might help that newbie teacher feel a little bit more "above" water. Needless to say, I've got lots of things to share.
My binder generally stays at my desk, but in a pinch I can grab it and head to a meeting if needed, or if I am doing any weekend planning, fold it up - and I'm gone!
Tabs
I change the tabs every year to match my current needs. This past year I had a tab for "student teacher" and this year, I am adding my guided math plans. So, my binder will travel to where I meet with groups but I think I'm gonna try this instead of a whole new binder. (Unless the paper stack gets outta control that is.)
I have:
- Lesson Plans
- Calendar
- Math Plans
- Standards
- Sight Words
- Centers (Schedule)
- Writing (Prompts)
- Meeting Notes
- Families
Lesson Plans
At the forefront of my binder (and generally where it lays open to all the time) are my lesson plans. I keep a weekly spread format which helps me to have a daily picture and my weekly one all at the same time. I have never actually used a planning book. I've just always made my own. I never wanted to write "gym" more than once if I really didn't have to. I just like working efficiently that way.
Here is my favorite thing I've learned - I always print double sided, and clip the left hand side pages to the divider. That way when I flip the divider tab, it opens directly to the latest page I'm working on. I do this with every tab! Small thing, but no more flipping through pages unless necessary!
So, during the first week of school, I cut the days into a strip and wear it around my wrist like a
bracelet! I do!
We change activities so frequently and there is no "routine" yet obviously, so I need it to make sure I hit all of the procedural things like a gazillion times. This is my solution. My student teacher used the bracelet factor for something similar this past year when she wanted to keep better track of how many verbal warnings she gave out - she just made herself a paper bracelet to mark tallies on and voila - simple solution!
If you check out these plans you'll see I reference "
Who Took the Cookie" a lot. That is the first theme I use to tie in names to all that we do and get our balanced literacy schedule up and running. I've compiled it together in a unit that is available to help make your year start off smoothly.
Calendar
My calendar comes next and is my "big picture" tool. I desperately needed this my first year and am so glad every year to sketch out where I want to go. It makes my weekly planning go much faster, but also keeps me focused on where we're going.
I've always just used one of those giant desk calendars or cut up the free ones from the bank and inserted it into my binder, but this year I took a bit of time to make my own. While it took a bit of time to set up, I LOVE the results and am excited about using it! And can I just say, I love using handwriting fonts because they are way cooler than my real handwriting.
Standards
I've always kept my standards on hand to help with planning purposes and this year is no different. My standards lists are slightly longer however with the Common Core being in place at our grade level. No matter - in the binder they go!
Quarterly Plans
Following after my group plans, I am keeping my math schedule which lays out the nine weeks of a quarter where I plan on taking each group. These are basic sketches for each of my
math zones for each of the nine weeks, because the groups will determine the pace, but its a guide for me and for planning purposes.
And if I change things out for a quarter, I try to keep a list as a reference to make it easier on myself for next year.
Sight Word Songs
And I like to keep my sight word songs handy that way if I was to blank out on a tune (Okay, so I wrote these songs - I should remember them. But I am sooooo not a morning person.) I could find it super fast. I also have a tab for my literacy center introduction schedule and our developmental writing scales, but those are little sections and not so worthy of blog space.
Meeting Notes
I like to take notes during a meeting that are meaningful to me. We get agendas, but that includes information for everyone, so I simple jot down what I need to know and remember. Plus, if I have my binder in a meeting I can be productive {wink} and always have my master calendar and schedule to write down changes in.
Families
My binder sits near my computer and phone so I like to have details about my kinders and their families one flip away to save time. I keep a
one page sheet as my cheat sheet at the back since I use this the least.
And the last tidbit I have to share? I take out my previous years set of lesson plans and bind them to keep close by if needed for planning. I've found it a great help for remembering some of those little things that are otherwise so easy to forget.
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today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly just like this one. What tips do you have for teacher
organization?
- Leslie
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Labels: Freebie, teacher organization
.jpg "binder basics - KindergartenWorks")
