freaking out...a little

Okay, maybe a lot!  Tomorrow is my last grad class for this summer!  I haven't even been in my classrooms since June.  In building #2, I have a new classroom that I need to move into.  Fall grad school classes start Aug 29th.  School starts September 6th.  That means I have 2 weeks to get BOTH of my classrooms set up and organized before I start not 1 but 2 grad classes.  And since I will be taking 2 classes, I'd really like my lesson materials ready now too.  Thank God for teacherspayteachers.com!  I bought a few poster sets and a couple of mini-units/lessons a couple days ago.  I plan on saving the units for my observations.  I always want to do something extra special for observations and I usually only have a few days notice.  Normally that's fine but on top of two grad classes?  It's going to be an interesting year to say the least!  I think 2 classes might be too much for me to handle on top of teaching.  I think I may have to change my plans and push graduation to the summer instead of spring.  Just typing that makes me feel relieved!  I plan on working on classroom #1 tomorrow so hopefully I can post pictures after my grad class.

-Becky

New Behavior Plan

At the end of last year, I had a few students who did something that blew me away.  One student missed coming to my room for a dentist appointment.  The next day, he went to the library, took out the book, and read the chapter he missed before our time that afternoon.  I was shocked.  This was a boy who can't even finish a sentence without getting distracted and he took it upon himself to catch up on his work without any adult assistance!  I put a star next to his name on our "Make Good Choices" chart.  A few days later, a girl in his group was having a hard time doing her work due to another student annoying her.  Normally, her reaction would have been screaming but this time, she got up and moved to another table without causing a scene.  She too got a star next to her name.  Soon all the kids were asking how they could earn stars too.  I changed my behavior chart to include a spot for exceptional behavior.  This is similar to the clip chart but it is modified for a small group setting.  Here is what it looks like (first time trying to post documents so bear with me!):




I write their names on the chart.  Some students do not come to my room so their names do not go on the chart.  Rule-breaking earns students checks in the warnings, 5 minute, and 15 minute columns.  The number of minutes is the number of minutes the students owe me whether that is during free time or recess.  Good behavior earns stars.  Once 5 stars are earned, the students trade them in for a stripe (Stripes take up less space than stars).  I hope this gives some of you ideas!

School Supply Shopping

All of my glue sticks are dried out.  They last about 2 years in my un-airconditioned classrooms.  I'm not really sure if air conditioning has anything to do with it but never the less they are dry.  I saw that Target has a 6 pack of Elmer's glue sticks on sale for $1 this week.  Of course, I went and spent way more than a dollar!  Here's what I bought:

In case the picture is not clear enough, that is:

5 foam clocks that students can manipulate

5 white boards that look like primary lined paper

5 sets of Crayola markers (10 in each box) so we can make LOTS of colorful charts this year

4 packs of glue (6 in each package) because you can't have enough glue

5 pocket charts because everyone raves about them, why not grab a bunch? I'm sure there will be some GENIUS idea on a blog as soon as my Target runs out. 

& 6 colorful composition notebooks because I am running out of notebooks (something I NEVER thought would happen)

All for only $26.40.  Everything in the picture was a dollar each, except the notebooks which were .40 each.  I'm sure I could have paid a little less if I stalked all the sale papers from now until school but there is something satisfying about coming home with a lot of school supplies.   Target also has flexible rulers for .50 each.  If I didn't buy like 20 when I got my job I would have grabbed some more.  Keep your placement in mind when buying things.  I am in two buildings.  I'm not going to drag glue back and forth with me every day so I bought some for both buildings.  Foam clocks will only be used at certain times of the year and possibly only in 1 building so I only enough for 1 building (assuming I have a group of 5 students who are working on time).  5 is the maximum number of students I can see at one time so I tend to buy items in groups of 5. 

Things I still need:

Electric sharpener

Folders (waiting for that Staples .01 sale!)

Notebook paper

Spiral notebooks

Containers for Pocket games (Target doesn't seem to carry them this year and I hate Walmart!)

Plastic flexible binders (Staples .25 sale)

Index Cards

I always keep spiral notebooks handy because you never know when a student is going to need one.  I always try to buy the cheapest ones possible.  I'm not sure my plans for the composition books yet. I'm thinking about making those my staff meeting - RtI meeting - Ideas notebooks.  If you just got a job and have nothing, you may also want to buy:

Pencil holders (sharpened, unsharpened or highlighters)

Highlighters

Crayons/Colored Pencils

Scissors for kids (I bought 5 kid scissors per building and a pair for me)

Push Pins

Rubber Bands

Clips (paper clips, binder clips)

Magnets

Chart paper

Construction Paper (I buy mine at school specialty store online)

Desk Calendar or Personal Calendar

Pencils & Pens

Binders for your materials

File folders/hanging file folders

Post-its

Obviously, ask your Principal before you buy all this.  I'm sure you can get some of it through the district or even other teachers.  One last tip, sign up for the staples teacher card so you can buy 25 items instead of the usual limits. 

Happy Shopping!

Summers off? Ha!

Who says teachers get summers off?  My first week of summer was spent in a workshop.  The next week was spend on Long Island taking my fiance's mom to the city for surgery and other dr's appointments (well I did get some shopping in - looove my new coach bag!).  As soon as I got back, Grad classes started.  I've been spending all my time scouring teaching blogs and pinterst for ideas, cleaning, and doing grad school work. 
Anyways, as I looked around at other teacher's blogs, I noticed they were all using these really cool fonts.  I finally figured out that they all use lettering delights.  This is another favorite website!  You really should check it out.  Sign up for an account (it's free!) and search the fonts, alphabets (colorful/picture like fonts), and graphics.  Once you purchase them they are put into you library.  You do not need to save them onto your computer!  Anytime you want to make a new heading/label or use the pictures, go to your library and click the try me now tool next to the font you want.  Type whatever you want and save that image.  Upload it into word or whatever as a picture.  I stick with alphabets and graphics because you can get free fonts all over.  I'm going to be creating some forms/labels with the fonts.  I'll upload them here for you to see when I'm done.

Lesson Plans

Don't get me wrong, I love planbook.com but after looking at this blog (http://ateachersplan.blogspot.com/p/home.html) I kind of want to re-think my plans.  I love the cute fonts and checklist approach to her plans.  If my plans were that simple to fill in, I might actually be able to plan a week in advance!  I'm going play with different formats and templates.  I'll post whatever I come up with.  I'm also noticing that many teachers planbooks are broken into subjects by week.  The plans on that blog are broken into ELA, Math, and Content areas.  The music teacher I work with does 1 set of plans per grade level and keeps them seperated by grade level.  I'm considering keeping my plans seperated by group.  We will see what I come up with!

Pintrest

Pintrest.com is my new favorite website.  I'm a person who loves mood boards and pintrest.com is basically a mood board site.  Once you sign up, you will add a "Pin it" button to your favorites and create board titles.  Then as you go through websites and see ideas you like, you click the Pin It button and select the picture you want.  It pins it to your boards for you, attaching the link to the site you are on.  I made boards for teaching ideas, house ideas, wedding, and art.  I'm thinking about breaking my teaching ideas board into Lesson Ideas, Center Ideas, Decorations, and Management.  Then when I need a lesson idea, I can quickly go to my board.  Love Love Love this site!

Summer is here!

Summer is here and yet I'm still not getting time off.  I've spent my first day without students reflecting on the last year, going through student work samples for my portfolio, and thinking about changes for next year.  Being in special ed leaves a lot up in the air each summer.  I don't know what grade levels I'll be working with in Septemer.  I don't even know what building(s) I'll be in.  I probably won't know either of those until about a week before school starts.  Therefore, thinking about long-range planning, as most of my co-workers plan on doing this summer, won't work for me.  So what can we do to prep for the upcoming school year?  Gather ideas and materials.  Here are some of the projects I want to do this summer:

1. Create a new behavior chart
2. Create a writing station (aka - different types of paper in labeled paper sorters - spacer paper, primary paper, primary paper with picture, first and final draft paper, graph paper, blank paper)
3. Set up a binder for student work/probes
4.  Create a few mini reading/writing UbD units
5.  Create my go-to files for reading comp, decoding, writing (Copies of my most used resources)

If you are a returning teacher, I'm sure there are tons of things that you can think of that you want to improve, modify, update, and create.  Take an hour and really think about things you want to do differently next year.  Write them all down and then sort them into order of importance.  Try to get all the highly important items done in July.  That will leave you with all of August to get even more done - or to ignore school completely knowing your "must do" items are finished. 

If you just found out you will be teaching in a resource setting next year, you will need a different approach.  The first thing I would do is set up some sort of filing system in your computer.  You will be using the internet to find the majority of your ideas so this will be important.  Next, think about things you will definately need:
1. Welcome letter
2. Management system/Rules/Procedures
3. Class list sheet to check off things
4. A small collection of lesson ideas
5. System for tracking students progress

Start searching online for ideas.  Save the ideas you like.  With items like behavior plans, make sure you really love the system and you believe it fits your setting before putting work into it.  Remember, Keep It Simple!  I only have my students for 30 minutes at a time.  I don't want to lose a minute every time a student has a behavior issue.  Save your favorite websites so you can go back to them when school starts. 

The more you get done over the summer, the less you have to do while trying to teach.  Have a relaxing and productive summer! 

Student Info Cards

I like to keep Test Accommodation cards on my desk, in case I'm out on the day of a test.  I also like to keep students goals, birthday, parent contact info, and health information handy.  Get out your scrapbooking supplies (or run to Michaels) and create a cover card (like a cover page) for your info cards.  I keep mine on a metal ring on my desk.  I can quickly grab the ring and I have all the information I may need. 

Project Organization Phase 13: Notebooks

If you are like me, you buy a bunch of .10 notebooks before each school year.  I have about 5 spiral notebooks at each building and just grab one on my way to meetings.  The problem is I don't have 1 notebook for RtI, 1 for CSE, 1 for staff meetings and so on so all of the information is mixed together.  To find notes, I would have to look through 10 notebooks. 

Remember, organization is about being efficient with your time and this is definitely not an efficient system.  This is a simple fix that you can choose to do mid-year or start when the new school year begins.  Gather your notebooks - new or used.  Rip out the used pages if you are starting with used notebooks.  Put the empty notebooks on your shelf.  The next meeting you go to - grab a notebook and label it.  Continue to do this every time you need a notebook - as long as it is an event/meeting that will reoccur. 

Here are some times when I use notebooks:

RtI Meetings
CSE Meetings/planning
Principal Discussions (observations, concerns, anything where you meet 1 on 1 with the principal)
Professional Development Workshops
Staff Meetings
Parent-Teacher conferences
Congruence with Teachers

Project Organization Phase 12: Centers

I know many special education teachers who do not have centers.  What I mean by centers is small group games that have clear instructions attached to them.  The games focus on specific skills.  I am building my collection of centers by creating the fcrr.org games and file folder games.  The problem is organizing them.  There are HUNDREDS of games on fcrr.org, if not thousands!  Organizing these seems overwhelming.  Here is what I'm doing:

1. Center games are labeled with the skill they work on as well as a grade level.  FCRR.org games are chunked into K-1, 2-3, 4-5.  Within each group they have Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.  Most of these games I keep in large envelopes.  I re-type the instructions (some of them say "the lower student" on the website so I make them student friendly) and glue them onto the front of the envelope.  On the back, I glue a picture of the game being used (these are on the website so I just cut them out).  I also glue on extension activities.  The envelopes I bought have a sticky close top.  I type up the game title, reading area, and grade level and print it onto colored paper (I type a bunch up at a time and cut them into strips to cover the sticky strip on the envelope).  That colorful strip gets stuck to the envelope and it all gets laminated.  I cut open the pocket and keep the game cards/board inside the envelope.  File folder games are simply labeled with the skill area or game title on the tab: "Multiplication Madness". 

2.  After you have a collection of centers, find baskets that are large enough to hold a bunch of them.  If the baskets are too big they will just take up space.  Finding the perfect baskets may take a while but it will be worth it in the end.  When you find them, buy a lot of them. 

3.  Label your baskets with your group names.  Go through the centers and sort them according to who could work on those skills.  My group who is working on fluency will have a lot of fluency centers but they will also have some phonemic awareness, phonics and comprehension centers as well.  These can change as often as you would like so don't overload the baskets with centers.  I plan on changing mine quarterly.  You can also add "When I'm Done" activities to these baskets. 

4.  Centers that do not fit with any group will be stored in storage containers.

This project will most likely be a ongoing one.  It takes a long time to create these games and find the right baskets. 

Project Organization Phase 11: Class Library

There are a thousand websites out there that will help you organize your classroom library.  Most resource room teachers are in a tiny room and have a fairly small library to choose from.  I have a few group sets of books which I keep together on one bookshelf.  These are books that I use with whole groups and they are usually off limits for students to read on their own (in case I use it with their group later on).  I also have a collection of picture books which I use to introduce topics and teach strategies.  These books are also off limits to my students and they are kept on a shelf behind my desk. 

I have another collection of picture books, chapter books, magazines, and reading a to z books that my students can read whenever they have time.  My group sets and these books are organized by Fountas and Pinnell levels.  My students know their reading level and if they forget, they ask.  They want to read in their level.  I showed my students how to look up their books on scholastic's book wizard.  Back to the library organization...the printable reading a to z books are kept in baskets labeled with the level.  Series books are also kept in baskets (magic tree house, junie b jones, time warp trio etc...).  Any book that isn't in a labeled basket has the reading level written inside the front cover.  They are grouped together.  I cut long strips of construction paper and wrote a reading level at the end of it to mark where each level is.  

I know many teachers have their books organized by topic and genre but since I work with k-5 and I want my students reading at or around their level I chose to organize by reading level.  If you like the idea of using baskets, look at your local dollar store. 

If you are going to tackle this project you need to have a few hours to work.  You will need a computer, a sharpie, and baskets if you choose to use them.  You will also need some way to mark the shelves/baskets with reading levels.

1. Put all your books into piles around your book shelves. 
2. Make your labels - I chose to buy alphabet stickers and made a label for all 26 levels. Make it as creative and complicated or as simple as you want.
3.  Start looking up each book on scholastic.com/bookwizard.  When you find the level, mark it on the book and set it on the shelf with it's level label.
4.  Continue to do that until all your books are leveled.  Of course, some books will not be found on scholastic's website.  That's fine, leave those in a pile until you are done. 
5.  Now that most of your books are labeled and leveled, align them neatly on the shelves.  Make sure the shelves are clearly marked for your students. 
6.  Use Fountas and Pinnells books or google to find the levels for your remaining books.  Add them to your shelves as you find them. 
7.  As you buy new books, make it a rule that you level it before it goes on the shelf. 

Project Organization Phase 10: Teacher Books

This is a pretty simple area but it's something that we haven't talked about yet.  My goal is to cover every area of your room.  First, gather all your teacher books.  Next, clear a spot for them.  They should be kept together so if you need to use one as a reference or to make copies you only have to look in 1 spot.  Once you have a space ready for your books, play with how you want them displayed.  Here are some things to try:

1. Line them up according to height. 
2. Line them up according to color - all red books together, then orange.  Within each color, organize them by shade (dark to light) not height!
3. Organize them according to subject.  Writing books group together then reading and so on.

This is a fairly easy task and it's free.  I organize my books by subject/height in my classroom.  At home, I like to group books (and video games) by color because I love the way it looks.  I know what color most of my books are so it's not hard to find them.

Follow Up Board

I was reading other blogs for some crafty classroom decorations and I came across a menu board.  It was pretty and decorated with different scrapbooking paper and embellishments.  I loved the concept and I'm thinking about making one.  It gave me the idea to make a Follow Up board for each building, kind of like the menu board.  Anything I need to follow up on gets written on a post-it and stuck to the board.  Quickly check the board every day to see what things need to be done.  

A few days ago, while walking down the hall, a para stopped me and told me a student needed a new notebook (it's one I make for him).  I had completely forgotten about it because it wasn't written down anywhere.  In the future when I'm stopped in the hall, I can say "Sure, just add it to my follow up board so I don't forget."   

We have RtI meetings every 2 weeks in my district.  For special ed teachers, these meetings become a giant to do list.  When I'm at those meetings, anything I need to follow up on goes on a post-it and stuck to the board.   Sometimes students ask me to do something for them, like help them choose a book they would like.  I can ask them to add it to my follow up board as well.  I feel that this could be an organization strategy that may show students how to organize themselves as well. 

Project Organization Phase 9: Manipulatives and Art Supplies

Math manipulatives can be full of tiny pieces.  I bought a small 3 drawer rolling cart from Target to house my math supplies.  One drawer is for games and flashcards.  One drawer is for counters.  One drawer is for other manipulatives like clocks, snap cubes, fraction tiles, and place value blocks.  I bought dried beans and pasta to use as counters.  I dumped those into ziplock bags.  Other counters I have stored in little plastic food containers.  Nothing is just dumped into the drawers loose.  If I need 5 clocks for my lesson, I want to be able to pull open the drawer and get all the clocks in less than 10 seconds.  I don't want to dig around in the drawer finding each clock.  Students can also easily find what they need this way as well.  If you number the amount of clocks you have on the outside of the bag, you can quickly see if any are missing. 

Art supplies I have talked about in the past.  I stock up on crayons, colored pencils, glue and scissors during back to school sales.  I simply throw it all in my plastic art shoe box I bought from Lowes.  Construction paper is put next to or under the box.  Here is a picture of my art box (this is one I keep at home for painting supplies):

Project Organization Phase 8: Current Student Work

Congratulations!  You have organized areas of your room that are for you.  Now we are going to switch our focus to organization for your students.  Each of my groups has a white magazine file box (I call them "Cubbies").  Each student has a numbered folder (all the same color - I used yellow at one building and green at another - yellow and green are my districts colors).  I know many teachers are against numbering their students because it diminishes them to a number instead of a person BUT I'm not going to create new folders every year.  The only time my students need to use their number is when looking for their folder in their "cubbie".  All the students papers go in their folder and books go in the magazine file "cubbie".  That group and substitutes can easily see where that groups materials are.

I got my magazine files at Ikea but you can find them online or get them for free from Wal-mart and Target.  During back to school sales, big stores use magazine files to hold the folders and notebooks.  Go and consolidate their notebooks/folders and load your cart with the empty boxes.  Ask if you can take them - they always say yes because they just throw them away. 

You could also use mailboxes (like classroom teachers have) and each student gets their own slot.  I have seen classroom teachers keep students work in filing crates around the room so when she needs them to get their reading notebooks, the class disperses throughout the room.  You could use baskets or bins for each group.  Look at the layout of your room and look for containers that you like.  Let that determine what you use.  You want your room to be visually pleasing so try to stick to the same type of container for every group.

Project Organization Phase 7: Future Work

This is an area I struggled with.  If you are like me, as you teach a lesson you see a skill that your students REALLY lack.  You copy some worksheets to help build that skill along with 100 other things and it all lands on your desk.  The piles begin again!  This is my biggest downfall with organization.  It took a while but I think I've figured it out. 


In a previous post I mentioned that I had chosen permanent group names that my students can vote on.  In a crate, I have 2  hanging file folders for each group.  They are labeled with the group name and picture.  I like the permanent group names so I can use my tabs every year. The first set is for work that I'm going to do next with the group.  The second set is for work I'm planning for further in the future.  When I come back from the copy room, I can quickly drop my piles into the correct files - No Piles!  I've seen many teachers do this for every day of the month.  Each file is 1 day of the month.  My students usually work on the same thing for several days so I feel that's unnecessary.  Obviously, every teacher is different so modify this so it fits you and your style.


I started this project by buying pink file folders (<3 pink!).  Then I started printing out little pictures and writing the group names but I didn't like the way the white paper was showing behind the picture.  I remembered I had clear address labels.  Clear labels are AMAZING for this project because there is no white background and I can neatly type all the group names.  It looks so much more professional.  Had I not used clear labels, I would have laminated the folders because the pictures would fall off.  The clear labels allowed me to make the folders in about 20 minutes and use them right away.  That's great because if I can't do a project in 1 sitting, it's going to be put off. 

Project Organization Phase 6: Substitute Info

Now that you have created an organized spot for your plans, it's time to focus on plans for a substitute.  Most classroom teachers I know use a binder.  As a substitute my favorite class to sub in was Mrs. Dunn's class.  She taught kindergarten and was well prepared for a sub.  I opened her sub binder and it walked me through her entire day.  For the morning meeting, I had basically a script to follow which showed me how she gets her students focused and the types of questions she asks them during the activities. 

As a resource room teacher, I don't feel that I need a binder explaining all of that.  A folder works well for me.  I chose a purple folder for my sub folder.  It's the only folder in my room that's purple.  I keep it on my desk and it's clearly labeled as my sub folder.  I used double sided tape to add the most important information on the cover of the folder (behavior plan, class rules, location of materials, who to talk to for help).  Inside there is a map of the school with important locations marked, a 1 page summary of what to do in an emergency, How was your day sheets and what to do if there are no plans. 

My emergency sub plans are simple and never have to be updated and here they are: Please follow the schedule on my desk for the correct day of the cycle (1-6) and push into the classroom.  Assist the classroom teachers with their lessons and students with their independent work.  DONE!

Sometimes it's nice to not have a class :)

If you are struggling with what to put in your sub folder, google it!  There are a ton of examples online like this one: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/SubFolder.pdf

Project Organization Phase 5: Planbook

This project is creating an organized planbook which is really more than just a planbook.  This is something that you should have fun with - make it your own because you should be spending a lot of time with this through the year.
Materials:
-Binder with view pockets in the front for a cover (2" is probably good)
-Set of dividers
-Page protectors (optional)
-Zippered pouch (optional)
-3 whole punch that goes in a binder (optional)

You can make this as simple or as complicated as you would like.  The first thing you need to do is figure out what you want to keep in your binder.  Create a tabbed section for each item you want to have in the binder.  Here are some to choose from:
-Student birthdays
-Calendar
-Schedule
-Test Accommodations/IEPs
-To Do lists
-Lesson Plans
-Old lesson plans (previous quarters/months)
-Travel Logs
-Attendance
-Meeting Notes
-CSE Agendas
-Lesson Planning Guides (list of goals or state standards, curriculum maps, blooms taxonomy etc...)
-Parent communication
-Staff Directory
-Handy Lists (favorite websites, future lesson ideas, whatever you might what to refer to when planning)

I don't recommend using all of these.  I have 5 sections in my binder (plans, to do lists, travel logs, meeting notes/cse agendas, and calendars) plus birthdays in the front and a blooms sheet in the back cover.  I recommend spending some time on the actual sheets that you are going to fill your binder with.  Put cute graphics on your to-do lists or lesson plans.  Make a decorative cover for the binder.  Put family pictures on the back cover.  The simple act of creating a binder is simple.  Making your own can get time consuming.  Make it however you would like it.  Have fun!

Project Organization Phase 4: Desk Files

Materials:
Stacking letter tray (5 or 6 slots)
Colorful/decorative file folders

If you think back to phase 1, I had a warning at the bottom.  We end up with piles for a reason.  Unless we change our habits, we will still end up with piles.  Having a stacking letter tray on your desk (I like to have 5 or 6 slots) will make a small dent in this.  I bought colorful file folders from Michael's dollar bins.  Each folder has a label:

Before I leave
To Do
To File
Read and Sort
Keep on Hand

I can fit quite a bit of paper in those files.  That might not be a good thing but it does keep my desk clear of papers, for a while at least.  Pictures to come.

Project Organization Phase 3: Special Ed Binder

Materials:
-Binder
-Dividers

I remember sitting in new teacher orientation at my district.  At least 5 times the mentors said, "If you have any questions or you need help with a student or lesson, talk to a special ed teacher."  That's when I knew I was in trouble.  I was just as new as everyone else yet I was expected to be able to fix problems for everyone.  Chances are, you will be a valuable resource to the rest of your building. 

I quickly gathered all the forms that my buildings/district use.  Referral to special ed form, RtI referral form, Aide justification form, Parent input forms for the IEPs, the handbook that is sent to parents from the special ed office, and so on.  Basically, any form that a co-worker may want to see or need a copy of.  All of these forms went in the first tabbed section labeled "Forms". 

The next section is labeled IEP Examples.  This is where I keep sample IEPs.  My co-workers have let me read some of the IEPs they have written.  If I really like the management section, I'll copy and paste it into a word document titled Management.  I print these sections out as well and put them in this section.

Behavior Plans is another section.  Any time I find a behavior plan online that I like, I print it (and save it) and stick it in the binder.  I like having a hard copy of these things so I can find them quickly. 

Finally, I keep my districts handouts/guides about the special ed department in the last section. 

This does not need to be a project that you do all at once.  I would set up the binder and as you come across papers, stick them in. 

Project Organization Phase 2: Student Records

For this project, you need to choose how you will keep student records as well as what you keep.  The what might determine the how.  You will use either binders or file folders to store your students records.  Choose what you are more comfortable with and what you think you can maintain.

Materials:
Binder and dividers

or

File Folders and a crate or file cabinet

I currently keep student records in 2 different spots.  Each student has a number.  I have a set of numbered file folders, 2 for each student.  They are labeled with "Student Work Samples #" and "Student Documents #".  This system is easy for me because as I sort through my piles, I can simply toss the students work in their file folder.  Sorry the picture is blurry!

My other system is a binder for reading records.  I have a tabbed section for each student (also numbered).  In that section, I keep a cover sheet (fountas and pinnell running record recording sheets) which give me a quick glance at the students reading level progression.  Behind that I have their cafe menu and then their running records and fluency assessments.  

For some reason having these 2 systems seems to work for me.  Next year when I have to do set probes on a set schedule, I will use the binder system for everything.  From my experience, the items kept in the binder tend to be sequential and are ready to go for meetings. 

All you need to do is gather the work/documents you have now and file it into one of these systems.  This project isn't as visually pleasing as the first one, but the next time you have a meeting about a child you will feel the benefits of this!

Project Organization Phase 1: The Piles!

I just spent the past 3 hours reading another teachers blog which promised to organize me.  It wasn't helpful.  I did get a new behavior chart idea that I may use for next year but overall this wasn't a good use of my time.  I liked her concept: giving everyone assignments each day to complete projects (ultimate plan book etc...).  Here is my quick organization guide:

1. Get supplies.  You will need file folders - hanging and the ones that go in the hanging ones, pens - markers - sharpies or whatever you want to label file folders with.  I don't recommend labels because you need to print them.  The goal here is to quickly start your filing system and keep it organized.  If you have to print a new label just to file a piece of paper, it won't be filed. 

2.  Gather the piles of papers you have laying around.  You know you have them and you know how they get there.  You run to the copy room to get stuff ready for the next 3 months.  You spend your whole prep copying and then you realize you have to go get kids - like now!  And so the stacks are born.  Those papers get thrown on your desk and they stay there until you get frustrated, overwhelmed, or ambitious.  I had a ton of stuff printed out that I ended up recylcing today because the papers ended up getting lost in my piles and my plans for them had changed. 

3. Armed with your filing cabinet (mine is plastic from walmart), file folders and markers/pens/sharpies/labels, begin sorting through the stacks.  Don't organize the papers first - that wastes time.  Pick up 1 paper at a time.  Decide whether or not you need to keep this.  If you do, create a file for it.  Be smart about your labels.  Don't mark one folder "Reading" because you know that folder will be filled in about 2 minutes.  I have a folder for visualizing, making predictions etc...Breaking the labels down by skill will make planning easier.  I can also jot down lesson ideas on the folder itself.  If I have an activity that has many papers with it, it gets it own folder.  Continue doing this until your piles are gone.  You may also need to create some more piles in this process such as a Need to do, need to grade, need to send home, need to take to the office, hang on the wall etc...try to keep it to a minimum.  Congrats!  Your filing system is well on it's way to being organized!

4.  Now that the bulk of your piles are recycled or filed, you MUST tackle the remaining piles.  Start with what can be taken care of in your room.  Today I found a reading level chart that I wanted to hang by my desk so I hung that up.  Next, I organized my "send home" papers into piles per child so I can quickly hand each student a pile when I see them.  Papers I needed to take to the office I set by my door so the next time I went down to the office I could take it without making an extra trip. 

Steps 2-4 need to be done in the same day.  It's not impossible and you don't need to stay after school for hours. You don't have time you say?  Here are some activities you can give kids to do while you sort piles: Practice state tests, center games (fcrr.org!), independent writing activity, independent reading (I do this every once in a while and am always surprised at how many kids can't read on their own.).  It's not a waste of instructional time because these are all things that kids need.  What is a waste of instructional time is being unorganized. 

5.  Relax!  Enjoy the view of your pile-less desk. 

*Warning: To keep piles away, you will need more organizational systems in place which we will work on but until then, you can continue to sort the piles that you accumulate. 

I just found this analogy that I thought might help you so I'm sharing it here:
From Merlin Mann: “Lose the shells”:
The idea here is that you probably don’t have a place in your home or office where you store the shells from every peanut you ever ate. If you did, you’d definitely want to organize them by the year in which you ate them, perhaps keeping separate jars per-month or per-location where you ate the nut. You know. For posterity. But you don’t do that. It would be insane. Once you eat the peanut, the job of the shell is done. So lose it. Ditto dead email. Never organize what you can simply discard; and if you can’t discard it, throw it onto one big pile.

Group Names

I was giving practice ELA exams all day today and it gave me a lot of time to think.  With my new planbook format (planbook.com) I've had to name all my groups.  I now have several groups that could have the same name 3rd Grade Reading Group for example.  I've decided that I want to give the groups names, just as you would reading groups.  Most teachers in my schools use colors for group names.  A few use shapes.  One teacher uses science terms (suns, planets, stars).  I found a set of graphics that has 12 animals in it.  I'm going to use those as my group names next year. 

1. Jelly fish

2. Gorilla

3. Cat

4. Bear
5. Bumble Bee
6. Whale
7. Butterfly
8. Turtle
9. Walrus
10. Kangaroo
11. Bat
12. Penguin
(Pictures from Mrspancake.com)
The first week of school each group will decide what they want to be.  I'll do a mini lesson on alliteration and have them spice up the names.  Their animals image is going to go on their cubby (magazine file).  I will identify the groups by their animal names in my planbook.  I'm currently in the process of adding more center type activities to my collection. I'm going to get bins for each group that will hold center activities that are appropriate for them. Each quarter I'll re-evaluate the activities in their bins. 

I also plan on using the group names as part of a positive behavior plan.  If a particular group is having a lot of behavior problems, I'm going to cut their group sign into X amount of pieces (x will be determined by age).  Each day the group will have the opportunity to earn the pieces of their sign back.  When the sign is complete, they will earn a prize (game day, reading outside, computer lab day).  I feel that this would be too much to manage for every group so as stated earlier, I will only be doing this with a group that has behavior problems. 

Depending on how you plan and organize materials that are coming up, you could also create folders with the group name/image on them to house future or daily materials for the group.  To me, this is easier and more fun that just colors.  If I like it, I'll be making permanent folders with the group images on them.  Make sure you have enough group names to fill all your time slots.  Currently, I am allowed 1 prep and a lunch.  There are 13 thirty minute time slots in my day where I can see kids.  When I take out my lunch and prep, I'm down to 11 time slots.  12 group names is enough for every group to be able to choose their name (even if they are only deciding between 2). 

I hope this gives you some ideas to think about!

Anecdotal Notes

I have several different types of groups that I see daily.  Some math, some ela, pushing in to classrooms and pulling kids out.  I have finally created a way to keep notes for all different types of groups that I like and can manage.  I have a clipboard for each group (9 total).  Each clipboard is loaded with the type of record form I want to use.  My math record forms have a spot for a general idea of the lesson (equivalent fractions), a list of students names (up to 10 students), and then a spot to check Mastered, Progressing, or Needs Reteaching for each student.  On the bottom it also has a spot for general notes and follow up.  3 of these fit on 1 page.  This makes it easy for me to walk into a room, jot down the lesson topic and quickly see who has it and who needs help.  I can also keep track of specific notes I wanted to write and anything I may need to do to follow up.  When it comes time to do progress notes, I have a list of what we did and who understood what.  For reading groups I'm using the CAFE reading conference notes.  It has a spot for the book, level, what I observed as well as the concept we talked about and the next steps to meet that goal.  Each student has their own page (not as easy to manage) but each page has a spot for 6 notes.  All my clipboards are kept in a basket next to my desk.  Before I leave to go to a classroom, I grab that groups clipboard and I'm all set. 

Bulletin Boards

When I was in college, I was so excited about making bulletin boards.  I like scrapbooking and being creative so decorating a classroom should be simple, right?  Now that I'm in the classroom, I have to say bulletin boards are a huge pain!  If you make them seasonal, they need to be changed frequently.  Punching out titles takes FOREVER.  I never have ideas that tie into what I'm teaching at the time.  I suggest you spend 20 minutes or so looking through bulletin board pictures online.  Save any that look remotely interesting to you.  I've found a few that I really like that can be left up all year round.  I have also found some that don't point out the fact that my students aren't on the same level as their classmates.  In August, put up bulletin boards that can stay up all year long if needed.  If you get the urge and time to change them, go ahead but it won't be something that hangs over you head.  Here are a few pictures of my boards:

Genre Study board - Students write the titles and authors of books that fit each genre on a post-it and stick it under the correct poster.

Literacy Cafe Board - The half post-it note marks our current focus.