Weekly Organizers

At the beginning of summer, I posted here very lengthily, about keeping my classroom master copies organized. This is a process that will inevitably be helpful and convenient if I ever mosey on back to second grade some day. It has already helped a close friend who moved up to second grade at a different school and didn't know where to start.

However, as I have known since I started the project, and many have commented about since, this is not a convenient process for the day-to-day organization.

I don't know about you, or your school's policies, but we are quite strapped for copy uses. This means that I try to save master copies as much as possible throughout the year. That was one of the main motivators when I found out I wasn't teaching second this year. I wanted to ditch the extra copies and condense a huge file drawer down...but when it comes down to it during the year, I want to hoard as much as possible.

Generally, I keep extra copies of things in that aforementioned file drawer. They are in hanging files organized by month and within the month are folders with subjects. I paperclip multiple copies together and just drop them in where they are needed. With 24 kids in a class, I always make 25 copies so that I can have an emergency master to go back to if necessary.

But what about the copies for each day of the current week?

This summer, I found a small rack with 6 hanging folders in it. Of course the orange rack was what sold me, but with 6 folders, I have put it to good use. There is one folder for each day of the week and one for "next week." As a team, we try to stay pretty on top of things and make copies in advance where we can. Those copies get stored in "next week" and divvied up on Friday afternoon. This makes each day simple.

In the morning, I go to the folder marked for that day and pull all the copies I will need for the whole day. I even try to put in blank writing paper, or spelling test half-sheets, etc. in the files so that those are all in one place when I need them.

All in all, so far this has proven far more convenient for me than my stacked racks from last year. I doubt that it is the rack's fault though...and rather that I am more experienced in what I need to do; however, it is nice to have everything at a glance for each day!

What do you do to keep your daily self organized?