Classroom Organization - Part I

One of the biggest challenges that I have faced as a teacher is finding a way to organize all of the papers that I have collected over the years.  I have tried filing cabinets and milk crates and have found that it is still hard to find the papers that I need quickly.  So last year I decided to jump on the binder bandwagon and I am LOVING how organized it keeps me.  Now, I may have taken this a little over the top, but this is what works for me.  Hopefully you can find a way to fit it to your needs.

I'll start with my math binders since I just finished those this week.   My school district creates a 'scope and sequence' for us to follow.  It tells us what standards to teach and when.  Last year our math scope and sequence had 6 units, so I had 6 binders.  It worked perfectly...that is until they changed the scope and sequence and now there are 18 units.  There is no way that I can have 18 binders just for math and still have it be an effective system.  So after many failed attempts I decided to create a binder for each group of standards.  We use the Common Core standards so I have four binders, one for each standard.  My binders are: operations and algebraic thinking, numbers and base ten operations, measurement and data, and geometry.

The front of my four math binders.

Within each binder I have every worksheet that goes within that standard set.  For example, within the measurement and data binder there are worksheets for measurement, time and graphing.

Here is a closer look at the inside of the binders.

A) The first page of each binder is a page of the Common Core math standards (this is something that I just printed off of the Common Core website).  This allows me to have quick access to the all of the standards.

B) I have tabs that divide the different standards.  These are just Post-It tabs that I found at Wal-Mart.

I somehow found a way to print on them (that took a lot of trial and error).  

In my measurement and data binder my tabs are:

• Standards

• 1.MD.A.1

• 1.MD.A.2

• 1.MD.B.3

• 1.MD.C.4

These tabs are from a different binder, but you can see what I am talking about.

C) Finally, I went through all of my worksheets and put them under the corresponding tab.  That way, when I have to teach a standard, all I need to do is flip to that tab and there are all of the worksheets!

If you look back at the tabs I just listed here are examples of what I have under each:

• Standards Tab - all I have under this tab are the list of all of the Common Core standards for math

• 1.MD.A.1 Tab - Under this tab are all of the worksheets for this standard (ordering three objects by length and comparing two objects indirectly by using a third object)

• 1.MD.A.2 Tab - Under this tab are all of the worksheets for this standard (measuring length using non-standard units)

• 1.MD.B.3 Tab - Under this tab are all of the worksheets for this standard (telling and writing time)

• 1.MD.C.4 Tab - Under this tab are all of the worksheets for this standard (graphing)

Now I have all of my worksheets together and organized and they are easy to find.

Organizational heaven if you ask me  (:

I will post about my reading binders (which are a little more intensive) as soon as I finish them.  Please let me know if you have any questions about these - or if you need me to clarify anything.

Do you have an organization system that works really well for you?  I'd love to hear about it!