Well, if you know anything about me, you should know that I love for things to be organized. For example, in the house (and in the classroom), everything has a home - and should be there. So during some of my "free time" this summer, I have been working on getting more organized... at home (with some ideas from The Nest Effect) and in the classroom (with ideas from different places, mainly courtesy of Pinterest).
Now, I do love to be organized. But occasionally, it can overtake my brain. For example, we went to the store last night to pick up some t-shirts to decorate. As we were walking around, I noticed the school supplies had started coming out. My brain thinks... hey, I need a binder and dividers for the Home Management Binder... ooh, and they have the paper folders that I want to use for make-up work... how much are they... would it be too expensive for me to purchase enough folders for each student... let me check the math... Needless to say, I walked out of the store with a binder, dividers, and 90 folders... along with some other items.
I hope to share with you (more later) how I set up my Home Management Binder and how useful it will be in real life. But, if you want ideas now, check out The Nest Effect. She has all types of checklists and forms and what not - for finances, cleaning, shopping, health, etc.
Disclaimer: When I told my husband about this idea, he made me make a promise. I cannot be frustrated or upset when I do not accomplish everything on my checklists. I promised. And I told him, if I do become frustrated you can remind me of this promise and tell me to get over it. :)
Lists help me. However, there are times I worry too much over accomplishing the list and forget to be thankful for everything that I did accomplish, even if there are some items not marked off. It's all good. These checklists will hopefully help me to remember things that I need to do and/or when I last did them - especially with cleaning the house... some things should be done weekly, monthly, or seasonally... I won't be able to remember when I last did something.
I will go ahead and share how I plan to use those 90 folders in my classroom. I teach high school math on a block schedule. So I usually have about 30 students in a class and teach 3 classes. The folders are paper folders with two pockets (no brads). I will use them for their make-up work. Hopefully, it will help my students to keep up with their work and remember to turn it back in. How it'll be set up:
on the front cover - a label with the student's name and "Math Work"
on the left pocket - a label with "Work To Do"
on the right pocket - a label with "Work Completed"
When students are absent or have assignments missing in the gradebook, I'll get their work together and put it in the left pocket of their folder. They'll get their folder when they are back in my class... complete their work (hopefully) and move it to the right pocket. Then they will turn their folder into the basket "Please Grade". I hope this system will help keep make-up work more organized for my students. It should help me as well since all make-up work will be in their folders and not mixed in with the current assignments. I'll have to follow up with you after school gets underway.
Until next time,
I'll leave you with a thought...
Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the Lord’s decree will prevail.
Proverbs 19:21 (HCSB)
