Organization Help! Linky Party

Please forgive me for posting twice in a day, but because I posted late yesterday I'm trying to catch up with this linky that's already on Day 2...lol! I promise to make this post as short as I can.

I'm linking up with Hope from 2nd Grade Shenanigans to show you how I organize a few things in my classroom and share my organizing resolution.

First off, I'm totally OCD!! Trust me, my team members can vouch for it! I love to sort and organize and PURGE! I give everything away!! If I haven't used it in 6 months it more than likely will be on its way OUT my door!

I took this picture at the beginning of the school year. I've since labeled all the containers at the top.

My lovely butterfly box holds all my scrapbook paper :)

This is how I organize all those amazing craftivities I purchase on Teacher Pay Teachers:

(Jennifer's (first grade blue skies) Chinese New Year Packet)

 I print the front cover and the directions on card stock paper and I laminate it. Then I put it in a ziploc bag with the patterns/pieces. I also post the laminated sheet(s) on my board so my students can refer to it, along with a sample of the craft that we made together.

{Teri's (a cupcake for the teacher) Fire Safety Kids}

I have 6 of these containers...and I divide the activities into them by quarter. I also have one container each for my largest collections which are Christmas and Alphabet Craft Activities.   

I have a regular planner which I use to record important dates, but I use this in addition to that.

It is tabbed: type, to-do, print, and lesson plans. 

Under "type" I write down things I need to type up-  newsletters, labels for my students' homework planners, notes, etc.

 "To- do"- obviously self explanatory

 "Print"- Under this tab I list anything from things I purchased on Tpt that I need to print, or homework sheets for upcoming lessons, etc.

And under "lesson plans" for example I may see something neat I want to do with my kids on another blog or on pinterest- so I would write "Winter- melted snowman" and the blog name if it came from another blog so I could refer back to it.

I also use a simple composition notebook for documenting my communication with parents. I wish I had a picture- this image is from google.

 

On the first page I list my kids by alphabetical order from 1-19. Then I use 19 tabs on the side and write their "number" on each tab. I refer back to the first page since I do not write the kids' names on the tab, just their number- hope this make sense.

Each time I communicate with a parent regarding a concern with their child- whether in person, on the phone, or in a written note- I always make sure to cover myself and document everything. 

I write the time, date, and quick notes of what transpired. If I made a phone call and there was no answer or the phone was not working I would indicate that as well. 

For certain students that may need additional referrals and support from the school this is a great resource for me to be able to have and refer back to. Parent's can't argue and say they weren't informed of certain things when I have everything documented.

Now for my resolutions: 

To tackle this baby!

This is my wonderful collection of tpt purchases & blog freebies! I've gotten lazy with filing as you can see on the 2nd shelf. It took me all summer (2011) to organize these files but I have yet to find the motivation to make pretty labels and front covers for each binder. And as you can also see, I need to put the glitter back where it belongs...hahaha!