Teaching is a more difficult job than many people realize. If you’re a teacher, you already know this. Between dwindling school budgets and increasing federal regulation, teachers are constantly being given new duties and new responsibilities. With so many things going on at once, it is absolutely essential to stay organized. Unfortunately, effective organization takes more than simply buying filing cabinets. To really make a difference, you need to implement a filing system that is easy to maintain and works for you.
Without an effective filing system, you will soon be buried under an avalanche of handouts, tests, notes and more. You’ll need to begin with a sturdy, lockable filing cabinet. You may be able to get by with two drawers, but four would be better.
Begin by dividing your papers into two main groups. One group should be related to your teaching curriculum. This category includes notes, handouts, tests, and any other papers that are associated with the subjects that you teach. You will be amazed at how much time you can save by knowing exactly where a particular handout or exam is located. Having your curriculum papers organized this way really shines when absent students return and ask for last week’s handout.
The other main category includes any and all papers related to classroom management and your teaching career. This is the perfect place for testing manuals, professional development notes, discipline records and chronicles of your parent contacts. You should also include any special education documents like individual plans or accommodations lists in this group.
Once you have your papers divided as above, then you can begin to subdivide them into classes and dates. Use plenty of good quality file folders. You can label them by hand, use computer labels or create your labels with a label printer.
When you begin to experience the time savings and feelings of control that having your papers organized provides, you’ll wonder how you ever survived in the paper avalanche.
Tags: computer labels, effective organization, file folders, filing cabinet, filing cabinets, filing system, label printer