I'll be the first to admit that I jumped on the Erin Condren train with excitement and every intention in the world of being a lifer. (If you've never seen her teacher planners, they really are a work of art and so much fun to personalize and customize. Check them out!) After using her planner for two years, and purchasing another planner for this coming school year- I finally realized that despite my best intentions, I wouldn't ever use the planner to its full potential. I know so many people who love them, swear by them and anxiously await that brightly colored box every year; but I am a systems girl and this was one that just wasn't working for me.
Before we break down section by section, I want to share some tips that helped me pull this together in a way that doesn't make me want to pull my hair out. :) Here are a few items that I have found to be must have purchases:
Reading Level Correlation Chart (Click on the link for this freebie!)
IEP info I receive at meetings
Any of those extra papers I'm told to hold on to :)
6. Grades
So I'm going back to the basics, y'all- with this puppy.
No fancy schmancy covers here. My class list will go in front when I receive it next year and the calendar at a glance will go in the back cover sleeve. For the first time in my life I'm going for function over aesthetics. Ha! The dates colored in yellow are days we are off (I like to look at it and think of all my "free" time during the year-ha!!!)
Before I even started teaching, I remember looking up blogs about "The Teacher Binder." It always seemed overwhelming to me though, and so I tried other methods. Now I'm crawling back. :) The best part of this system is that it is one you can cater to your OWN unique needs. I have been reading countless blogs the past few days in preparation for creating my own binder and I have had so much fun piecing it all together. It is still a work in progress but it's nearing completion!
Today I'm going to share about all of the goodies you'll find in my binder, how I decided to section it off, and what freebies and products I've used to build this beauty.
Let's get started! :)
What to Buy:
- A large binder in a color/pattern you love! (You will have to look at it ALL the time.) Splurge on a nice one, because you will want it to last.
- Two different kinds of organizing tabs. The purpose of this is to section off your tabs so you have less "main" sections, and they are better organized. One set of my tabs was from Walmart, and they are the clear colored tabs with pockets (so necessary!) with erasable tabs. My second set of tabs was the Yoobi brand from Target. They are smaller so they hide easily behind the big tabs. :)
- A thin sharpie to label the tabs (nail polish remover will make it come right off if you need to make any changes!)
- A small clear pencil pouch with holes to place at the front of binder for grading pens, paper clips, sticky notes, highlighters, a small stapler, and other things you need to be quickly accessible.
- A small three hole punch (you'll thank yourself later)
- A brightly colored folder.
- A colorful binder clip (or a boring black one if that's what makes you happy) :)
Flipping Through Section By Section
At the very front of my binder, I placed my folder in the inner pocket. This is a "To Copy" folder. I often get handed things from teammates or print things at home that I will want to copy when I get to school. This gives those items a home at all times and I can quickly grab the folder on the way out the door when I take my kiddos to specials/lunch. The pencil pouch goes in next with the hole punch right behind it. Then comes the fun part!
1. Plans
- Weekly Plans- (I am using plans from KindergartenWorks this year to help me better manage my week. I am lucky to have an awesome team to "team plan" with, but this helps me break down those plans for myself and gives me a better idea of what I am covering each day. I use a binder clip to connect the current week's plans to the tab so I can open right to them.
- Weekly Reading Group Plans
From the awesome Reading Workshop Guided Reading Pack
(I would still like to find a planning page for guided reading that I can plan for all groups for the week on one page. Anybody have any good resources? :)
- Long term pacing plans (I used this great freebie to create these before my team's summer planning meeting. I was able to edit it to meet my needs.)
I used two smaller Yoobi tabs in this section to separate the three areas.
2. Calendar
- Regular Calendar. I've seen some teachers use small ones that you can slip in to your foldered tab, but I like being able to print and write all over mine. So I purchased this and love it! If you print it double sided, you can easily open it flat and see the month ahead of you.
- District School Year Calendar
- District Testing Calendar
3. Communication
- Parent Contact Information- I make a one page document at the beginning of the year with parent names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses for easy grabbing.
- Weekly Progress Reports- I kept these elsewhere last year and was always scrambling for them at the end of the week. I will only need 10 copies since there are 2 to a page, so I plan to try it this way this year. :) These are amazing and I love that they are positively worded and can be used in two ways regardless of student behaviors. Find them HERE!
- Unfinished work slips (from the Positive Parent Communication Pack). I copied these on yellow, cut them and placed them in the tab's folder for easy grabbing. I will be well prepared for my task avoiders this year. :) This will allow me to grab a slip, staple it to their unfinished work, and send it home quickly.
- Praise slips- Also in the Positive Parent Pack. I wanted to be sure to also have quick slips on hand for positive behavior to send home with students. I plan to copy these in purple, cut them, and place them in the same pocket for quick grabbing! They cover so many specific characteristics and are a great way of rewarding positive classroom behaviors.
- Conference Schedules
I have a separate parent communication binder to log parent contact/conversations, etc. There are also cheat sheets on conversation starters for making parent communication easy. (All from the Positive Parent Pack. Can you tell that I love this product!?)
4. Data/Records
- School Incident Reports- having these on hand would've been very beneficial for me last year. :)
- Personal Behavior/Incident Log. I found this great log on TPT (link here) and like having it on hand for my own records.
- Important data like Smart Goals, SST info, Aimsweb scores, etc., will also go in this section.
I have a bigger data binder, but this section will hold all of my go-to's that I might need for meetings, etc.
5. Resources
6. Grades
- My Grade Book- I bought a cheap old school grade book at Target in the dollar section this year. It is small enough to fit in the tab's folder and that is where it will live this year! My system last year didn't work as well as I would have liked, so I am forcing myself to keep my grades all in one place.
- Report Card Grade Level Text Guide (a district form)
- District Report Card Cheat Sheets
- Each student's individual grades. I keep one sheet for each student which is separated per quarter. I record their grades on these sheets before entering their grades on the computer. Having it all in one place makes it easier to update their grades per quarter. :)
7. Meeting Notes
In the past, I have tried to use notebooks for meetings, but I can never seem to put it back in the same place, leaving me scrambling at the last minute. I'm excited about having this section, as I plan to keep my binder with me to all of my meetings this year. I found this great freebie to keep track of my meeting notes.
I plan to keep PLC meeting notes in front and use those smaller tabs to add a space for Staff Meetings, SST, and PD days. You could put them all in one place since there is a place to label what kind of meeting it is, but I'm too OCD for that. :)
I plan to keep PLC meeting notes in front and use those smaller tabs to add a space for Staff Meetings, SST, and PD days. You could put them all in one place since there is a place to label what kind of meeting it is, but I'm too OCD for that. :)
8. Archives
I totally stole adding this section from Kindergarten Works. :) It is brilliant! After she finishes using her weekly lesson plans she moves them to the archives. At the end of the year, she binds her plans and saves them as a reference for the next year. This would also be great to keep on hand to share with administrators, student teachers, or anyone else who might be interested in seeing your plans. I am planning to do the same with my guided reading group plans.
That's about it! The links below are what helped me the most in creating my Teacher binder. These ladies represent grades from K-5, so there are hopefully some great ideas for you out there regardless of which grade you teach in Primary.
That's about it! The links below are what helped me the most in creating my Teacher binder. These ladies represent grades from K-5, so there are hopefully some great ideas for you out there regardless of which grade you teach in Primary.
If you have any other great tips or ideas for creating a Teacher Binder, please leave some love in the comments!!!
