Hello,

This is my first year as a teacher and I recognize that there are many things I could of done better then I did it (especially conerning paperwork).

I know it is May 2nd and there is only 8 weeks left in the school year and probably not much that I can start now, however, I want to get myself properly organized for the fall.

I have a huge to-do list in front of me.
I was thinking of scanning alot of the work and file it into folders electronically.

I would love suggestions from those who are teachers, homeschool, and anyone with any great ideas. I am looking for lots of possibilities so that I can find the best possible solution.

Tina,

What papers are you talking about scanning? Sometimes the time needed to scan everything and organize it electronically isn't worth the effort. In those cases it's better to just file the stuff and use the time for other efforts. It's not clear to me what the purpose of the scanning would be.

I'm at a university so there will be some differences, but the lectures, quizzes, exams, etc. that I create on the computer are stored in files, first in the course folder, and then by semester within the course folder.

Student papers that are unclaimed at the end of the semester, and anything else semester-specific, are filed in the filing cabinet by semester. My other materials and extra copies of handouts that I use for more than one semester are kept in another hanging folder. I try to color-code each course.

--Barbara

I am talking about worksheets, notes, etc.
My problem is that I have will be leaving for the summer plus this is not my permanent residence so I need to have easy access and the ability to bring most of it with me (shipping large amounts of paper is heavy and expensive).

Hi, Tina,

I was a teacher years ago, at both elementary and high-school levels.

I agree that there doesn't seem to be a compelling reason to scan anything. Perhaps you are worried about having to transport heavy paper? In such a case, you could scan "real" papers, but when you got where you were going, you'd have to convert the scans to paper again, maybe even completely redoing them. Is that your intention?

Not every worksheet is reusable. Some of mine were, such as those for basic math facts. Those I saved, in folders clearly labed to show what they were. Subjects were broken down into Math, Spelling, Language, Science, etc., and within those topics, into worksheets such as "subtraction number facts," "spelling week 1," "spelling week 2," etc. (I had a master list of which words went with which week. Reading worksheets were organized chronologically by the reader they went with.

Beginning teachers find many easier ways to do things as they work. The first year is, above all, survival! Be sure to make notes of some things that worked well, sort of, or not at all. This applies not just to subject matter, but to procedures. I found I wasted too much time with morning details such as collecting lunch money. I also could have devised faster ways to assign classroom jobs. (If only I'd had a computer in those days!).

To start, you can "basically" organize your materials, beginning first with what to keep and what not to keep. Of the things you are keeping, then separate by subject or type (say art supplies vs. science supplies), and label folders or containers. If you maybe moving, you might not need to take science or art items along. If there is too much paper, you could take some and leave some. Many materials are now available in workbooks, online, etc., so you don't have to devise it all from scratch.

If you can provide more specific comments on other ideas we might furnish, we'll be pleased to offer more suggestions.

Transfer notes to electronic files (scan/pdf or transcribe).

There are free converting programs (PDF995 is one) that will convert any document to PDF, and that could be an easy way to keep/store worksheets and lesson plans you want to use next year. (They'll print out easily, too.) Many scanners will "scan to PDF" too.

If you've used on-line resources, a document with active links would be a good way to sort/store them.

If scanning/converting isn't an option, consider keeping one master (in page protectors in a binder), and recycling the rest.

I definately am thinking that scanning and re-printing pages when I will be moving across the country is the most economical way of doing things.
I like the idea of pdf's. I will check out if my scanner will do that for me.

With moving around, I'd scan/keep the electronic file of worksheets, etc that you LIKE and think you'd use again if you were teaching the same grade/subject. Try and get stuff into free online storage as possible. Email yourself a document of your favourite links...

Try and 'remember' as you go what handouts you already have on the computer and what are just photocopies. If you know you have the electronic file, you don't have to keep them.

Definately keep tests you made.

Scan a few pages of student samples (as allowed) that's always nice to have.

For day-to-day I loved using binder clips. I got different colours and different sizes. I'd clip each classes stuff together, so by looking at my stack, I could easily find the math handouts because they had the blue binder clip on them (green for science, pink for art...)I found 'primary' colours and pastel colours as well as black binder clips at the dollar store.

When you're starting EVERYTHING looks like a fantastic resource. Try and be ruthless about what you actually keep. And if you know you can find it again online, don't worry about it

I love the binder clip ideas! I can definately make that work.
I think part of what I want to do this summer is pare down and decide what I want to use next year.

Tina, that's what I always have the hardest time with (and I only have four students, max!), but it's very worthwhile. I figure, if I could easily recreate it, I don't need to keep it, and if I do need to keep it, I want it on a jump drive, not as a physical file. It's actually kind of fun to cruise through my stored files and choose what to keep and what to send to the recycle bin with a mouse-click!

These days, when I'm designing new lesson-plan stuff, I work in a basic desktop publishing program to make up the sheets, but tend to convert them to PDF for final storage, as they print so darn well from any machine. I tuck the original computer file into an "originals" file on my hard drive, with the PDF version in a "by subject and level" file.

The publishing program I use even lets me choose some files to be templates, so if I know I'm going to have a bunch of similar lesson layouts, I can just drop new information into a saved-from-template new document, finish it up by converting to PDF, and off I go.

That sounds great, Elizabeth!