Saturday, August 13, 2022

Organizing my Teacher Binder - #MTBoSBlaugust Day 13

 


I had planned to blog the past two days, but Thursday was our first day back with students, so I've been exhausted!  By the end of Thursday, my feet were killing me and my throat was raw from talking.  Even today has been busy with lesson planning, so I almost forgot again today!

This morning, I had several things on my to-do list - setting up my online Gradebook, syncing with Google Classroom, and printing my attendance sheets.  I'm one of those old-school teachers that really does better with paper versus electronic methods, so I like having paper records for Attendance and other things.

One of my items today was working on my Teacher Binder.  I typically blog about my Lesson Planner, but it didn't change much this year other than I'm having to use a full size planner instead of the Junior Planner since I'm teaching 3 preps this year.

But one of the most useful things in my Binder are my Class Rosters.  I downloaded my class lists today as spreadsheets, then copied the names over to my Class Roll Sheets (seen at the left).  I use these for...

Gradebook Sheets - Years ago, I used to use the Whaley paper gradebook, but now I have a section in my Teacher Binder where I have these blank rosters to record quizzes and test grades or as a general checklist if needed.  I typically have a back-up copy ready to go in case I run out of columns and need to move to a new page.

Eligibility Tracking - In another section of my Teacher Binder, I have a copy of each roster for tracking eligibility over the semester.  I make a special effort to reach out these kiddos and their parents, asking them to come in to retake a test or whatever the situation might be.  I typically put a code of "E" for email, SC for student conference, etc during that week to document my contact.

Parent Contact - Another section of my Teacher Binder is where I track Parent Contact.  I label the first few columns for the big contact items - like the Back to School Google Form, Back to School Night,  Parent Teacher Conferences, plus I also document the date and type of contact for any emails or phone calls I make.  My goal is to have a positive parent contact for every parent on my roster throughout the year.  

I'm sure there are other uses for this form as well, but those are three I find very helpful in keeping me organized!



If you are interested in joining in the #MTBoSBlaugust fun, here's a post with some prompts to help you out!  The idea is just to blog / micro-blog during August to help us focus and reflect on the year ahead.  Please tag your post on Social Media with the hashtag #MTBoSBlaugust so we can support you in your blogging journey!


No comments: