1. Expanding File Folder 24 Pockets
This expanding accordion file folder has 24 pockets, so I'm going to be using it to store my student assessment data. I love that it will all be in one place, it will stand up on it's own, and I can grab it whenever I need it to take it with me. You can see that I numbered the tabs. I number each student so that when papers are turned in, I can easily see who didn't turn in their assignment by finding the missing number. I can assign things like technology by having students always use the number that is assigned to them, and I can reuse some labels in my classroom (like the tabs on this accordian file) when I label it with a number instead of labeling it with a student name. This is going to be really handy for easily keeping my whole class filed, and it's on sale!
2. 2019 - 2020 Academic Year Planner
This super cute planner is (hopefully) going to help me stay on top of due dates, trainings, and all the different activities that go on throughout the year. It's got a plastic cover (and I need something durable when I stick it in my teacher bag!) and really nice tabs for each month. Now, I am a digital girl, which you already know if you have ever read my blog or followed me online. I LIVE by my phone calendar and apple watch. However, I DO still keep a paper planner because I still need to see the big picture. I mostly use the month view so I can see all the upcoming events laid out for the month, which I cannot do on my phone. On my phone it only shows a little dot, and sometimes I need to see all the events at the same time in order to plan. I do not keep every single thing on my paper planner, but in the picture you can see that I use washi tape to map out the school year, and I'm using the planner stickers I got from the #targetdollarbin to mark To-Do items, conferences, etc. The washi tape in my open planner picture was something that I already had, and I believe I got from Michaels, but I found something close on Amazon that matches in case you were looking. I'm also using a gray flair pen to write in my planner, and flair pens are on sale on Amazon! Woot!
3. Photocase Storage Box -
16 inner photo boxes
You've probably been seeing teachers use these photocase storage boxes all over the internet like I have, and they are really great for organizing lots of little pieces. My teammate recommended using these to organize all of our little student cards that came with the #unitsofstudyphonics from the #tcrwp that first grade just started using. You can see in the picture that four stacks fit perfectly into a small case. I used a label maker to label which units were in each smaller case. I do recommend using a label maker for that instead of the Avery labels you can print. I tried the avery labels first, and they did not remain sticky when I needed to move it to another case, which unfortunately happened often as I was figuring out the best way to fit as many in a box as I could. It was also a pain to print out the whole sheet of labels only to realize that I needed 2 of the same label because they did not all fit in one box. The label maker was SO much easier, and they are on sale! The photocase storage boxes are between $40 - $50 at JoAnn's or Michaels unless you find a sale. Recently Michaels had these on sale for $15.99 I believe, which is a great deal. If you can't catch a sale, however, Amazon always has them for $25.99. They can come with a different number of inside cases, so be sure you check. I believe 16 inside cases is the biggest you can get. You may be able get a cheaper price, but it only has 12 inside cases. I needed 2 photo cases for our whole phonics unit.
4. Art Bin
Our phonics unit came with individual student sets of sight words. Each unit has 32 sets of sight words, so I've been punching out thousands of little cards this summer! I'm still not done (I'm going to be dreaming about punching out these sight words all summer there are so many!), but I found this art bin with dividers that holds them all. I put the sets on rings, and I can stand up rows on the bottom and add another on top as you can see in the picture. It's a perfect fit! The dividers are perfect to sort them by unit too. The binder rings I'm using to put the sets together are very small, but they do hold all the cards and take up less room. I had started with bigger binder rings I already had, and they still fit in the box and I could still close the lid. I love that I only need one box to hold all the cards! I need all the space I can get!
5. Clear Poly Envelopes -
Letter Size 12.5"W x 9.8"H
These clear poly envelopes are great for organizing units! The #unitsofstudyphonics also came with posters, class sets of student posters and more. I wanted to keep everything for that unit together, but it has different things that are different sizes. These poly envelopes are perfect! Because they are clear, I put the list of materials for each unit in the front and all the different pieces fit inside the envelope. It can hold a lot since it expands a little bit on the bottom, but the little pieces don't fall out the way they do when I use just a regular manilla folder. In fact, you can fit manilla folders inside these poly envelopes! The small group resources in the phonics program comes with lots of different poems and stories, so I fit a lot of folders into the envelope! You might be able to fit these in a filing cabinet if you take out the little bars that hang folders. It was a tight fit for mine because I have a lot of stuff in each envelope, so I'm using a crate instead, which fits them easily. Even though I am using these for our phonics program, they are really convenient for any units you may want to keep together!
These are some things that will hopefully keep me organized and save me time! What do you use to stay organized? I can't wait to see what great deals you find on #amazonprimeday!
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