Organization: The Key To A Successful School Year

Organization is extremely important, particularly for special education teachers. Being organized will save you time and frustration in the long run. The problem areas, at least for me, are keeping assigned student work and completed student work from taking over my desk. That’s what we’ll focus on in this article.

ASSIGNED WORK

None of the students in my classroom do the exact same assignments–they are just too far apart developmentally. What’s appropriate for a 4th grade student with the developmental level of a baby, isn’t going to be appropriate for a 7th grade student who is able to do 2nd or 3rd grade level work. Getting all of this work organized takes a lot of time. Over the years I’ve tried a lot of different ways to organize. None of them worked as well as the one I’m using now.

To keep this mass of individual work organized, I get one hanging file folder for each student and put all of the folders in a plastic crate. The crate is kept in a centralized location. Into the folders goes the assigned work. I copy worksheets or assignments on a similar topic and staple them into a workbook. The kids work through the workbooks in their file folders a page or two at a day. The workbooks may last two weeks or up to the entire quarter. They are not meant to be completed at the end of each week. Doing the workbook system saves time in the long run because I don’t have to scramble to come up with assignments for each student every single day.

I’ve tried using individual notebooks for student work. This didn’t work too well. Students tended to rush through the work, past what they’d been assigned for the day, and by Friday I would have to figure out something else for them to work on. In addition, every Sunday night I’d be at school copying work and putting it into the notebooks. I didn’t like that.

When I had only 3 or 4 students, I could get away with assigning individual worksheets every day. The downside of this is that it doesn’t work well with more than a few students and papers tended to get lost easily.

I’d recommend using the crate system over anything else. Its portable and organized. It also gives the student some responsibility, i.e. getting and putting away his or her folder and deciding which order the work will be completed.

COMPLETED WORK

Completed work can quickly become overwhelming. In the past I’ve tended to hang on to everything just in case I need it as a work sample for the alternative assessment portfolios. Consequently, I get very large piles of completed and corrected work sitting on my desk. I attempt to go through it at least quarterly, but sometimes this just doesn’t happen.

Since my main worry is not having enough work samples collected in the Spring for the state-required portfolio, I’ve designated “data days” with pre-determined work that will be assigned and completed on those dates. The work is specifically targeted to the goals I’m tracking for the portfolio. This is the only work that gets saved. Everything else goes home at the end of the day.

Get yourself a large (3″) binder and 2 pocket folders. You will need a pocket folder for each student. These folders are then put into the binder. As you collect work throughout the year, you can simply put it into the pocket folder for that student. I also keep the paperwork required by the state in the pocket folder (permissions from parents, etc.). Just before the portfolios are due at the Department of Education, I move each student’s work into its own smaller 3-ring binder.

What’s my solution for making sure work gets home every day? It’s really basic.

Here’s what to do. Get as many heavy duty magnetic clips at the store as you need–one for each student. The magnets need to be heavy duty, otherwise they won’t hold well without sliding. Each student’s name is put on a clip. I use a label maker to make name labels, so I can reuse the clips with different students each year.

On the whiteboard, I draw a black line from the top of the board to the bottom about three feet from the end of the board. At the top of the space, I write “To Go Home”. The clips are put in and stay in that area. And, nothing else goes into that area.

As work is returned to students, they put it on their clip. They practice reading, hand strengthening and general responsibility by doing this themselves. Part of the end of school routine is having the students check their clips for things to take home.

The magnetic clips have been a real success in my room. It’s one of the few organizational strategies that has stood the test of time.

I’m sure there are many other organizational systems to manage student work: cubby boxes, mailboxes, magazine racks attached to the wall, etc. When it comes down to it, no one organizational system will work for everyone and you’ll have to do a lot of experimenting and tweaking until you find one that fits exactly right for you.