Teacher Binder & Little Things

  I can't believe the summer is almost already over.  I am in shock of how fast it is going.  I remember at the end of our Cancun trip thinking "this summer is going to go by so quickly" - and then I blinked and we were going on a camping trip for the fourth of July. Crazy I tell you!  I'm planning on getting back into my classroom next week sometime - it should finally be clean so I would like to spend a few days in there before they wax the floors and I have to be off of it for another week.  We are going to Colorado at the beginning of August for our anniversary - tradition is still going strong - and then we are contracted back on August 12.  That night we have open house & meet the teacher night, and the rest of the week will be swamped with meetings and curriculum updates so I know I won't have much "work time" in my classroom before my new pumpkins arrive on the 17th. I'd like to start putting stuff together now before our trip!

  Today, I was going to share my teacher binder that is pretty much done and a few things I've made for my classroom in the fall. Last year I had a "teacher binder" - but I really didn't do the whole teacher binder/planner justice.  I used it to hold a few calendars and lesson plans, and I would lug it around for meetings but I didn't utilize it - my things got put everywhere and I was constantly losing notes and handouts. So, on Thursday I went through my old binder with my trusty Starbucks at my side. I am currently obsessed with their Peach Green Tea Lemonade. So good and refreshing.

Thats my old binder on the left.  I took a picture of it from the side so you could see how inefficient I set it up. I can't even see my tabs on the side and stuff is just piled on that clipboard piece in the front. Frustrating. The binder just wasn't efficient for what I needed. So, I sat down with my print offs from Brigid Ann on TPT and went to work to create something that I truly needed for my classroom and sanity next year. Got my trusty cutter and label maker, sheet protectors and a brand new binder on sale at Office Max in a bright Aqua color. Hooray!

As I started putting everything together, I realized that I would need to actually cut along the edges of my binder inserts and then I double sided taped them to the dividers. I wanted something that I could look at the front of a divider and know what was behind it, instead of the piece of paper in a page protector behind it. I labeled on the sides of my binder into 5 parts and then added each individual items as I went (calendars, student info pages, notes pages, etc.)

My favorite thing about these are that they are chevron (duh), and they're super simple and so nicely put together. I do still like to carry around a separate planner to record meetings and appointments, and then I do a separate "weekly to-do" list that I put inside by my lesson plans or hang up by my desk. I'm loving how it turned out and how I can utilize it this year. My goal is to stay on top of handouts and paper! Put them where they go or throw them away :)

I also finished up my kiddos writing folders this week - I just took two, 2-pocket folders and bound them together at school. One of the folders is turned inside out so the folders have 4 pockets. We'll go through as a class and put labels on them so the students know what each pocket will be used for.

AND in order to keep my chevron theme going, I ordered this shelf paper from Amazon to put over my white guided reading shelf in my room and my trapezoid table to make them POP - $10 on Amazon and I couldn't pass that up! So excited to get it on and put everything together.

Hopefully next week I can cure my itch to get into my room and start putting everything together. Today's agenda consists of cleaning the house, running some errands, and reading Allegiant - with the happy husband by my side.

Until next time.