My Teaching Binder

I am a full time high school teacher who happens to teach in three different rooms throughout the day, plus have an office that is not located in any of these rooms.  My goal this year was to find a system that would help me have everything in one place that could easily be taken from one room to the next.  Enter the teacher binder.

I love having my important documents all in one spot.  It is also nice for a sub if I happen to be unexpectedly absent.  Everything the sub needs to know is located in this binder.  Here is what the inside of the binder looks like:

When you open it up you see my class schedule for the day.  This is more for a sub then me :)  Then I have the following tabs:

• Seating Charts - here are the seating charts for each of my classes.  On the seating chart I also have a student highlighted.  If I am absent, this is a reliable student that could help answer any questions a sub may have.  
• Calendars - I like to roughly plan out my semesters to I know that I am going to fit everything in.  I have a calendar for each class with the curriculum penciled in for the semester.  I also have the school event calendar here as well.  
• Lesson Plans - Here are my lesson plans for the week.  I also include here any answer keys that go with the lessons.  
• Parent Contact - Here I contain a log where I can keep track of any parent contact that I make.
• Meetings - I have a meeting log here where I can keep notes from all of the meetings that I have to attend.
• Standards - I keep a copy of the Power Standards for the different classes that I teach here for easy reference as I am planning my lessons.
• IEPs - I have a quick reference IEP guide that lists all of my students that have an IEP or a 504 Plan and what accommodations I need to be making for them.  Mine looks similar to this one.

Another new piece of organization that I am using in my classroom are clipboards containing my grade book instead of having one large grade book.

I have one for each class that I teach.  The clipboard contains color coded grade book sheets printed from our grade book program.  Each class has its own color.  The clipboard also contains a binder clip numbered with that class period's number.  I use the clip to attach any papers that need to be graded for that class to the clipboard.

I have really tried to go as paperless as I can in all of my classes.  This means that I grade a lot more off of the student's computer screen then collecting papers to grade.  It is a lot easier to right on a clipboard as I am walking around then a flimsy grade book.  It has also been a lot easier to grade papers as I am standing in the hallway during passing periods, breakfast break, etc.

So far the teaching binder and clipboards have increased the organization and ease of life at school this year.  I wonder what I will come up with for next year :)