My version of the "Teacher Binder"

Hi friends. :)

So as I'm sure all my fellow Pinterest-ites have noticed, posts on the infamous "Teacher Binder" have been very popular. I think this is one of those things that everyone does, but in a slightly different way. But it's fun to see how everybody else does it... I know that my Teacher Binder has definitely evolved over my years of teaching, not only from me figuring out what I wanted and matching it to my needs, but also from picking up bits and pieces from other teacher binders that I've seen on blogs and Pinterest.

So, here's how I organize my "Teacher Binder"...

Sections

• A section for each subject... Reading, Language Arts, Math, and Social Studies. (I don't teach Science, otherwise I would have a section for that as well).
• Staff Meeting and PLC Notes
• Committee Notes
• School Bulletins
• Miscellaneous
• Student Info

Subject Area Sections

Each of the subject area sections has a bunch of pages with a class grid. (My class grid is a Word document which has a table in it taking up the whole page. In the first column, I list every student's name and number, and then the rest of the columns are blank. I use that to record grades, check off completed homework, etc. If you look at the picture up by the list of sections, you can see part of one of my homework check-off pages). I match these grid pages up to our report card standards. So, for example, in the "Math" section, I have one page for each of our substandards on our district's report card (Mathematical Process, Number and Operations, Geometry, etc). Whenever I grade an assignment, I record the grade on the page of the standard with which the assignment correlates. If an assignment correlates with multiple standards, then I record the grade on multiple pages. That way, when report card time comes, I have everything already recorded on one sheet of paper and it's a matter of simply finding an average.

I also put any important documents relating to that subject at the front of the section. In the picture above, you can see our Fountas & Pinnell reading level correlation chart, along with our A.R. color coding system in place in my building. Other things that I keep in the subject area sections: pacing guides, lists of students' Fountas & Pinnell reading levels or A.R. reading levels, etc.

Staff Meeting/PLC Meeting/Committee Meeting Notes

These sections just have blank papers in them that I can use to make notes. One section is for staff meetings and grade-level PLC meetings, and the other is for our Parent/Community Outreach Committee notes, which I am a part of. It's helpful to keep the notes here instead of in a file folder (which is what I used to do) because then I don't have to worry about digging up the file for a meeting - it's all right in my binder (which I have with me practically at all times!)

School Bulletins

Here, I keep our Staff BiWeekly Bulletins, which my principal creates. First, I highlight all applicable info, and then I immediately 3-hole-punch it and stick it in there - I don't even let the paper leave my hands! That's crucial for me - in previous years, I would put it down somewhere and think, "I'll take care of this later." That's usually when I lost it. ;)

Miscellaneous 

Here's where I keep all those things that don't really have a spot, but I don't want to lose either. Examples: my list of who has received Star Awards each month (more to come on that in a later blog post), check-off grids for who has turned in their reading calendar, field trip permission slips and money, etc.

Student Info

The first few documents in this tab include a list of student birthdays, a master list of MAPS scores, and usernames and passwords for my students. The rest of the information is contact info. At open house, I have parents fill out a form with their phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, the best way to contact them, and some other crucial questions. (Again, I'll make another blog post with the specifics on this later). Once parents turn those papers in, I keep them in this section of the binder, for easy access when I need to contact them. 

Lastly, in the back of the binder, I bought a 3-hole punch that can fit into a binder, and I keep my easy grader in the back pocket for easy access while grading.

I hope this is helpful! :)

-Michele

Hi friends. :)

So as I'm sure all my fellow Pinterest-ites have noticed, posts on the infamous "Teacher Binder" have been very popular. I think this is one of those things that everyone does, but in a slightly different way. But it's fun to see how everybody else does it... I know that my Teacher Binder has definitely evolved over my years of teaching, not only from me figuring out what I wanted and matching it to my needs, but also from picking up bits and pieces from other teacher binders that I've seen on blogs and Pinterest.

So, here's how I organize my "Teacher Binder"...

Sections

• A section for each subject... Reading, Language Arts, Math, and Social Studies. (I don't teach Science, otherwise I would have a section for that as well).
• Staff Meeting and PLC Notes
• Committee Notes
• School Bulletins
• Miscellaneous
• Student Info

Subject Area Sections

Each of the subject area sections has a bunch of pages with a class grid. (My class grid is a Word document which has a table in it taking up the whole page. In the first column, I list every student's name and number, and then the rest of the columns are blank. I use that to record grades, check off completed homework, etc. If you look at the picture up by the list of sections, you can see part of one of my homework check-off pages). I match these grid pages up to our report card standards. So, for example, in the "Math" section, I have one page for each of our substandards on our district's report card (Mathematical Process, Number and Operations, Geometry, etc). Whenever I grade an assignment, I record the grade on the page of the standard with which the assignment correlates. If an assignment correlates with multiple standards, then I record the grade on multiple pages. That way, when report card time comes, I have everything already recorded on one sheet of paper and it's a matter of simply finding an average.

I also put any important documents relating to that subject at the front of the section. In the picture above, you can see our Fountas & Pinnell reading level correlation chart, along with our A.R. color coding system in place in my building. Other things that I keep in the subject area sections: pacing guides, lists of students' Fountas & Pinnell reading levels or A.R. reading levels, etc.

Staff Meeting/PLC Meeting/Committee Meeting Notes

These sections just have blank papers in them that I can use to make notes. One section is for staff meetings and grade-level PLC meetings, and the other is for our Parent/Community Outreach Committee notes, which I am a part of. It's helpful to keep the notes here instead of in a file folder (which is what I used to do) because then I don't have to worry about digging up the file for a meeting - it's all right in my binder (which I have with me practically at all times!)

School Bulletins

Here, I keep our Staff BiWeekly Bulletins, which my principal creates. First, I highlight all applicable info, and then I immediately 3-hole-punch it and stick it in there - I don't even let the paper leave my hands! That's crucial for me - in previous years, I would put it down somewhere and think, "I'll take care of this later." That's usually when I lost it. ;)

Miscellaneous 

Here's where I keep all those things that don't really have a spot, but I don't want to lose either. Examples: my list of who has received Star Awards each month (more to come on that in a later blog post), check-off grids for who has turned in their reading calendar, field trip permission slips and money, etc.

Student Info

The first few documents in this tab include a list of student birthdays, a master list of MAPS scores, and usernames and passwords for my students. The rest of the information is contact info. At open house, I have parents fill out a form with their phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, the best way to contact them, and some other crucial questions. (Again, I'll make another blog post with the specifics on this later). Once parents turn those papers in, I keep them in this section of the binder, for easy access when I need to contact them. 

Lastly, in the back of the binder, I bought a 3-hole punch that can fit into a binder, and I keep my easy grader in the back pocket for easy access while grading.

I hope this is helpful! :)

-Michele