Teacher Binder: Individual Units

My Teacher Binder

Last week I told you about my teacher binder. It is a great system and works really well for me. It has saved me from carrying pounds of materials home each night. As a first year teacher, I was grateful to only carry a small stack of tons of work home... rather than large stacks to accompany the hours of work ahead of me.

I also mentioned that I include one test-unit worth of material for each course in the binder. That is my way of keeping all of the work I carry home under control. With one test-unit, I might have two or three chapters worth of material for each course, so it gives me a chance to look ahead or review. Then once we take a test, I just swap the unit out for the next one.

Each course tab contains a few materials that stay there for extended periods of time. They just help me stay on top of life a little better.

Student List - I always have a list of the students enrolled in my class as well as any info about them as the first page in this tab. It is a great reference for attendance and seating assignments, homework checks, etc. You can put whatever info you need to on this list. I have my book numbers on it as well, but you could do addresses, birthdays, or whatever is useful to you. Because I use this page or flip past on a daily basis, I put it in a page protector to keep it nice. For the security of my students & my school, I will not be showing pictures of these.

Syllabus - Usually the first half of the year or so, I will keep the syllabus directly behind the student list, especially if it has dates on it. This is a nice reminder to keep myself on track, but also a good reminder for the students if they claim "But you never told us!" (I did probably seventy times, but they are teenagers. They forget.)

Long Term Project Requirements & Rubrics - Just like the syllabus, I keep long-term project requirements and rubrics handy in the front of my course tab as a reference. If a student has a question, I can pull out this sheet (and direct the student to it), then tell the student exactly what I told them before. It is a great reminder for myself and for them. When the project is finished, I can just take it out of the binder.

If you opened my binder on any given day the next thing you will see is a numbered tab to coordinate with the chapter number. Avery sells numbered tabs 1-36 and I use these to keep all of my chapter materials separate. I end up with so much in my binder that it helps to know exactly where I am in my binder.

Chapter Overview

After that is a page that I call my Chapter Overview. This single page tells me everything I need to know about the chapter - what materials I use throughout the chapter, upcoming assessments, Biblical integration, games or activities, and additional resources. Throughout my first year teaching, I would sometimes forget to give a quiz or study a map because it wasn't written right into my notes, and I had mountains of materials to sort. This summer I added Chapter Overviews to each of my chapter plans in hopes that it will help me out.

A page from my Teacher Notes

Following the Chapter Overview is a copy of my Teacher Notes for a given chapter. Basically my teacher notes are the student handouts but expanded and amplified. It has little notes to myself, colors to help me know what material is on an assessment (that is really helpful for review), and blocked out material that indicates when to mention certain things or identifying opportunities for Biblical integration or something extra in the powerpoint. The Teacher Notes were a lot of work, but beyond worth it!

Student Notes

Next up is a copy of the Student's Notes, in case I need an extra or want to make copies without locating it on my computer. It's just handy.

Then any other handouts, like worksheets, primary source copies, or maps.

Quiz key

The next major item I include is any assessment specific to that chapter, usually a quiz or two. I normally put these in page protectors. The front will be the key and the back will be a spare blank copy of the student version.

I will duplicate the order until I hit a test and the final thing in the unit will be a test key and spare student test.

Test Key

My binder is almost always full, but once you have it figured out, it is always easy to locate something. My fellow teachers have commented on the fact that I take home my laptop and my binder every day and that's it. They are carrying around a rolling case for all of their books.

Organization is worth it. :)