Teacher Tip#4: Be Organized

The amount of paperwork in teaching is overwhelming, especially for first-year teachers. School memos, lesson plans, grading, internal assessments, state exams, etc., there's so much to keep up with.

Teacher Tip#4: Be organized!

Keep a binder for every subject you teach. Use plastic sheet protectors to keep a record of a blank assignment/quiz/test and it's answer key. Do this for every subject you teach and you'll be glad you did so the following year.

Make notes to yourself by keeping a daily journal. At the end of each day, jot down what went right or wrong with the lesson. Keep it in a composition notebook and at the beginning of the following year, reflect on what changes you want to make.

Keep all of your student data together in a binder. It's the age of accountability in teaching and administrators are coming in to see how you're using student data to drive instruction. Keep this all in a binder by periods (if you teach multiple periods). I like to take my seating charts and make a note on the students' prior year's performance on the state exam. This way I know if there's low level students sitting together with no higher level achieving student to help them.

Being organized takes time and dedication, but in the end, it helps you maintain your sanity and not waste precious time reinventing the wheel!