Organization

Entire books and websites are devoted to getting organized. They exist because organization of plans, materials, and time leads to successful management of your day, whether you’re a first–year teacher or a veteran. When you don’t plan well, too much time and energy is lost on daily tasks. Alleviate problems before they start by building your management plan on a foundation of organization. Daily tasks

Prepare all lesson handouts, manipulatives, and materials before class, placing them where they are easily accessible during instruction.

Put up a morning assignment for students to begin shortly after entering the classroom.

Post the day’s schedule to give students a heads-up on the day’s activities and include an inspirational quote or cartoon to establish the classroom mood.

Jot down observations about individual students throughout the day to add to their records later.

Assign set routines to students.

Long-standing tasks

Establish an efficient procedure for collecting and distributing papers and supplies. It may be a set routine or student-assigned task (see Student Jobs); it just needs to be orderly enough to become routine.

Designate a drop-off zone for homework and a pick-up place for important papers, such as centrally located “In” and “Out” baskets.

Create individual student mailboxes for the delivery of important papers.

Use take-home folders for homework and papers, especially for younger students (also see Homework).

Create individual student files for work samples, important notes, papers, observations, and other student documentation. Log and date each representative item as well as any communication to and from parents and administrators regarding the student.

Develop an attendance monitoring system. Calling out names lets you greet students individually, while having them sign in allows you to focus on other tasks.