Getting Organized

Everyone has a style. This is definitely not my style, but it works for some people.

The phone rings as I'm sifting through papers. I catch a glimpse of a post-it note reminding me of a meeting that was apparently scheduled in the morning. I pick up the phone and listen to a lecture from the school counselor about why it's important for me to go to my duty station on the assigned week. Apparently I had missed it. "Aha," I remark in the middle of her well-reasoned, psychologically enhanced monologue. I had found the poem I was going to read aloud. By now, students are walking around, whispering, throwing papers. There is a line of students asking about papers they had turned in but never recieved them back. "You're supposed to do that?" I thought. I didn't have the heart to ask them to search the trash can next to my desk. It was my third week of teaching and my lack of organizational skills were actually making me an irresponsible teacher.

So, here is what I came up with. I'm not sure if it would work for others, but it has helped me immensely. Again, I am not the most organized person, but this has at least helped me get there.

Paper Trail – For more detail, visit Paper Trail
In hanging file folders in my file cabinet, I keep track of other paperwork. These include field trips, referrals, positive note home templates, etc. At the front of this cabinet is my inbox and outbox. In the inbox, I put all the mail that I get (when I'm in the lounge, I quickly throw away anything that is not important) and in the outbox, I put all the mail that I need to turn in

Communication
I check e-mails twice a day and keep folders with labels such as "Health Insurance," "Parental Communication," "Committee Work," etc.
I check my voice mail once a day. With both the e-mails and the voice mails, I keep a log of parental communication on a spreadsheet, so that I can document them as interventions.
I keep an updated phone list in one place on my computer. This way, I am not looking through stacks of post-it notes. Fortunately, our amazing secretary constantly sends updated phone lists.

Time
At the beginning of the year, I ask for students' birthdays and I place them on my calendar on the computer. I then try and give a birthday card and candy bar on each students' birthday. I also add to this calendar the information from all of the calendars we recieve - the duty schedule, curriculum maps, the testing days, vacation schedules, department meetings, professional development - the list continues. Keeping it all in one place has allowed me to avoid double-booking and missing important information.