How to be organized. I don't mean my classroom and school supplies. I mean my teacher desk!
I was so disorganized my first year of teaching, I'm afraid I lost quite a few pieces of paperwork. Or I thought I lost them and found them months later.
One thing that I lacked in my college education was the knowledge that teachers deal with A LOT of paperwork. I never had a specific organization system my first year teaching because I didn't realize how much paper would be literally swimming on my desk! I would put aside paperwork from the office, and tell myself, "I just have to remember that the paper is here". About 2 months later, I found it again. It was BAD!
So, second year of teaching, I decided to try to make my desk a little bit more organized. What did I do?
1) Sticky notes- I used these so much. Usually when I had to remember to do something, especially paperwork, I would write it on my post-it note and put it on my computer monitor. Since I was on the computer checking emails and taking attendance for a large part of the day, I would always see the reminder and I would do it before I left my classroom that day.
2) Folders- If I had more than one paper, I would put them in a folder and label the folder. I had book ends that I put on my desk for some of my books, and I would put my folders in there. I usually tried to color code the folders as well.
3) Cups- Use cups, tins or cup like containers for paper clips, pens, pencils, and other little office supplies that you keep around on your desk. It's better to have a designated spot than to have them all over the place. I would keep rubber bands in your desk. Kids have a tendency to use rubber bands as weapons (sling shots), and it would be best to have them in a place that a student wouldn't go to usually.
The most important thing you can do, is clean up after yourself and organize your papers everyday. It's better to do it a little at a time, than wait for it to become a huge mountain of paperwork. Designate a time each day that you can go through your paperwork and clean up your area. It helps a ton!
I am NO professional when it comes to keeping my room super-clean and organized, BUT, I think that your teacher desk can say a lot about you. By keeping your desk more organized, you're more likely to have a better relationship with the office staff because you can get stuff that they need, and you won't be as frustrated when you try to find what you need.
If you have a better idea for organizing your desk, feel free to let me know! I am willing to take suggestions!
True words. I wondered for a minute why they never taught us a class like this in college, but maybe the rationale is that you can't teach certain people to be organized, and some will be organized no matter if you teach them or not. They should have had it as an optional thing... or a workshop. That would've been nice.
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