Getting Organized for a New Semester

We are in the middle of first semester exams, so as a teacher I am doing double duty and not only marking exams but also looking ahead to get organized for second semester. Right now I am heading into a new semester where 2 out of 3 courses are going to be new for me, so I am gearing up for a busy semester and hoping to keep myself organized along the way. Over the last couple of years I have found a system that works pretty well but I'm also trying something new. Google Keep has done a great job at keeping my organized over the last couple of years and the new thing that I am trying this semester is simplifying my binder system.

Google Keep

My board is lucky enough to be a GAFE board so my Google Keep account is linked to my work email but if you don't have one of those you can use any GMail address to do this (I have a personal Google Keep account too). Google Keep is essentially digital sticky notes (they are a bit more complex than that but I don't get too complicated with my notes). I use it mostly as a to do list for me, but my organization of that to do list is what makes it work for me.

I have 4-5 main lists. I have one for each of the courses I'm teaching (3 in total), one that is labelled "Morning List", one for "Contact" and you could add one for each club/team/extracurricular you are involved in.

Morning List: My morning list is a very specific list of tasks that NEED to be completed today (I guess I should have called it a Today list). I use this to organize/prioritize my time. I am quite forgetful and sometimes forget in the morning what I need to do for the day so this gets me going right away. I also use this to force me to finish tasks by the end of the day. I share this list with my personal GMail account so that if I remember something as I am laying in bed I can add it for my morning task list. Here is a link which shows you how to share your Keep list.

Course Lists: These lists are not for immediate tasks but things that need to be done in the next week or ideas I have for a certain course. Most times tasks will shift from these lists to the immediate to do list when it becomes urgent, but the plan is to get things done before they are urgent! I also use this as a spot to record when I have talked to a student about something like "Jimmy is going to be away for Test 2", these are also conversations that I sometimes forget about!

Contact List: I started this list this semester and like it. I use this as a list of parents that I need to contact. I like it because I usually mark at night and when I finish marking I always look to see if there were any drastic changes in marks (which I should contact home about). This way I can make my list of names and make a note so that when I call home I have all the info I need. (I'm also trying a new system of recording my phone calls home in a Google Sheet, so maybe another post in the future).

Above you can see a snapshot of my lists (a bit in-flux right now since I am between semesters). Some other neat things that you can do is colour code the notes (I like my morning list to jump out at me). You can also "pin" a list to the top so it will always be displayed first. The only issue with this is that it separates that one from the rest and you have to scroll down to see the rest, more an annoyance that I like. You can also click and drag them around to reorganize them. There are many other tips and tricks if you search around.

Binders, Binders and More Binders

As a teacher I need to make sure that I keep attendance records, grade record sheets, Individual Education Plans and other important information with me all the time. Up until now I have been using one 1" binder for each course I teach. I liked this system for a while but now I have ran into a few issues. I have taken a binder home at night to record marks once I am done marking tests but I take the wrong class home. I also find myself leaving one in my office instead of my classroom, or the opposite, whenever I need it. To simplify this I am adopting a new system of ONE BINDER. I am going to cling to the binder with all my life!  I am also stopping to record my contact home on paper so I am going to reduce my needed paper, so I think that one 1" binder should be able to handle my attendance and grade recording sheets for all three classes. Here's hoping... or maybe this is going to be one of those things that I change again next year.