Wrapping Up The Year

Whew! Just 15 school days left and that includes vehicle day, field day, awards ceremony, and who knows what else I'm forgetting! Just like every other teacher, my schedule is packed. I think I have 3 IEP meetings just in the next week.

I've been thinking about what I can do to help myself be more organized next year. We only get one post-planning day, so I have to make the best of it or else come in over the summer. Also, my partner and I are planning to take down our wall for next year and fully co-teach in a double room. We already mix and swap kids a good part of the day, so we're ready to jump in with both feet. I'll really have to get organized though. I don't think she'll fully appreciate my rotating piles system! lol

This past year we both used Christina Bainbridge's HORSE folder idea. I really love it but I'm going to pare it down a little bit.  Unfortunately, most of my parents never once wrote in the parent/teacher communication section, so I think I'll leave that out next year. Here's how I'm going to do them...

First, I adore the "Saddle Bag" idea and plan to use better quality zippered pouches. I used the cheap clear plastic ones from Walmart this year and they didn't hold up well. The "zipper" broke on all of them. Next year I'm getting something like this...

You can get them for $1 at the Dollar Tree and they have actual metal zippers on them. Putting these in the students' daily folders is a brilliant idea! Notes to and from parents, lunch money, permission slips, book orders, etc. all go in the "Saddle Bag" and they don't get lost on the way. 

The next section of my folders is going to be where students record their progress on things like fluency, math facts, and maybe Reading Counts points. It will be a page that looks something like this...

Behind this page will be a section of help pages for the kids. Things like sight word lists, math facts, and other things they need to practice at home. I'll put those in page protectors to keep them nice all year.

Finally, at the very end will be the Friday Notes section. I plan to make them all up ahead of time, 2 to a page, and then I just have to check them off on Friday.

Now, why am I thinking about all of this now? One simple word... INTERN. That's right; my handy dandy intern is going to put these folders together for me now. When school starts in August, all I have to do is write the students names on them. I'm even going to have her make up a few extras for kids I might get throughout the year.

Well I planned to talk about other ways I'm wrapping up the year but I've spent all this time just talking about folders. I'll have to write part 2 at another time. But here's a little giveaway to celebrate the end of the year (it starts tonight at midnight)...

One person will win my set of End of the Year Classroom Award Certificates and my Student Memory Book.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!!

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