Organization - Idea

This idea came from two of my teammates this past year. It is a great organization idea that I didn't implement until the end of the year and I was surprised at how much it made a difference.

They both put together a notebook that they use exclusively for staff meetings. They put it on their desk and grab it each time they have to go to a meeting. They take notes in it and then they can refer back to the book when they need information for our weekly newsletter or if they forgot what date they have to finish a task by.

Shockingly I am not that organized when it comes to meetings (or filing...but that is just a hideous task right up there with dusting). I just grab some lined paper while I am running out the door to the meeting and promptly loose the paper I wrote everything down on :) This system seemed doable and the only thing I had to do was train myself to put the book in the same place every time I got back from the meeting so I didn't loose it among my papers I had to file (ha!). Black wasn't a good color choice...since I have so many black composition books in the classroom. This year I would get one that stood out a bit more.

They also used the book to store their multitude of passwords that we have as teachers (BrainPop, Discovery Education, StarReading, AR system, Compass, PowerSchool, websites, etc.). I thought this was great because I ALWAYS forget my password to programs I didn't use a lot. I know it is a no-no to write passwords down but with my memory going with age it has been very helpful (you will have decide the benefit to risk ratio for your situation....I never put anything in there that I don't mind my team knowing).

When setting mine up for the coming year I am also going to add a copy of the school calendar for the year (the master one off our district website) and a blank calendar (that you can run off on publisher). There is always a spot in our meeting where we have to consult a calendar of some kind and it would be nice to have one on hand. Sometimes our meetings are extensive and a calendar can be pulled out to do some lesson planning during those meetings that "never seem to end."

I was also playing with the idea of getting a larger three or five subject notebook to accomplish the same task. We have a BOAT LOAD of meetings and I could use the dividers to quickly identify information. We have team meetings, technology meetings, staff meetings, literacy meetings, math meetings, etc.

I'll post an update with pictures of my book once I get it set up for the coming year.