I survived my first day of school as a teachers aide! I came home exhausted but aware of the fact that I have to be more organized at home than I have ever been if I want to juggle everything successfully. To that end, I decided yesterday I was going to work on how I store homework and classwork throughout the year.
My proven method worked until last year. Having both boys in elementary school meant a dramatic increase in paper, and it was no longer easy to pull out what I needed when discrepancies arose. There was too much stuff, and I was getting bad about discarding the items that weren’t graded. In Nico’s case, it seemed like everything had a grade.
[I keep all graded assignments, classwork, and tests until the final report card for that trimester. This has been fabulous for those times where grades were entered incorrectly or assignments were marked missing. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, I’m glad to have the backup I need before I question the boys or the teacher.]
This year I am straight-up copying my friend Susan. She makes Martha Stewart look disorganized, so when she says a system works for her, I feel pretty confident in appropriating it as my own and doing no further research.
This is what she does.
I couldn’t find two accordion files–Susan uses the big ones with the handles–so I bought two Martha Stewart accordions on clearance. I figured if the smaller size doesn’t work, paying rock bottom for the files wouldn’t hurt as much. And I can always re-purpose them, too.
Here is how I set up Mikey’s accordion. Because these accordions are smaller, I doubled up every month except for the beginning and the end of the school year. Nico’s doesn’t have the student handbook file since only one of those goes home, so I don’t know how, or if, I’m going to use the last pocket.
I’ll give an update in a few months on how they are working for us.
I have to try this (or another system) because the onslaught of paper has hit us already. I like the idea of saving until the grades are recorded and the fact that the accordion file puts limits on storage.
This is perfect timing! I was literally just saying, ‘I’m not looking forward to the barrage of paper when school starts next week.’ I have yet to find something that works, is easy & that I can keep accessible. This looks perfect. THANK YOU!! wooo hooo!
by the way, Congrats on the first day of being an aide :)
I like this idea. I’ve got three kids in three different schools this year. To be honest, I’ve never needed to contest a kid’s grade, but with one kid entering jr. high, it could happen. I’ve used both magazine file boxes and wall pocket files (one per child), but neither was very organized. The only thing that saved the system is that I have become fairly ruthless about recycling papers that come home. The only stumbling block I see is that I’m better about filing things into open containers. Maybe I should get those open file boxes instead of the accordion file that closes.
I was an aide for the second half of last school year, and I loved it. Mostly, I led small reading groups or assisted specific kids who needed support. They didn’t need as many aides this year, so now I am working part-time in the front office. Fortunately, I still see lots of kids and it’s lovely to already know their names. Also, I am finally learning (slowly) how to use spreadsheets, and I’m finding it strangely exciting. I guess I just like being at school. I hope you continue to love it, too!
I absolutely love your blog! I can’t remember when I stumbled upon it, but from the moment I read your post about how you arrived at this place (paying for your cabinets with your sick child in grandma’s arms and realizing no cabinets were worth it), I was hooked. Every time I need inspiration or insight or understanding, I head on over here and find just the message I need. I just read your post about turning 39, and wow, did that ever hit home. Thank you for sharing your heart, humour, and wisdom with us. Keep up the great work!