August 7, 2012

Teacher Binder and B2S Freebies


Well, I was only able to get one wall painted yesterday at school.  As all my wonderful readers suggested, blue was the winning color.  The head custodian even found me two different blues to choose from.  I'm heading back today to finish up the other wall and start putting furniture into place. I will post pictures soon!

In other news...

I finished another project this week... my teacher binder! Hooray!


I am using the same 1" binder from last year. I just upgraded the cover.  Do you recognize the paper?  Yup, it is the same paper I used for my back to school bookmarks. I used free frames from 3AM Teacher and just cut and glued to make my cover and page dividers.


I really like using scrapbooking paper because I save SO MUCH on printer ink.  Plus, it is thick so it really holds up.  I'm a pretty big fan.   I have 8 sections for my teacher notebook.

1) Meeting Notes - Used mostly for meeting doodles and jotting down important dates.  I just put regular old notebook paper behind this tab.

2) Lesson Plans - We have a template in Word that our whole team uses and print out week by week. 

3) Parent Contact - This is where I document any communication with a parent through notes, emails, phone, or conference. I use the Parent/Teacher Communication Log below.  There is a lot of space for notes and a quick reference name and phone number at the bottom.
To download your own copy for FREE, click here to visit my TN store.

4) Student Data - All my pretty excel graphs and charts go here.

5) Instructional Planning Guide - We are given an IPG by our district, so I print and use as reference.

6) Instructional Tools - I keep a wide variety of things here.  Basically, anything that I think would be helpful to reference during planning.  For example, I have a sheet on Blooms questioning stems, a reading level correlation chart, learning modality information, and other information sheets.

7) Student Info - This is where I keep my Parent/Guardian Confidential Questionnaire.  I send this home with students on the first day of school and ask parents to take a few days to fill it out.  It has all the basic contact questions, but it also helps you get to know that student outside of the classroom.

Questions include what the child loves to do, special abilities, feelings about school, areas of confidence, areas of struggles, etc.  There is also a place for parents to write about any special concerns they have for their child in the upcoming year.  I often receive very valuable feedback on these forms including medical and family information which helps me get to know more about the child, the family, and life at home.

Front
Back

To download your own copy for FREE, click here to visit my TN store. This questionnaire has been invaluable to me over the years.  If there was only one thing I could send home all year, this would be it.  I hope you find it just as helpful. 

8) Year at a Glance - Another reference for year long planning from my district.

This is the first year I have been so specific with my different binder sections.  I'm hoping that it helps me stay organized.  Did I miss anything?  What else do you all put in your teacher binders?  Any other forms you simply can not live without? 


11 comments:

  1. I love your teacher binder! I need to work on mine and finish it ASAP!!! :) Have a great day!!! :-)

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  2. I love that you use scrapbook paper for your teacher binder. I'm definitely going to borrow that ides, thanks!!! I love how much "stuff" you have in your teacher binder. I think I need to create one mega-binder instead of the half a dozen that I have. Enjoy your last little bits of summer!!!

    :) Nicole
    Tadpole Tidbits
    www.mrscorbitt.blogspot.com

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  3. I think we have the same sections in our teacher binders. The only other tab I can think of that I have is a place for PLC Meeting notes. We meet in PLC group so I wanted a designated place for those notes. I like the instructional tools tab...I never know what to do with all those papers we get that I am afraid to throw away.

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  4. Great minds think alike. I just blogged about my binder a few days ago AND I used scrapbook paper as well! Yours is adorable and I like the parent/teacher communication part. I think I need to add that.

    Laurie
    Chickadee Jubilee

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  5. Brilliant! Thanks for sharing!!

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  6. I like your teacher binder. In the past I have kept most of these things in separate locations but my goal this year is to be more organized so I am combining everything into one binder except for student data. I need a much larger binder for that. Thanks for sharing.

    Katrina
    Teacherofscholars.blogspot.com

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  7. I just found your blog recently and I keep coming back! Love the idea of using scrapbook paper... especially since the color ink level in my printer right now is Sad City. I'm going to "borrow" this idea too. Thanks for posting it! :)

    Also, thanks for the freebies. I'm going over to check them out now.

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  8. Man I really want to paint my portable, but it has mostly carpet walls, so I am not sure what I would be painting exactly... hmmm... maybe just painting my door. I need something new for sure.

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  9. I am getting ready for back to school, and I am in love with the idea of a teacher binder. It's only my second year, so I have a lot to learn still. I hadn't thought of the "Instructional Tools" section. I am definitely going to use that!

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    Replies
    1. Oh yay! I'm so glad you can add to your own binder. :)

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Thank you for taking a moment to share your thoughts!