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Before I completed my credentialing program, I heard the same advice over and over again.

Have a good organization system. 

When it comes to special education, organization is crucial. Not only are you responsible for teaching little humans, you’re responsible for keeping up with case management and mounds of paperwork.

Have a good organization system, they said. 

Just color code your binders. Create beautiful files. Have a place to store student work.

So, like the good student that I am, I did all those things.

I color coded my binders. And made individual file folders for students that had sub-sections for “Communication,” “Progress Monitoring Data,” and “IEP-Goal-Practice” worksheets. I did what I was told, yet I found that – despite all my efforts – I spent a good 10-15 minutes every day looking for important papers.

Have a good organization system, they said. But what they didn’t tell me was:

Somebody will hand you paperwork in the hallway. You are going to shove that paperwork somewhere and forget that it exists.

 You will jot down an important date on a post-it note. Half an hour later, that post-it note will be covered with papers. OR that post-it will slip off the side of your desk – never to be seen again.

 Your student will have an emotional day and rip up several forms that you were supposed to file away.

You will frantically be looking for something and knock over your cup of coffee which spills ALL over the important papers. 

The truth is that you can be proactive and organize as much as you possibly can. But, when an inclusion teacher is required to be in multiple classrooms across the school, it’s all too common to lose  your supplies, instructional materials, and important paperwork along the way.

Clutter Keeper:

About a year into this gig, I realized that there is no possible way that I will always be able to put things where they belong. Sometimes, I don’t have 2 minutes to spare to hole-punch a paper I receive from a child and file it away. When I lead an intervention group from 1:00-1:30 and then am expected to be in a classroom at 1:30 to serve inclusion minutes, organizing my paperwork takes a backseat.

So, instead of leaving my tabletop a mess or – even worse – wasting valuable time I should be spending with my students, I throw everything into my Clutter Keeper. Even better – I’ve put a “Clutter Keeper” in each of the classrooms that I’m in throughout the day. That way, should I leave something behind, the teachers know to throw the stuff in my “Clutter Keeper.” Eventually, I make my way back there to pick it up.

Sweep The Clutter:

Before I leave work each day, I spend 15 minutes to “sweep the clutter.” I sort through the papers, post-its, and other things I’ve accumulated and put them where they belong.

Sometimes I get through it all. Sometimes I don’t and it’ll have to wait until the next day. Still, since I’ve started using my Clutter Keeper, I’ve found a system that allows me to collect all important documents while not losing my sanity along the way.

Essentially, you can use any ol’ shoebox or milk crate you’ve got lying around. But Amazon and Target also have a wide variety of baskets that work too!

This is a system that works really well for me. It may not work for everyone. But if you’re a special education teacher that is struggling to balance your students with your paperwork, I highly recommend it. This way, you can focus on the part of your job that is the most important: teaching your students.

                    

Questions of the Day:

• What is one organization hack that helps you stay on top of your important documents?