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Monday, July 1, 2013

Homework Organization

Being a teacher means you have to be extremely organized.  At least, I think so.  My room HAS to be neat, otherwise I go crazy.  Each year teaching I have morphed into a more organized person (at least I like to think so).  With 10 and 11 year olds, they NEED to see a model of organization to help THEM to be organized.  I know I always have 1 or 2 students with papers literally exploding from all corners of their desks or bins...but I digress.  Ugh.  Sometimes there is no hope...(or energy on my part).

So let me talk about a couple things that keep my homework center organized. I'm linking up with Kristen at Ladybug Teaching Files (love, love, love her ideas!!!) to share my simple homework management strategy. 


I used to have students turn in all their homework into a bin and I'd spend my special time sorting it out, checking off names, figuring out who DIDN'T put their name on their paper, and poof!  My planning period would be over and I accomplished...well...not that much.  So I knew I'd have to find a better way.  
I bought this from Really Good Stuff and put it in the front of my room where my students check in/sharpen pencils/pick their lunch.  I wrote each of their names on a pocket and viola! An instant          Homework Center.  



I actually had to buy another pocket chart that is half the size of the one above to accommodate all of my students.  Last year I had 17 students (a dream! I'm used to having 23-25) and next year I have 18.  I had to get this one: 

I just put them next to each other..no big deal.  In the morning, my students turn in their homework in their pocket.  Simple, done.  From my desk, I can easily look and see who's homework is missing.  Even better, I have a "homework checker" collect the homework in order (I assign numbers alphabetically).  If a student forgets their name, I can tell who it is because of where their paper is in alphabetical order.  No more advertising "Who's paper is this?" or analyzing handwriting.  

I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier.  It's easy, effective, and such a time saver.  

There ya go! My homework routine! It's not perfect, and I'm sure there's still ways it could be improved, but it works for me and I love it!

Happy organizing!
Kristin

2 comments:

  1. Pocket charts save so much time and headaches, don't they? Thanks for linking up with us :)

    Elizabeth
    Fun in Room 4B

    ReplyDelete

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