Stop Reinventing the Wheel

Are you, like many teachers, creating new activities year after year? The curriculum that schools provide is frequently inadequate, but creating new activities requires extra time that you may not have. How can you save time? Organization! Here is a two-prong approach to organizing your curriculum. You’ll need to create at least two copies of each activity for organizing purposes, since, as you’ll find out, each prong of this approach involves its own storage location.

Categorizing by Standards

Start with a filing drawer or a crate and begin organizing by looking over the standards. Analyze them to see if there are any that you would wish to separate into sub categories. If you want to break the standard into smaller categories, this will increase the number of folders you need. Each folder in your filing system should represent a different standard or broken down part of a standard.

After you have looked over the standards and broken them down as you wish, gather the appropriate number of file folders and create your labels.  As you create labels, come up with a few key words from the standard to place on the label (unless you already know what each standard says and can simply use identifiers). Only using a few key words will allow you to locate the appropriate folder quickly.

Whenever you make a new activity, place the instructions or handout in the corresponding standard folder. If an activity covers multiple standards, you have two options as to what to do with it:

• Create multiple copies of the activity and place them in each corresponding folder  

• Determine which standard the activity greater represents and only place it in that file folder

Categorizing by standards is particularly helpful for math, science, and social studies teachers since, in these subjects, activities often focus on only one standard at a time. Reading teachers can also benefit from this side of the organization system, particularly when they are reinforcing skills.

Keeping Your Curriculum in Chronological Order

Putting items in chronological order is the second way to organize your curriculum. Though teachers never know what the next year may hold, if you are given the same classes to teach the next year, it is highly beneficial to be able to look back at what you taught the previous year and in what order.  

To prepare to organize your curriculum chronologically, grab a large binder, several dividers, and a packet of sheet protectors. Separate all of your units from one another by adding new dividers with appropriate titles. Then, place your lesson plans for the first week in a sheet protector immediately behind the first divider. Next, clip in all corresponding documents in chronological order for that week. This can include any notes that went with the individual lesson.

Every week, add in a new sheet protector with the lesson plans. Sheet protectors not only protect your materials, but they also clearly divide your binder into weeks. You may find it helpful to place a month-view calendar at the beginning of the binder or each unit for a quick reference. Creating this calendar on colored paper will make it easy to find in your binder.

Chronologically ordered binders are especially beneficial when you are trying to plan out lessons over a long period of time. Reading teachers may find this method helpful as they schedule out plans for novels and projects. Potentially, this organizational method can allow you to simply copy a week’s worth of lessons from the previous year, which can save you a lot of time.

As the new semester approaches, consider making organizing your materials a priority. You’ll save yourself so much time in the years to come by keeping careful track of all the curriculum your create. If you have some organizational tips, share them with the Lesson Planet Community.