Organisational tips (esp. from teachers!) :)

[PamplemousseRouge]

Hi everyone,

I've just started training as a languages teacher in a secondary school.

I've been looking into lots of different organisational systems, routines and techniques (both for home and for school).

As I'm on half term at the moment, I thought it would be a good opportunity to really get an organisational system going and to stick to it.

In terms of home routines, I've found that batch cooking on a weekend, and freezing these meals to eat during the week, is very helpful. Only started this weekend, but do intend to stick to it :)

I've found things like the Eisenhower matrix really useful (a grid where you prioritise tasks in order of importance and urgency), as well as having folders organised in my school cupboard to keep everything in one place.

I've also seen this website called 'The Together Teacher', which has really useful tips (and a good system for sorting out things like loose papers.)

Any other tips from anyone about home and work organisation (would be very grateful to hear from teachers and non-teachers!) would be really appreciated!

Thank you everyone

YY to looking for worksheets etc online, but I set myself a five minute 'searching limit' and then abandon and make my own - otherwise I spend half an hour searching for something, when I could have started from scratch or tweaked something from someone else in that time.

I have my own classroom base (primary), so have a 6 drawer stacking unit - you could do it with an expanding folder if you don't have a permanent room. One drawer/section per day, and one for "next week". Whenever I print something off I pop it in the correct drawer - it means if I am ill overnight I can easily direct people to the correct work, and also I know that there won't be a problem if the printers/network go down. Obviously sometimes you need to change your plans, but then I put unused sheets into a separate folder and keep them to hand for early finishers/detentions.

Get a popper wallet for the back of an A4 binder (like these). If anyone gives you a memo/letter/random loose piece of paper, put it in here (I have a top loading one to make life even easier). Saves you scrabbling round for a hole-puncher, corralling hundreds of slippery plastic wallets or dropping pieces of paper everywhere.

Get a USB stick (preferably protected/encrypted) and write your name on it in sharpie - if you leave it in a classroom, it is more likely to get back to you.

Biggest thing that saved my organisation in the classroom was to never accept loose pieces of paper from children. If it's coursework, pass out folders and the students put the papers in themselves. Then mark from the folders rather than a pile of paper. (This also encouraged me to mark at school rather than taking it home with the intention of marking, getting distracted by home stuff, and never finishing the marking leading to a feeling of panic the next day.) If it was class work or homework, it should be in the exercise book. If it was a letter from home, it needed to be attached to something relevant - studen planner or exercise book usually.

It meant I most always had a set of exercise books in, but it kept my desk manageable and prevented any whining of 'I turned it in Miss, honest I did' that I simply couldn't verify 100% with a full timetable of overfilled classes. Encouraged me not to hang onto school memos longer than necessary too.

In order to get a good work life balance, I try to use my time at school wisely. I only go to the staff room at break on a Friday, often work through lunch (eating at my desk) and always use non contact time for marking/planning instead of getting distracted.

I'm a languages teacher of 16 years.
I have a folder for each class so that I can keep anything relevant to that class in there and also saves the 'but I gave it to you miss' conversations.
An a5 diary for tutor notes, detentions and meetings, then teacher planner for planning and lesson notes. I colour code this so I don't forget homework deadlines, tests etc, and as soon as i set homework I put a note in my planner on the day it's due. Planning ahead at the end of each lesson as a reminder as well.
I always set out my day the night before with date on the board and all resources on my desk in order they are needed. You never know what emergency there might be in morning and i don't like to be disorganised.
On tables I have a plastic wallet with whiteboards, pens , glue and purple pens for marking which saves time giving things out. I often mark student work in class either as a wholegroup using the purple pens, or individually when they have finished a piece of work. They have to have things marked before they can move on. This helps me keep track of any misconceptions and common errors.
You'll work out your own systems. It far easier the longer you are in teaching as everything takes less time with practice.

Instead of a mouse mat I have a mouse 'paper pad' which has sections for notes on, it's really handy!

Also. Prepare one generic lesson for each class and label it prominently.

When you wake up one morning feeling utterly ill, you will be thrilled to bits with yourself that you can ring in and say where the cover is.

Agree with writing in homework in the planner when it's due. It's so easy to forget.

Never get into conversation away from this planner about when it's due in. Kids will stop you in the canteen, in a corridor, in bloody Sainsbury's to ask you when homework is due in. Never commit - chances are you won't remember - they catch you on the hop and then before you know it next lesson Jimmy pipes up "but miss you told me in the corridor the test was next Thursday not this Thursday so I told everyone ..."

I think a PP'S advice to work through break and lunch is a mistake for a new teacher. Opportunity to talk to the rest of the staff is invaluable and the staff room at break or lunch is a good time. You'll see that everyone has frustrations and pupils/classes they struggle with and you'll pick up tips as well.
I also find I work better if I have regular breaks, but I guess that's a personal thing.

Yes ti a different folder for each class. I move classrooms a lot so can just grab the ones I need.

Get kids to hand in books open on the last place they are marked. Saves lots of time.

Hand in assessments in alphabetical order.

Get kids to read out scores or marks as the lesson register rather than writing them down while marking.

I have a timetable for my marking and planning too. I work three days, have four classes (teach English). All planning is done on a Wednesday, all resources for week ahead emailed to reprographics to pick up on a Monday morning after staff briefing (it's the opposite side of school). Key stage three books ate marked on Mondays, alternating Y8 and Y9. Key stage 4 are marked on a Thursday, alternating Y10 and Y11. This means if they needle time, I can take them home over the weekend. I have a double free on the afternoon I take in my Y11 books as they ate a big class and write lots. I stay at school each day I work till everything is done generally so I don't have to bring much home.

However. This has taken me a good few years to get your. As a trainee, it is going to take you longer to do things. Use your department resources and TES as much as possible so you are not reinventing the wheel. I remember spending four hours planning a single lesson, in tears, in my training year. It will improve! Good luck!

Thank you so much everyone!!! Your moral support and advice is seriously amazing could you all come to my school to give me a masterclass with the advice from this thread?

If anyone has any more advice to add about home and work/school organisation, again please contribute

One home routine that sounds so basic, but is easily overlooked - every weekend, check everyone in the house has clean underwear for the week ahead. I sort out work outfits for me too, but I only wear dresses so it's just a matter of counting to 5! If something happens (cough OFSTED cough) the last thing you want to do is try and fit in a wash.

The comment on page one about marking during lesson?

Joke?

Our Headteacher would go ballistic if he caught me doing this with a class of kids waiting to be taught. Even if they are silently working, we're expected to walk around, and not be sat down.

PPA and home is the only place I mark!

I could be better organised so maybe I am not the best person. However I do tend to be ahead of work.

Get in early. I find a full hour before school really useful. The photocopier is nearly always free then, too.

Individual folders for classes.

I keep my 'mark book' on Excel. It includes registers, seating plans, cognitive tests and SEN. This really helps me spot where pupils need extra support or are not performing.

Forward plan in quiet times. This will help you when the shit hits the fan.

And, when all else fails, a textbook IS a lesson plan!

Oh,and report writing, little and often. Start well in advance.

Sign and date in book margins every time you give verbal feedback- and get kids to write a comment too. Some marking can take place as you are helping students getting on with tasks - as you look at work with students you can do some ticking/SPAG correcting feedback straight away is more powerful- but as a new teacher don't let that distract too much from keeping your eye on the class!

YY to planning lessons on one long PowerPoint- I have a set of slides that I c&p and put different content in. It's good to end up with a massive long PowerPoint with a term's worth of lessons, then resources labelled "image lesson 1/worksheet lesson 12 etc" in a file on the computer.

DH is a teacher, we have two very messy DC and I have ASD so need routine and organisation to keep me sane.

We use a lot of tips off these two threads - they're four years old but they're firmly stuck to my watched list!

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/1451448-LITTLE-things-that-help-keep-you-organised

Favourite thread 2

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/amibeing_unreasonable/1373827-to-ask-how-you-become-organised-and-together-Seriously-how

I'm now going to watch this and see what tips I can add to my collection

Have one folder for random bits of paper you get given at meetings/find in your pigeon hole. Anything that isn't related to your classes/teaching file in there so when you are told to bring X piece of paper to a meeting that was given out a couple of weeks ago you know where to find it. (I used to be the one passing mine to be photocopied as others had filed their's in the bin!)
Meal plan every week. I'm lucky and have a huge chest freezer so I batch cook in the holidays and fill it right up so do very little cooking in term time.
Online shopping is also your friend!
Only bring home work you know you can easily manage and make sure you do something for you everyday whether it is read for 30 minutes, watch a favourite TV show etc.

If you are not going to be in the same classroom all of the time invest in some sort of trolley/shopping basket on wheels to save your back.
Have a large well stocked pencil case with pens, pencils, board pens, and also some spare paper as if you move from room to room you can guarantee you won't be able to find anything. A decent sized water bottle and thermal mug with lid are also great investments!

I too would get bollocked if I was caught doing marking during a lesson. Surely that's what evenings are for ?!

Work out what works best for you. I'm an electronic person and hate filing cabinets full of sheets. I keep everything on the school network and/or my USB sheet and print when needed. I have an A5 planner which just lists what the class will be doing each lesson and when h/w is due etc. but everything else is tracked electronically. I take this to and from school usually. I like someone else on here just cart piles of marking home and then bring them back again in the same state or bashed about, maybe with a tea ring on the top one. I used to stay until 7 pm most nights and get the majority of my marking and planning done at school as I'm incapable of working at home. I'm dreading going back to work after maternity leave as the nursery I've signed dd up to closes at 5 so I will have to take work home. I tend to try and switch off when home and don't talk to my husband about work as it just makes me think of all the things I could be doing. To completely contradict myself though I do check my emails before bed and sort them and reply to most so it's one less thing to do the next morning. I'm not a morning person though!

I have spent many hours searching TES for suitable resources and not found what I've been looking for. Part of that is me just getting distracted. Usually it's just quicker for me to make a resource myself as a lot of them seem to be a bit crap.

Do not get into the routine of chatting for ages after the last lesson or at lunch. Use that time to scoff something down or work. My department is near the staff room so I do go to the staff room every day for a cup of tea at break time. I couldn't do that at my last school and it makes a massive difference to my morale. Oh, talking of morale, do NOT become friends with moaners! They will bring you down. Everyone in my department is a moaner and it's a miserable existence.

Chocolate.

Don't be afraid to go with the flow when necessary. Sometimes a lesson just starts going very very wrong so don't be afraid to abandon the lovely activity you spent hours preparing for if it's just not working.

Treat yourself to nice stationery.

Add all parent's evenings, open evenings, term dates etc. in your personal diary so you don't double book yourself.

This never worked for me but it works for some... get up early on Saturday to get your work over and done with so you can actually enjoy your weekend. Or alternatively be like me and leave it until Sunday afternoon and do it in a rush. I used to spend the majority of school holidays staring at the piles of marking or sat in front of my computer, but getting practically nothing done feeling very guilty and wasting lovely holiday time. If I'm not physically in school I cannot work effectively unless I'm approaching a deadline. I always thought I'd grow out of that bad habit but I never did!

Apologies for any typos, I'm on my phone.

I have homework and due dates written in a whiteboard in my classroom, so the kids can look at it there rather than ask me. It'seems in their planners as well of course but stops the constant questions!

I often use the same activities within each lesson in a week, just changing the vocab /focus depending on language /topic -helps finding inspiration! If you know you are going to have to do work at home that eve, I also find emailing myself things I need to deal with in the eve to my private email address (nothing with confidential info on it) to save me opening school emails at home. This saves you getting stressed /worried about things you can't deal with at 9pm; opening school email at home causes sleepless nights.

I take a photo of what I've written on my boards during class discussions (primary). It's a great reminder of where we were heading/next steps & saves on writing up notes all the time. Coloured slim folders for each subject where I keep resources/lesson ideas, all stored upright in a box so easy to find. Filing goes in the front of a box with pupil folders in, they file it themselves.

Thank so much everyone for your fantastic advice!

Any more for any more? Just want to see if anyone else has any tips or ideas they'd like to add on here! :)

And thanks so much Flisspaps for your thread recommendations - I'll definitely have a look at them.