Baton teachers and coaches often teach at a multitude of locations with multiple classes and staying organized can be a challenge for even the most experienced teacher. Today, we're sharing how we stay prepared and organized for our classes with a teaching binder.
First, I use this binder that I order off of Amazon:
https://amzn.to/3s5pr7e
It's inexpensive and comes in fun colors.
In my binder, my first page is my vision board. Vision boards are a collection of photos and words that visually represent your goals and what you are working towards. I created my vision board in Canva and put it as my first page in my binder. This visually reminds me of what my purpose and goals are for myself.
Immediately following my vision board, I have our curriculum. I use page protectors to protect my documents. Here's a link to the page protectors that I use:
https://amzn.to/3F3LMXY
I like this Amazon brand because it is thick enough that it doesn't rip or tear throughout the year. I keep all 7 levels of our curriculum in my binder so that I can always access that information should I need some inspiration about what to teach.
After my curriculum, I keep a copy of games and activities download. I typically plan for my classes while I waiting to pick up my kids from school on Monday afternoons. By keeping both the curriculum and games and activities download in my binder, I can easily plan for the entire week when I am sitting in my car.
Following the games and activities, I keep quite a few of the class downloads that we have on our Teacher Resources page. I don't always use these activities but they are nice to have on the occasion where I have only a couple of students in class or I need the kids to do independent practice. I keep about 10 copies of my favorite practice sheets. My personal favorites are:
In the front pocket of the binder, I keep an assortment of stickers that I give to students and in a zippered bag in my binder, I keep lots of pens, a measuring tape, tennis tape for batons, a package of gum, mints and lotion.
I also keep a clipboard that isn't attached to my binder but I keep it inside my binder and I keep my attendance rosters and lesson plans for the month on the clipboard. Personally, I love having those 2 things on something that I can quickly grab and can also quickly write a note or two on it while in class.
I plan for my classes using this worksheet:
Feel free to use this worksheet by clicking on the link above and then choose "Save A Copy."
And, that is about all that I keep in my binder. Do you keep different things in your binder? Please share what you keep in yours!