Let's Get Organized! Binder Covers and Spines {My summer project}

Welcome back to the Café!

My spring break is quickly coming to an end {sniff, sniff} and my week has been semi-productive {considering the NC pollen has had me down a few days}. I was in the mood to get some things organized here around the house and I also finished my project Binder Covers and Spines for Many Reasons and Seasons.  This is my newest summer project! Like I said in an earlier post, I feel like my life is one big project. :-)

This binder and spine pack contains 129 {It started as 120, then I found myself adding a few more here and there. Looks like I could've made one more to round it to an even 130. :-)}

When I made these binder covers I was thinking about common themes and topics I {and other elementary teachers} use often. Within each binder you can also create sub-categories with page dividers if necessary.

 As you can see from the picture above, many of my files are still in file folders. Talk about UNORGANIZED! Whew! It's time for me to get busy getting these files in order.

Below are some examples of the binders and spines found in this pack.

A complete list of the binder covers in this pack can be found here.

I didn't put borders on the spines because, although some binders are said to be 1 inch, 2 inches, etc., the spines are sometimes hard to fit. I've had to trim many spines with cute borders to fit certain binders, which caused the cute border to not be so cute anymore. :-(

So, to make it easier, I made these spines that could be trimmed to fit {without having to cut a border}. 

One trick I use to help keep my materials organized is to use a yellow highlighter and write a big "M" across my master copies before I hole punch them and file them in their binder. Using the neon yellow highlighter doesn't show up when photocopied! It MUST be a neon yellow highlighter, though. I've tried yellow markers before and they sometimes show up with a light gray mark. This is also good for creating keys for tests.

I hope this post has been helpful and has you motivated to get organized!

One more thing...as I'm cleaning out the duplicate papers from my file folders I put them in a plastic container. I use them as a "work for fun" basket and students can choose what they want to work on if they need something to do. I also put extra papers that I've photocopied throughout the year in this container. If my pile is big, at the end of the year I'll let the kids choose papers to take home for the summer.

Thanks for stopping by the Crazy Critter Café. Feel free to share your favorite classroom organization tips in the comments below!