Organization for Special Education Teachers

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Organization is extremely important, particularly for special education teachers. Being organized will save you time and frustration in the long run. The problem areas, at least for me, are keeping assigned student work and completed student work from taking over my desk. That's what we'll focus on in this article.

ASSIGNED WORK

None of the students in my classroom do the exact same assignments--they are just too far apart developmentally. What's appropriate for a 4th grade student with the developmental level of a baby, isn't going to be appropriate for a 7th grade student who is able to do 2nd or 3rd grade level work. Getting all of this work organized takes a lot of time. Over the years I've tried a lot of different ways to organize. None of them worked as well as the one I'm using now.

To keep this mass of individual work organized, I get one hanging file folder for each student and put all of the folders in a plastic crate. The crate is kept in a centralized location. Into the folders goes the assigned work. I copy worksheets or assignments on a similar topic and staple them into a workbook. The kids work through the workbooks in their file folders a page or two at a day. The workbooks may last two weeks or up to the entire quarter. They are not meant to be completed at the end of each week. Doing the workbook system saves time in the long run because I don't have to scramble to come up with assignments for each student every single day.

What Didn't Work: In the past I've tried giving each student a notebook with dividers for each subject. Every weekend I would end up at school copying work for the following week and putting them into the notebooks. This got old really fast.

When I had only 3 or 4 students, I could get away with assigning individual worksheets every day. The downside of this is that it doesn't work well with more than a few students and papers tended to get lost easily.

Of all the systems for organizing student work, the crate system really meets all of my needs. I like the fact that it's portable and that the responsibility for assigning work is not left only to me. My assistants are able to assign work that I have "pre-approved," so to speak.

COMPLETED WORK

Just thinking about this makes me tired! I used to have piles of corrected student work all over my desk just because I was afraid I'd end up without enough work samples for the state portfolio assessment that's due in the Spring. I'd save everything until Spring. That amounts to A LOT of paper. Even with trying to get to it every month, I still had too much piled on my desk.

Since my main worry is not having enough work samples collected in the Spring for the state-required portfolio, I've designated "data days" with pre-determined work that will be assigned and completed on those dates. The work is specifically targeted to the goals I'm tracking for the portfolio. This is the only work that gets saved. Everything else goes home at the end of the day.

To do this you will need one 3" binder and 2-pocket folders (one folder for each student). The folders go into the binder. After you collect the data on your data days, just put the work into the right folder and save it. At the end of the year, transfer all of the work into individual binders that will be sent to the state for evaluation. Simple.

Making sure student work actually goes home every day is pretty simple. I've used the same system since my second year of teaching.

Here's what to do. Get as many heavy duty magnetic clips at the store as you need--one for each student. The magnets need to be heavy duty, otherwise they won't hold well without sliding. Each student's name is put on a clip. I use a label maker to make name labels, so I can reuse the clips with different students each year.

Make a section of your whiteboard (3 feet at one end or the other) the place to hang the clips. Draw a wide, black line to demarcate this area. At the top of it write something like "For Home". Make it clear to students that the clips are the only thing that go in this area.

As work is returned to students, they put it on their clip. They practice reading, hand strengthening and general responsibility by doing this themselves. Part of the end of school routine is having the students check their clips for things to take home.

I like this clip system because students get to practice some very needed skills, as I said. Plus all of the adults and students in the classroom can see the clips all day long. This acts as a visual reminder that things need to be taken home.

Finding an organizational strategy that meets your needs is worth the search and time it takes to tweak it to work for you. There are all sorts of organizational strategies out there, mine may be what you're looking for, or may not be. The bottom line is, find one that fits and you will have a much more relaxed school year.

Information about the Author: Deborah Walker teaches special education at her local middle school. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, 4 children, 2 dogs and 3 cats. Visit Special-Education-Teacher-Resources.com Education and Reference Articles: http://www.article-buzz.com

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