How to Organize Student Papers ·

The number one question I get from teachers is “how do I organize student papers?” It’s a common question because there are so many papers to deal with! Not only do you need to organize student papers, but you also have all of your papers to deal with.

Video and steps to organize student papers in your elementary classroom.

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If you have been following me for any length of time, you have probably heard me say that everything needs a home! Yes, yes it does! Including papers. By giving every “type” of a paper a home, you can create routines and procedures thus adding to the organization of your classroom.

In this post I am sharing with you the steps and resources needed to organize student papers in your classroom as well as some of your own paper materials.

If you want help getting your classroom papers organized, then be sure to check out the Classroom Paper Organization Course.

Mock up of computer screen with Classroom Paper Organization Course, iPad with workbook and two sample workbook pages. Text overlay \"Create Systems to Keep your Papers Organized. Enroll Now.\"

The goal of this course is to sift through, clean out, and organize all your papers so you can stop spending time trying to remember where you put that copy or having to get your class involved in looking for those materials you just misplaced.

Inside the course we also talk about organizing filing cabinets, digital files, and lesson plan materials. Basically, any kind of paper material, I show you practical ways you can organize and systemize those papers. In less than 40 minutes I’ll teach you how to clean out, organize, and systemize the papers in your classroom so you can get rid of some of that clutter. Get more information about the course here.

How to Organize Student Papers

There are six steps to organizing student papers and they are detailed out in this video. You can also download the free guide to help you create a plan for how to organize student papers.

Keep in mind, this video was filmed in my home, AFTER I left the classroom so I can’t show you where these spots are in my room. But you can still get an idea of how this worked.

Or you can listen to the podcast version.

I also have created this flow chart picture of the process the papers go through. And a free resource to help you create paper routines within your own classroom!

6 photos showing the paper workflow. 1. Daily drawers for lesson plans. 2. Three baskets, one for each class to turn in papers. 3. Accordion file folder to house papers to be graded. 4. Two trays labeled for each teacher to return papers to the appropriate class 5. Crate with file folders for each student. 6. Missing work chart.

How to Organize Teacher Papers

I would also advise you to have routines and homes for all of “your” papers. This way you keep from the stack of papers getting piled hire on your table!

Most importantly, have a spot for all of your lesson plan materials for the upcoming week. I used these plastic drawers that are relatively cheap and customized them with border and labeled them.

I used them to store my lesson plan materials for each day of the week as well as each subject of the day.

You will also want to have a spot to put papers from the office and notes from home. I liked to have a file for each student and drop the note in their file to keep tabs of till the end of the year.

A “deal with later” bin is a good idea as well. That way when you get something you don’t know what to do with, you can drop it in there and deal with it later!