Back to school nightmares

I must be getting close to returning to school because I had my first nightmare last night. It was really a nightmare, more like a dream where everything went wrong. It was the first day of school and I didn't have my schedule. Everyone else had theirs but I didn't have mine. I had nothing ready for my classes and I didn't know when I had classes so I didn't know when I could go make copies. Then a class came in and I didn't know them and they were disrespectful and gave me the wrong names and everything. It was annoying. I had a dream similar to this before I started teaching and it freaked me out. This one? Not so much. I've had enough experience now that these things don't frighten me, but it is a bummer to know I'm that close to returning.

A frequent theme of this blog has been organization. It is something I struggle with everywhere, not just at school. It is also something I am determined to master if it kills me. So I realized the other day, that I was focusing on student organization far too much and not on organization for myself. I have been thinking about it, but not as much as I should. The student organization I think I have covered.

This organizer has 12 slots. I can have one for each period and can put the things I will be using that day/week in the correct period. This works out pretty well for me and I will probably continue to use it in much the same way.  That only uses 8 of the 12 slots though. The remaining 4 I assigned to each prep and kept things I was using in there. The problem comes when I either don't put things back in the prep slot (and leave it on my desk - nightmare) or when I put it in the wrong prep or when I don't clean out the prep slot often enough. I have lost stuff in those slots or taken a huge amount of time to find things. So clearly I need a better system for me. 

Yesterday I stopped at Target to look for something in the dollar spot and found these: 

They were $1 each and I had a brilliant idea standing there. What if I put the stuff for that day in one of these? I could put what I'm using that day in here with a written plan on what I plan to do. They would not get lost on my desk because and everything would be in one place. Then, when done, I could stick the whole thing into the slot for the prep and deal with it later. Also, I could write on this to make notes on the lesson, etc. I'm trying to color code my classes, so I got 7 of these in different colors. I have a bunch of colors of plastic trays that I will use to collect work from students and I want to get colored folders for returning work to students. 

I need to find ways to keep my desk clear. I frequently lose things on my desk and find them weeks later. I want to be organized and neat and have everything where it can be found fairly easily. I'm working on color-coordinated binders for each prep that contains the units but that may take a while to get in order. I can work on that during the year as I go. 

So there we have it. My latest effort in organization. I need to go to my classroom and spend some time looking things over and figuring out how to work things. But the floors are being waxed next week so that has to wait a few more days.