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literacyworldwide.org | July/August 2017 | LITERACY TODAY
LIT BITS
Being organized is more than keeping materials tidy. It’s a focused mind-set that saves you time and energy. Using these
five tips will help you focus your energy and save you dozens of hours throughout the year.
Tips for Staying Organized All Year Long
My Five…
1. Determine importance. This will guide decisions about
which resources to keep and which to purge, how to
manage instructional materials, what to include in your
daily routine, and more. If it’s important to students’
success, find space or time for it. If not, get rid of it.
2. Set routines. Organize your day and help students
succeed by creating procedures for beginning and
ending the day, transitioning between content, turning
in completed work, and locating absent work. Routines
help eliminate distractions, wasted time, and confusion.
3. Prep materials. In the fall, create several additional sets
of materials for students who join your roster mid-year.
Place each set in a large zip-top bag so it is ready to go
when your new student arrives. Create a sub binder and
2–3 days’ worth of lesson plans now so you’re prepared
for unplanned absences.
4. Use a lesson-planning process. A structured process,
such as the Understanding by Design framework, not
only streamlines your planning time, but also ensures
alignment to standards and building goals.
5. Store resources digitally. Save materials to a
flash drive or cloud service. You’ll spend less time
searching and have access wherever you go. Once
uploaded, organize files in digital folders by theme,
content strand, or standard for easy access.
Remember: Consistency is key. Integrating these ideas
into your practice will keep you organized all year long.
—Jennifer Martinez, ILA member since 2015, education
blogger at everythingjustso.org
Have an idea for a brief My Five article? E-mail
literacytoday@reading.org.
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