Organization Love!

Now that our school year is off and rolling, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite ways to keep myself organized at work.  Nothing is worse than slowing down your work day working on plans or forgetting your schedule!!  Warning... I'm about to reveal my secret nerdy self that loves everything color coded... though I believe I'm not alone.  :-) 

One of my FAVORITE things to help me stay organized is my new planner I bought from Target this fall.  LOVE!  I always struggle to find the planner that is totally ME, because either it is too small to write much or it is gigantic and I can't fit it in my bag.  Mine is yellow chevron, but it looks just like this one.

                                     

I love it because not only is it super cute, but it has both a monthly calendar page and then weekly pages. On the monthly pages I put everything school related - student birthdays, assemblies, conferences, etc. in a color code to help me quickly glance at what is happening for the week.  It saves time because I can look at a name on the calendar and instantly know it's a meeting because it's in red, or a birthday because it's in blue! I can slip my planner in my bag each night so I can refer to it at home too.  I used to put all of this on my desk calendar, but obviously that does not travel well. :-)  

My favorite part though is the weekly pages because each day of the week has a long, skinny section, perfect for my To-Do lists!  I always used to be a Post-it girl, which works great for quick notes but anytime I would stick a to-do on my calendar I tended to lose them!  I mean where am I supposed to put those little colorful squares as I am working... on my purse?  My phone?  LOL.  Plus I can write down quick to-do's that are coming up soon on the day that they need to be completed.  It helps me plan ahead and it's also really motivating to see things being crossed off that list.  

Of course - my planner wouldn't be complete without my Ink Joy pens.  I have them in my zipper pouch so that they can travel back and forth to school too!  I was never really a fan of colored pens since they usually didn't write well, but I love how these are colorful but still write really smoothly - and last a long time!  If you haven't tried them you are missing out. 

                                           

In addition to organizing the ME part of teaching, I always try to leave my daily plans and materials organized on my desk too in case I am out unexpectedly as those back to school germs hit!  (Or in my case, that have currently hit me!)  Here's a picture of my desk as I am leaving on a normal night so that anyone can find my plans, copies and manuals in a pinch.  I've learned to always expect the unexpected in teaching! :-) 

                                         

And here's a picture of my sub set up when I know for sure I'm going to be out.  It's organized with sticky notes on each subject's materials throughout the day.  

And that's how I survive the craziness of my day... :-)  How do you stay organized at work??  Be sure to leave me your best tips in your comments! 

Oh and last but not least... THANKS for all the birthday wishes on my last post!  I celebrated my 30th with a yummy birthday dinner out at the Cheesecake Factory with my family and my husband.  We had a great time!  Yum!  

September Currently!

I can't believe it is September!!  How did that happen?  I still remember packing up on the last day of school and thinking I had all summer to relax and unwind.  Now I'm a few weeks into school with my new group of 2nd graders and I'm totally feeling the back to school exhaustion.  I'm linking up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade for her September currently linky party.

Listening - Yep, it's 9:30 a.m. and I'm still in my pajamas... enough said, huh?  I love being able to watch morning TV in the summer, or on my days off.

Loving - After two and a half crazy weeks of school, I am SO happy to have a long weekend to recover and catch up.  We had a simple Labor Day cookout on Saturday and the rest of the weekend has been great to just chill out and work on my to-do list at my own pace!  Feels a teeny tiny bit like summer again!

Thinking - With the long weekend, I decided it was time to finally bust out the fall decorations because I know it will be a busy month coming up!  Can we say I love Pier One??  My family room smells like yummy apple candles and looks refreshed.  I am totally a summer girl, but my favorite thing about fall is anything apple or pumpkin flavored or scented.  We will bust out the rest of the fall decorations when the temps fall below 90!

Wanting - I seriously need to go to To-Do list anonymous... especially during the school year!  While I love the beginning of the school year because my classroom looks beautiful and everything gets a fresh start, I hate starting over again and how it seems I eat/sleep/breathe school in August.  I put one too many school projects on my to-do list because I like to be ahead of the game.  It's getting there, but it doesn't help when I write "update to-do list" ON my to-do list!  LOL!

Needing - What weekend would be complete without a Target trip?!  While I'm out I also need to figure out some super cool summer HW prizes for my students from last year.  I had TEN of my students turn in their summer journals that I gave them last June.  I am thrilled and I never expected that many of them to follow through so I want to make sure I do something awesome for them.  Any suggestions please??  :-)

Last but not least... three things that I want to get done in September that will make my heart happy.

1. Hmm... there is a theme, huh?  Yes, I want to at least once or twice a week know I can walk out the door at school and not bring my entire classroom home.  
2. Yep, instead of celebrating my 29th birthday again, I've decided to accept the fact that I have just days left to enjoy my 20's and make the best of adding a 3 in front of my age.  Ahh!
3. I am getting used to waking up at the crack of dawn, but I need to get back in the laundry and dinner routine asap!  

Phew!  That was a long one but I'm excited to share my first "Currently" with you.  Hope the beginning of your school year is going well and that you are enjoying your long weekend. :-)