And so it begins...Were are in mid July and I now only have..
3 weeks until we're back to school!!
By back to school I mean back to my classroom for Parents as Teachers AND back to a start of a new Fall semester at UMSL.
Yay......
I am excited to start a new school year both as an educator and also as a student. BUT, I am not excited about all of the work that both entail. However, I LOVE getting organized and being organized is one thing that I must be in both my PAT classroom and in my social work classrooms at UMSL.
So, like any other year I began my search for a new planner for the year. My planner tends to be somewhat neglected during the summer months because I am not AS super duper busy as I normally am AND I'm over it. I don't want to plan anything, I want to take a break! I live out of my planner 10 months out of the year!
In my search I came across a planner that I fell in love with! Martha Stewart with Avery!
I LOVE these products..(I found this planner organization in one of my favorite organization blogs, a bowl full of lemons. She is listed under Blogs I love too!) Actually, I love ANYTHING Martha Stewart. Only one problem, I refuse to pay THAT MUCH for anything really. I like to do what I can for as little as I can. Andrew calls me cheap. I call it thrifty..Whatever... AND its only sold in Staples, which I can't seem to find one around me anymore. LAME.
For my job, PAT, I have to have a full size planner. I live out of this thing. I set my visits with each family and refer back to this daily. So I needed something bigger than that amazing Martha Stewart planner anyways.... Dang.
I like to grab 1 inch binders from Walmart or Target, which are cheap and find some fun scrap booking paper in my room of "crafts" and place it in the clear sleeves of the binder. I can switch these out as I find different styles I love. And I do, a lot!
It helps me to keep things color coded! I am setting appointments for PAT, soon Hospice clients, homework due dates, class times and schedules...the list goes on. So, I keep a color for each so it doesn't all blend together on the calendar! I have a marker and a pen for each color.
I also LOVE sticky notes... Small, medium and big sticky notes! Last semester I was so overwhelming busy that I had to write out what homework was due each week and mark it off as I completed it to make sure I didn't miss any due dates! That was hard, I was always loosing these note cards-NOT GOOD! So, instead I grabbed some lined sticky notes and stick it to my planner each week with a new list of TO DO'S! BTW, these clear pouches are like 86 cents at walmart! I love these and always keep extra in the craft room.
Next, my calendar. Can I just say how annoying it is that Walmart, Target and office stores DO NOT have enough calendars to pick from. I need one with a 3 hole punch already in the calendar and the only one I can ever find are IZA PEARL from Walmart. Super cheap too, like $6!
Behind the planner I like to keep dividers with tabs to keep up with other things like To Do lists for work and school. This is where I keep a list of phone calls that need to be returned at work and homework that needs to be completed each week. Any other things I need to keep behind these, I laminate before putting in my planner. This is where my lined sticky notes come in handy!! These were only $2 from Walmart! Super cute too!
Last, but not least... ;) I keep a heavy duty Mead folder for anything I need to hold onto for a little bit.
I found this one at Walmart and the corners are great for keeping papers in place and it has more places to store stuff! SWEET, I can hoard more crap! :) No, that is a good place for my business cards!
I did find smaller binders that I could use to make a smaller planning binder with, however, like I said I have to have the big one for work... :( But most people don't need one as large as mine!
I also, did the same for my school binder. Helps keep me organized with notes and papers in each class! All 5 classes! Yuck.
Also, I will be printing these AWESOME free printables that I found. They will go behind different tabs and will be help me stay organized as well!
I could make these on my own, but hey they are cute and free! The first one is something I would use every week! It would be very helpful! The second one is a great idea! I always store my weigh ins when I am trying to drop weight in my notes app on my phone, but I love this idea! Also, I would like to keep a water intake checklist with this too!
Next, I get to organize ALL of my educational tools that I use on visits. Books, games, add on activities I've made, printables, the list goes on.
Karah
No comments:
Post a Comment