P.I.R.A.T.E Binder and Common Core Resource

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. The hubby and I stayed in. I haven't seen fireworks in at least 5 years and was looking forward to going, but the hubs had to be up and out the door early to drive over 2 hours away for a test early this morning, so we couldn't go out. Maybe next year I say :)

Now, the idea of having a communication/organization folder is not something new and have seen them ALLL over Pinterest and blogs. I would love to know who specifically came up with the idea if any of ya'll know? There are sooo many of them around. I love me some good old organization and being able to communicate with parents and do so on a daily basis is something I feel is vital for any classroom.

This is another post in my classroom management series. Click on the picture below to take you to the other posts in the series.

For each binder, I will laminate the following cover that I made and put them down into the front of the binders. This will keep the covers useable year after year.

Whenever you open up the binder, our weekly classroom newsletter will be included in the beginning pocket. This will stay here all week long so that it is in a place that the parents can refer to throughout the week. (I used a copy of our behavior log since I do not have a newsletter at this moment so that you can get the idea of what I will put in the pocket.)

The first pages of the binder will include a copy of my contact information (with an added quote) and a "table of contents". These will be placed in sheet protectors so that they stay nice throughout the year. After the directions page, I will include a zipper pocket so that students and parents can place any form of money or notes for the teacher in it. I will check this pocket every day.

For each different section, I will have laminated dividers to tell which section is which.

In this section, there will be different school calendars, like the lunch calendar, as well as the behavior log that corresponds to our pirate behavior clip chart. 

 There will be a page that explains what each spot on the clip chart means. This will be placed in a sheet protector to keep it protected.

This page will be used to track each child's behavior for each day. At the end of each day, the students will need to look to the clip chart and see where they ended for the day and record this on the sheet. There will be two sheets for each month. Parents will need to initial the sheet each night so that I can know that they are at least seeing the log every night. At the end of the month, I will collect all of the sheets and keep them as a running record of behavior for each student.

The next section is called Daily Correspondence. In this section, parents will be able to write me notes and I will be able to write them notes as well on the paper that I will provide in this section. This section will also include absent notes, transportation change notes, medical information change notes, and general information change notes. 

The next few section in the binder will include the following: Important Papers from School, Homework, and Classwork. These will include the laminated binder divider and a folder for the students to put the papers in. 

The last section will include a reading log and a file pocket that will hold books that students can take home each night to read. Reading books will be nightly "homework."

This binder will be a great resource for my students and myself. It will save me a lot of time of collecting and passing out papers. It will help me to stay connected with the parents of my students. It will also help give my students some responsibility and help them to get more organized. Even at a young age, students can start learning valuable organizational skills. 

(You can get this in my TPT store by clicking HERE!!!)

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I know this has already been long so I will end with this. I would like to take the chance to show you one of my newer products in my store and the best part is that it is a common core resource. I am excited about this product and I love how it will keep me organized whenever I am teaching the Common Core Standards. I know there are several versions of this same product floating around for I found my inspiration here, but none of the products seem to be broken down by substandard, nor do they have dividers or note pages to document certain information. So I set out to create a product that would fit my needs and hopefully the needs of many others.

My 1st Grade Language Arts & Math Common Core Standards Resource pack includes standard dividers, note pages after each substandard, and enough date taught pages for each coordinating standard. It is a 77 page resource pack in chevron grey and red. If you want organization then this pack is for you. This pack is for 1st grade, but if I have enough people who are interested in another grade level I will create it for those as well. These can also be created in just about any color of chevron so if you want a specific color you can let me know about that as well. If you would like to grab your own copy please click HERE!!! :) Is this something that would be useful for you? Let me know what you think.

I hope everyone has a great night :)