The Willow Room

Everyone you talk to has their own system for keeping track of student work. I know teachers who have students use one large binder, one binder for each subject, a notebook for each subject, a notebook plus a folder for each subject, loose leaf paper… the choices can quickly become overwhelming.

For me, the biggest challenge in making this choice was that there was an apparent paradox regarding my goals for student work.

1. It is important that children’s caregivers have regular opportunities to see what they are working on in class. This promotes more conversations at home and a stronger home-school connection.
2. It can be really powerful for students to keep their work in one place so that they can see their growth over time. This promotes stronger self-reflection and goal setting skills.

Reflecting on these goals, it became clear to me that while notebooks can be beautiful, they don’t allow me to regularly share student progress. However, if we used loose papers, we could send most of the students’ work home each week, while choosing a few at their weekly meeting with me to 3-hole punch and keep in a binder as a portfolio. The best of both worlds!

EXCEPT…

What about the many kinds of paper students need? Grid paper for math? Special paper for stamp game and the bead frame? Paper with space to symbolize sentences for grammar?

My head of school suggested getting under-desk sliding drawers for paper storage and putting them directly over the work that they correspond with. This worked really well! Generic grid paper, or other paper used for multiple materials, is kept to the right of the shelves in a regular paper organizer.

I love specialized paper!

By creating templates for student work, we support students’ developing sense of order and organization. Over time, students who have been exposed to these models become less reliant on being provided tools and graphic organizers and are instead able to organize their work independently into the structures that make the most sense for them.