Organization ~ Leaving Your Desk Always Ready for a Sub & a FREEBIE!

This is the Top of My Desk!

I try to leave my desk each day ready for a sub. My children are grown now and can stay home without me if they are sick. {My hubby works midnights and my 82 y/o Dad lives with us, so no one is every really home alone!} But I remember what it was like when one of them got sick unexpectedly in the middle of the night. I was divorced, and I was teaching BEFORE SCHOOLS USED COMPUTERS & HAD EMAIL, gasp, I know! 

But it is true! 

So I would be up at 4 am writing out sub plans, calling a friend at 6 am, driving sick kids to meet my friend halfway, give her the plans and hope for the best! 

Now it takes about 5 minutes at the end of everyday to make sure my desk looks like this....I'm not saying it looks this way EVERY, SINGLE DAY, but I try.

1. Here is my daily lesson plan, always on my desk so any admin or county visitor can see it without interrupting my lesson.

2. This is our school's weekly calendar, it lists meetings, fire drills, the resource schedule, etc. This way I don't have to waste time rewriting the dates into my plans!

3. This is my Sub Plans, a terrific notebook for the sub. I've had it for three years now. {If anyone recognizes it, please let me know so I can give the correct teacher credit, I think it is from Erica Bohrer....}

4. This is all the work that is needed for Tuesday! See yesterday's blog post Organizing Your Student's Work for the Week! to see my folder system.

5. Three hole-punch ready when I print my plans or get the weekly calendar. No wasting time looking for it! Right by it is the pen/pencil/paperclip/stickie note holder my daughter made in 1st grade! Everything a sub needs! 

6. Lovely tape and stapler right within reach! The stapler says McAllister, my maiden name from before 1991....am I thrifty or what! If it was to go missing at my school, no one would even know to return it to "Smith's" mailbox! 

7. My personal reminder, JOY! {Jesus, Others, Yourself}    

THEN, WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE A SUB....It makes your day easier and YOU are ready to go! 

Organization is the difference between a good teacher and a great teacher!

It is the difference between a great teacher and an excellent teacher because you are not wasting your time & energy looking for things!

I get many requests asking about my schedule and my lesson plans. Here is a freebie for you, my template with a sample day.

 {Click on the Picture}
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