Especially Education

Adapted high-quality curriculum to help special education students succeed in the classroom

  • Especially Education
  • Home
  • Units
  • Shop TPT
  • Freebies
  • Blog
  • MFML
    • Facebook Group
  • About
    • Contact
You are here: Home / Organization / Organizing systems for stress free teaching

Organizing systems for stress free teaching

January 17, 2019

Elementary contained classroom Autism teacher, Sarah, with an overlay of her Where I Aut-a-Be logo

Sofie is an Autism teacher teaching in a self-contained class in San Antonio, Texas. Sofie became passionate about creating and sharing ideas in the teacher community while teaching in South Africa where resources were slim. When she’s not laminating, cutting, or Velcro-ing, you can find her reading, hiking, or playing guitar!

 


I have to be honest, when I first opened the Made For Me Literacy file, I printed the entire thing not knowing what I was doing. Then, there I was, with hundreds of pages of greatness. There are so many incredible and valuable things in this file, but how can we stay organized?!

How can we store it all in an organized way once the month is complete so that next year we’re all set?

A large pink see through container with folders of Made For Me Literacy teaching resources

Here are my best teacher hacks to avoid the paper trap and establish an organized system that sets you up for stress free teaching!

A few tips before we get started:

  • Familiarize yourself with the content and print the files that your kids will use. Don’t print unnecessary papers if you already know you won’t use them!
  • Do print any sort of example page or label page. You will these to organize!
  • Keep all the papers you print in order. This sets you up to for easy storage.
  • Before making copies, account for the master file in addition to what you need.

3 Inch Binders

This is probably the easiest and most convenient way to store all of the papers after printing them. Chances are, you have a spare binder laying around and if not, they are reasonably cheap to purchase. I love this idea because everything stays in a central location without moving around or losing any papers. By keeping a master copy of everything, next year you can simply take the entire binder to the copy room and make copies accordingly.

Elementary teacher holding a notebook with her Made For Me Literacy teaching resources

Sheet protectors

These are your new bestfriend and so are the page sized sections labels in this file! Don’t skip over the lables. It keeps everything seperated, labeled, and easy to access. Anything that does NOT need to get copied goes into a sheet protector. This includes: Anchor chart examples, anchor chart pieces, or visual step procedures. If it IS something that I need copies of, I put it behind the sheet protector for easy access. This includes: cut and paste activities, writing activities, or the easy art pages.

Special Education teacher holding a notebook organizing her Made For Me Literacy teaching resources

Iris scrapbook containers

These are only about $5 each at Michael’s after using my teacher discount. They are approximately 14×14 inches and they fit all the things that a binder does not. Task boxes, file folders, and completed examples of easy art activities. They are perfect for keeping papers contained without the risk of losing any.

Smiling dark haired female teacher holding a clear pink container with her November turkey Made For Me Literacy teaching materials

Gallon sized Ziploc bags

Did you know that the gallon sized bags can fit laminated papers?! This is such an easy way to separate the sections of the file. For example, you could put 1 week worth of lesson plan activities into each bag.. Zip lock bags make it so easy!

Dark haired smiling elementary teacher holding a large see through Ziplock Baggie with her Made For Me Literacy teaching resources organized inside

A special education teacher’s day is often full of tension. Having engaging materials like the Made For Me Literacy curriculum most definitely helps take the stress out of teaching, but staying organized is also critical to creating more peaceful days.

Instagram

Click Here to visit Sophie on Instagram

«
»

Filed Under: Organization, Teacher Tips Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

The author
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS

Get Access To Freebies

Search this website

Categories

Popular Posts

Planning for the First 2 Weeks of School in Your Special Education Classroom

FAQ: Task Boxes

Winter Sensory Science

Instilling Independence in the Classroom

Questions?

We have a wonderful and generous group of teachers in our MFML Facebook Group.
Join us and discover everything you need to know about using MFML in your classroom.

  • Facebook

Made for Me Literacy

Are you following Made For Me Literacy on Facebook and Instagram? We are always sharing news, updates, and tips on our socials. Don’t miss out – click below and follow MFML today!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Especially Education

Join the Especially Education social media communities for the latest updates, as well as tips and advice for special education educators like you.

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Especially Education © 2025

Woman holding a 3 ring notebook filled with Made For Me Literacy teaching materials. Organizing for stress free teaching