Below is our newsletter for the week. Remember, we are not the end-all, be-all! We are just teachers sharing our thoughts and ideas with you. Feel free to modify strategies you receive from us to fit you and your classroom.

I also keep several 3 ring binders with dividers to hold much of my paperwork. I am a binder person and it makes it easier for me to keep track and refer to papers as I need them. I file all papers in chronological order so that I can easily find what I am looking for. I have a binder for all school papers and divide into the following sections:

· Classroom Resources -- In this section I place any pages/order forms for items that I eventually want to order (or ask my principal to purchase) for my classroom. This way I don't have a stack of catalogs taking up unnecessary space. Be sure that contact info (phone/website) for the company is on the page - otherwise use a label or sticky note to record this information before throwing away the magazine.

· As a new "topic" arises, I either create a new section for it OR I create a new small binder if it looks like I will have a lot of papers.

The most important thing to remember when handling paperwork is to deal with it as soon as you get it. If you let it “wait until later”, you’ll find piles on your desk that take forever to go through. Although it is hard to give up five to fifteen minutes of your planning period in order to respond to notes, memos, etc., in the long run you will save yourself hours of time and possible headaches from missing important deadlines.

Set aside time to do this either during your planning period OR after school. I have a plastic bin on my desk labeled "Mail" where I keep everything for that day. I usually stay after school and do it right after I've set up my board for the next day.

I also strongly recommend that you check out a website called FlyLady.com. http://www.flylady.com This site helps people get organized. Although it is mostly for the home, it does have many strategies that will also help in the classroom. Fly Lady stresses the importance of taking baby steps and building good habits. Here is one way you can use the tools offered by Fly Lady to get a handle on your paperwork.

Start with today's mail. As soon as you get it, respond to those pieces requiring a response, record information in your calendar for important dates and times, and then file and/or pitch the letter/memo. Set your timer for 10 minutes and try to get through all of today's mail before the timer goes off. Whatever you don't get done, put it in your "mail" tray/bin.

This afternoon, after school lets out, set your timer for 15 minutes. During this time, sort through the piled up papers lying on your desk. Put them all in a bin, folder, or crate and get them off of your desk. (Now you have a nice clean desk top)

For the rest of the time you have left, go through the stack of papers. Respond to pieces requiring a response, record important dates and times into your calendar, file papers that need to be filed, and pitch whatever you don’t need. When the timer sounds, stop. Put the rest of the papers you have left back in the bin, folder, or crate. Place this somewhere where it will not get in your way and is not on your desk.

Tomorrow, before school, check your mail and take 5-10 minutes to respond, record, and file/pitch. During your planning period, check your mail and take 5-10 minutes again to respond, record, and file/pitch. Be sure you set your timer!

If anyone hands you a memo or paperwork of any kind, check to see it does not need an immediate response. If it doesn't, then put it in the bin/folder on your desk labeled "Incoming Mail". Take care of it either before school or during your planning period.

After school, set the timer again for 15 minutes and go through the stack of papers left in the bin from yesterday until the timer goes off. When it sounds, stop what you are doing and put everything away again.

After a week or so of doing this, you should have responded to everything in the box, and also be on top of the current paperwork. Once you've gotten through your backlog, take that 15 minutes in the afternoon to respond to any mail/memos/etc. you've received since your planning period. Once you get in the habit of responding to your paperwork as soon as you get it, you'll find that you have more time during your planning period and after school to grade papers and plan lessons. The paperwork won’t feel quite so overwhelming and you’ll be able to see the top of your desk!

Just keep in mind that we've all been there and many of us still have this problem, even after several years of teaching! :)

If you are looking for more information about staying organized, check out the various articles we have available on the website. Also, our book Survival Kit for New Teachers, has a plethora of information on getting and staying organized. It is available as an ebook, if you don't have the time or money to wait for the hardcopy version. The ebook is less expensive and is available for immediate download.