Digital and Paper File Organization

Typically if you were looking for organizational advice I'd advise you to look elsewhere.  Here is a view of my desk:

As you can see I am no model of organization when it comes to daily operations (although I can locate what I need in those piles :).  What I have developed an effective system for is paper files.  

Many teachers in this digital age are strong proponents for a completely digital file system. While I keep my files organized electronically also I refuse to give up my paper files.  The reason I love my paper files is the ease of picking resources for each unit.  It is significantly easier for me to pull out a file folder and glance at 10 worksheets than it is for me to open and view 10 word documents on the computer.  If the worksheet from a previous year is perfect for this year I don't even have to print a copy, I can simply use the "original" and ask my TA to make copies.  If I want to make changes I then go to the digital version and edit.  After making my class copies I keep the original in the file folder.  

When I started teaching my files were labeled with topics (polynomials, exponents, logarithms, etc.)  For my purposes, that year, this was an extremely effective method.  Our curriculum was topic based and not limited by chapters in the textbook.  Upon moving to a school where the curriculum was chapter based I re-organized my files using titles such as Geom. Ch. 1, Alg 2 Ch. 7, etc.  

Having now gone through textbook adoption and the realization that Chapters are effective only until the book changes I've determined the best way to organize folder is by BOTH Chapter and Topic.  Now my folders have labels like: Math Analysis - Ch. 14 - Matrices.  

As I mentioned one benefit to listing the topic is that its use extends beyond your current textbook.  The secondary benefit is cross curricular topics.  For example when I am teaching exponents in  Algebra 2 I can easily look at the Algebra 1 exponent folder to see if there are any relevant worksheets that I want to use.  If I indeed then use it in both classes I typically just add it to both folders. Yes, I realize this is redundant but it better completes my file for each course with materials that I found useful. I would rather have a folder with too many resources than a topic to teach without resources. 

By also putting the chapter number I keep the traditional benefit of showing the linear pattern of material. (I keep them in order.)  This also shows you where in the text that topic is located.

My digital files are organized the same way.  Each course has a folder. Within the folder is a folder for each Chapter with the Chapter Number and Topic.  

My next recommendation is not something that I've been very good about but if you are a new teacher you would benefit from following these suggestions from the beginning of your career.

• Create a naming convention- Good things to include are the year, type of resource, perhaps course chapter or topic (if you don't already have it in a folder system), and a file name

Examples: 
Solving Logarithmic Equations Worksheet 2013
QUIZ.SolvingLogEquations.2013
2013 Test Solving Log Equations
7.4 Solving Log Equations WKSHT  2013

Keep in mind word will automatically organize your documents alphabetically so there are pros and cons to each naming order.  The second example would provide a system where all documents of the same type are together. So you could quickly look at all previously made quizzes, worksheets, etc.  The last example would organize your documents by section which could be useful for daily lesson planning.  Ultimately the choice is yours but by developing a system early on you will save valuable time that can be lost in the digital search for a file.

• Create file names that are very specific

Titling 10 different documents "Logarithms" will cause big headaches when you go to look at your files next year.  Yes all of them cover some portion of logarithms but get specific about the skills and topics covered on that worksheet. 

Examples:
Review of 7.3 to 7.5
Solving Exponential Equations - Same Bases
Solving Exponential Equations - Using Logs

• Add a header or footer to take credit for original creations 

This is something I saw a colleague do and thought it was a great idea.  As I mentioned in a previous post I have a very collaborative approach to finding worksheets so many documents that I have saved are not documents that I've created from scratch.  To be honest at this point there are times when I really don't remember if I made a document/ activity or "borrowed" it from someone else.  If I label the things I create then at least I'll know which intellectual property is "mine." (This may never actually matter but if you've created something really awesome I'd hate to see someone else profit from your work.)  The colleague that did this simply used the footer section of the document to put her initials and year the document was created.  

To wrap up this section about digital organization I would be silly not to address backing up your files.  Imagine tomorrow your district's server crashed and your "my documents" folder was gone, how devastated would you be?  Therein lies the need for a backup.  A minimum of twice a year I save all my documents to a thumb drive and because I'm not super organized (did you see my desk?) that thumb drive is not my backup (because I'll misplace it). Instead I bring the thumb drive home and load all the files on my home computer.  If you have an external hard drive at home that's even better.  Some of the cloud storage concepts are also a good modern option.  Basically whatever you do, don't be mad if you lose everything but never took steps to ensure that wasn't an option. 

Alright hopefully there was something in here that you can take away as a new organizational tip.  Comment if you have other ideas to share with fellow readers.