Students are constantly getting paperwork, either as assignments from school or as information for parents to keep or fill-out to return. The over abundance of paperwork can be overwhelming, especially if a proper paper organization system is not set-up. If a paper organizing method is used, in which paper is immediately placed in the correct location, paperwork will be able to be found immediately when it is needed.
Here are some tips and tools to control the constant barrage of paper from school:
Make It Easy For Students to Organize School Papers
Easy to use paper organizers will make it easy to put paper away and easy to retrieve when needed. A lot of times what happens is that the class will complete and students will rush out of the class in order to get across the entire school for their next class or for the hope of enjoying as much of a break as possible. Often this results in their school work being stuffed in a book, notebook, or in the backpack in a way that is disorderly and unsystematic. If paper is easy to put away and easy to retrieve, then it will be easier to put away and stay organized. If a student is organized, they will have an easier time creating success.
Paper Organization at School
For students, place a Big Mouth Backpack Filer in the backpack, which is designed to fit into most types of different backpacks, to enable easy access to paperwork. Use a label maker to label each of the subdivisions by the order of the daily schedule and include a place for "homework to do" and "homework done". This will make it easy to place, sort, organize, and retrieve paperwork when needed. Another option would be to use an accordion file, if the child would prefer removing the filing system from the backpack or bag when it is needed.
For students who use binders, ensure that filing dividers are used. These are great to divide subjects, assignments, or to separate items that have been completed versus items that need to be done.
Organizing School Work at Home for Students
At home, students need to keep their school paper work and homework organized also. A system needs to be in place to transfer what is needed from the mobile organizer (or backpack) to the permanent home filing system. To work, the filing system needs to be accessible and easy to use. The video How to Organize and File Paper will explain this in better detail. The child should also have a recycling bin in place in order to purge paper the in no longer needed. With a working system at home, the student will have a place to put needed and unneeded paper.
Organizing School Paper Work for Parents
For parents, a small mobile desktop file sorter can be used to organize and corral all the important paper work that arrives home from school. This way there can be one hanging file per child in the small desktop file box and a section for items that need to be signed and turned back in.
Organizing paper is not only important for school, but also for life. It is an important life skill. Take these suggestions, customize it to work for you, and eliminate paper clutter.
Also read: Time Management for Parents and Students, Learning Style and Back-to-School Organization, and Paper Organization.
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