Save as...

     So, if there is one tip that I can give to anyone who is trying to get more organized, it would be to SAVE!!!!  That's right.  Save a copy of anything you think you might use again in the future, whether it be a hard copy or electronic.  It's kind of neat to look back at all of the filing systems I have used during my teaching career.  I started off with saving hard copies of everything…I would make an extra copy of whatever worksheet, lesson idea, craft, master copy, etc. it was that I was using and I created a file folder to go along with it {weekly reading story, math unit, science/social studies topic, seasonal lesson, etc.}.  When I was finished filling that particular file folder, it would be placed in my file cabinet, which coincidentally is now just about at its maximum capacity!  A little while into teaching, I was introduced to the lovely flash drive device and I filled one of those bad boys up faster than you would believe with all of my files that I created and lessons that I had saved.  I'm now up to 6 flash drives that I carry with me in my teacher bag so that I can access any of those items if/when I need them.  I honestly don't use either one of those filing systems all that often anymore, though, now that Google docs and TeachersPayTeachers has come along.  These two websites house your documents for you and you can access your files from any computer that has Internet access.  A truly paperless system.  I rely on these 2 sites on an almost daily basis in my classroom!  The really neat thing is that both of these sites allow you to download your files really quickly and display your documents on the Promethean board, which makes annotating for checking and giving directions that much easier and understandable for your students.  I especially love TpT and started my own little shop in January.  I decided that, since I created so many of my own documents to use with my students, that other teachers might like to use these, too!  I currently have 6 items in my shop, 2 of which are freebies!  If you would like to check it out, visit the link {here}.  When you save, there is less work for you to do for future lessons as you can use what you have already created {or tweak it & make it even better without having to start from scratch!}