Wednesday Folders

I am SO excited about our new Wednesday folders and how much time they have been saving me!!

Before our Wednesday Folders:

-I would grade my students' tests (still do this of course :) ). For all tests that had a score of C- or lower, I would staple a piece of paper that asked the parent to sign that they saw the test and to have the student return the slip of paper to me the following day.

- Then I would make a list of students who would have to have their parents sign the test. At any given time, I could have several lists going, seeing that we take different tests/quizzes every week (math, spelling, etc.)

- The next day if I remembered, I would check off the students who returned their tests, and then remind the rest of the students one-on-one that they still needed to bring in a signed test.

This process repeated itself until

a. All the tests were returned with signatures or

b. A week (or two) passed with no sign of the test, and by that point I had moved on.

Needless to say, not the most effective process, or best use of my time!

Enter our Wednesday Folders!

The 5th grade teacher at my school is super organized and everything in her room seems to always be in its place. When I asked her about what she does about sending home students' tests, she told me about her Wednesday folders and I knew that this was something I needed to start in my class as well! Wednesdays are the days that our school's family envelopes go home, and it also gives me time to grade our Friday spelling tests and math quizzes. 

I bought the plastic folders when they were on sale, and I'm hoping they hold up better than the paper ones. Then I labeled each folder with the students' name and number. All graded tests that have been graded for the week go in the folder to go home and be signed by parents. When students return their folders it is easy to check and make sure that all the tests that went home in the folder are returned.

Each student also has a file folder (I used numbers on these instead of names so I don't have to change them every year) which I put their tests in after they come back signed. 

Then I put the folders in order in the front of the crate. My new number sorter is AMAZING and is keeping everything in number order so it's easy to enter grades into my grade book and then put their tests in their folders!

We've been using this for a couple weeks, and I have really been loving this new procedure! This way I  know that parents are seeing students' tests and I feel like the whole process is much more organized and time consuming!

Thanks SO much Jane for sharing your wonderful organization ideas with me!

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday tomorrow!