Second Semester: How to Organize Your Binder!

Start the second semester correctly with a refresher on keeping your binder organized.

Imagine being in class and the teacher says, “Students I will be checking your homework and collecting it.”  You start looking through all the papers in your binder and backpack, but you can not find it and you start panicking.

Organization can be difficult for students because it requires time and energy to keep all assignments in their place.  On page 18 on the MacArthur Student Handbook it states, “The binder should be organized and cleaned out each day.  All papers are to be 3 hole punched and placed in the appropriate section of the binder; no loose papers should be kept in the inside binder pocket.”

Students, organization is key to your success in school because no matter what grade you are or who your teacher is, being organized is important.  Even teachers have to organize their supplies all the time.  According to AVID Teacher Mrs. Cristina Barber organization is important because it prepares students for the future, promotes responsibility, and makes it easy for students to locate their work in timely manner.

If you want to become an organized student all you have to do is follow the steps of how to organize your binder or even your room.

  • First of all, find a place where you will have enough room.  Start by putting your papers subject by subject.  Make sure you have dividers because this is one of the problems when it comes to organizing a binder.
  • Second of all, organize all papers where they belong so it will make your life 100% easier when trying to look for an assignment.
  • Lastly, when you have all the papers put where they belong always when taking out an assignment put it back where you got it from so next time when you use the same paper it will be easy to find.

When Barber tells her students organization is important, some students don’t listen.  They receive consequences such as filling behavior card, progressive discipline plan, and detentions.

Barber mentioned that years ago there were some students who liked to put color dividers behind the regular divider.  For example, behind the ELA divider they would put colored dividers that helped them get to their work easier because they put composition, literature, etc.

According to Barber, no one taught her to organize her binder but she was not a disorganized student.  She thinks if she came here to MacArthur then she will be better, perhaps an honor student, but she taught herself to stay organized as a good study habit.

“I did not realize what an impact an organized binder has on a life of a student until I became a teacher at MacArthur.  Life is so much easier when things are put where they belong,” said Barber.

Students, organization is very important so if you follow these rules and tips then the rest of your years at MacArthur will be successful.