What do you include in your teacher notebook?

[Allen Academy]

I am trying to set one up, but I am not sure how I want to do it and would love to be inspired by your wonderful ideas :) Thank you!

[Patty Joanna]

Hi, Amy--

I've started this response at least 4 times and every last time it came out sounding snotty. I do not mean to be snotty, but drat if I can figure out how to ask this without *sounding* snotty. But I ask it, and ask YOU to know I am not being snotty. OK?

Why are you making a teacher notebook? If it is something you want to be able to haul around with you, keep it small and manageable. If it is for your annual plan of operations, a book list so you know what you have and what you want to look for in time to come, that can be done manageably. But you can't haul around all the printed "great posts" you will see, or all the materials you will ever want to use in the coming years.

The best year I ever had with a "teacher notebook" was the year I had my annual plan (I planned 6 weeks on/one week off at that point, and broke my year into 6 chunks, planning about one 6 weeks block at a time, and then preparing for the next block the last two weeks of the block I was in), my book list (so I could order books on time), the 1-week worth of worksheets (math, spelling, whatever was a worksheet) that needed to be done that week (most of what we did was not in worksheet form) and the work I was doing in Latin as I stayed, oh, 10 minutes ahead of my son. Oh, and my resources list (made on computer). And my "proof orf homeschooling so I could get discounts in bookstores).

That all fit in a 1/2" notebook, by the way.

All the great posts or linked files that you print, put in files by subject or grade level. All the catalogs, throw in a box. And find a general organizing principle for how you will store all the other things that come your way--I used the history blocks designated by Susan Wise Bauer in her history books. (It's arbitrary at some point--just pick one.) So when I ran across a great magazine article on Abraham Lincoln's youth, I put that in the "Year 3" box. When I ran across some great discovery of antiquity, say, a website, I put a note about that into the "Year 1" box.

I hope that was anything remotely resembling what you were looking for...and if it isn't, well, then whoops!

Kind regards,

[St. Theophan Academy]

Here is the table of contents for my notebook - this is the first year I did anything this elaborate, and I must say that it has been such a grounding and organizing focal point for me. Some might consider it unneccessary, but for those of us who really like the structure, it can be a very helpful tool, and saves me lots of time through the year.


Table of Contents

Prayers & Inspiration
Morning & Midday Prayers
Daily Schedule & Calendar
Weekly Lesson Plans (these are mostly a schedule of assignments I do no more than 2-4 weeks in advance)
Attendance & Assignments Record (this is where I track what we actually do - not the dream :)
Overview for Year - all subjects and books used for each subject

The following it is a page for each subject - usually a list of chapters, topics to cover etc - except the MA plan, which is a table with the topics we will cover for history, with books, art projects and other items that correlate

Christian Studies
Icon Study plan
Grandma’s Stories (a lives of Saints book we read)
Greek Myths
Mathematics
World and Modern Studies
Middle Ages plan
Middle Ages Art plan
Explorers Unit Study - lesson plan page for Time Travelers unit study
Explorers Readings
Colonization Unit Study - lesson plan page from Time Travelers unit study
Paddle to the Sea & Seabird
CM Geography plan - from Tanglewood Curriculum core book
English Studies
Fifty Famous Stories
Wonderbook & Tanglewood Tales
Classical Writing: Aesop
Winston Grammar
Science
Poet Study - list of poems
Art Study - list of artists (3) and pieces to study a la CM
Composer Study - list of composers (3) and pieces a la CM
Spanish - check list of phrases/vocab to teach
Field Trip Information - all the flyers I get for places I want to go
Homeschool Information
Tennessee Laws
Socialization Articles - to give to those obnoxious people who ask if my kids are getting socialized :)
Recitation/Memory Work - list of all memory work for the year - I used Hannah's grammar guide a lot for this

It took me a while to pull it together, but now that I have a format I am happy with, next year I know it will come together much easier - and I really rely on it on a daily basis to keep on track - Hope this helps - Anne Marie

[Trivium Academy]

Amy,
Your teacher book is what YOU need. Here's a link to mine:
http://triviumacademy.blogspot.com/2007/05/my-coveted-teacher-book.html

The purpose of 'my' teacher book is so that I can do school with my dd7 on the go. We can go over memorization, I have everything I need minus HER books. IF we are on the go and I have time ahead, I copy the TM pages of anything I might need and stick it in my binder.

Inspiring Thoughts
Memorization guide for all subjects (http://triviumacademy.blogspot.com/2007/05/planning-is-done.html) for the year
Calendar insert July 2007 - January 2009 (bought at WalMart)
Attendance and Declaration of Intent storage in page protectors
Math addition/multiplication charts, hundreds chart and math literature for K-8 list
Bible - memorization scriptures and answer key to curriculum
Classical Music lesson plans with supplemental reading lists
History- customized lesson plans with copywork (http://triviumacademy.blogspot.com/2007/05/our-tailored-2nd-grade-history.html) this has changed to 1 week of TOG
Science - customized lesson plans with supplemental reading lists
Art- Harmony Fine Arts Grade 2 lessons plans
History (again, I know) Veritas History Song lyrics and SOTW 2 Activity Book
I hope this helps you figure out what you need.
:)

[BarbaraL in OK]

That's a great question, Patty Joanna. My answer would have been, I want to have all of my frequently referred-to papers or bit of info in one place. I use it at home only.

So I have a 1-inch binder. At the very front I have the stuff I use every single day, or very frequently: our weekly routine (schedule, pie-in-the-sky idea, whatever!), a notes page for each boy for the week ('cause I make notes afterward rather than lesson plans beforehand), my copy of each boy's reading checklist for the term, my one-page school-year calendar with our holidays & planned breaks, and a Latin reference page that's useful right now.

Then, a divider, followed by all of the previous notes pages for the boys in chron order. As the year goes on, this gets kind of full!

Then, a divider, followed by a copy of the History Odyssey table of contents with my annotations, a printout of my plan for my younger son's SOTW year with activities etc., and then some additional info I found myself wanting.

Then, a divider, followed by my overall reading plan for each boy for this year, and then my working pages from which I made the reading plans.

There's some other stuff in there, too -- Cub Scout advancement & such, upcoming field trip info, etc.

[Vanna]

Hi,

My teacher's notebook includes a weekly schedule for my 3 dc (gr. 1, 2 & 5), a section for each of their "independent education plans" (a list what curriculum I bought for them, when I plan to use it and which days of the week I plan to use it on -- has cured the "what did I buy this for?" syndrome:D. Also, in each of their sections I include our first day and last day of school surveys (homemade) which they fill out and includes some of their favorite things and goals for the school year. We add a photo at the bottom. It's fun for all of us to see how much they've changed (in height, in appearance, and in faves). I might save a picture or note that they have given to me saying how much they like homeschool or how much they love me (little encouragements go a long way on discouraging days).

I have a reference section for me, and that's a hodge-podge of different things, from inspirational emails, scripture verses, my amblesideonline.com listing of composers and artists to study, to contact info, etc.

Last section is for testing since I'm registered as a test administrator with Bob Jones Testing.

My pencil case has binder holes so that goes in the front and has a highlighter, pens, pencils (for doing my schedule), correction fluid, stickers (for encouragements), and paper reinforcers (for those torn pages in each of our notebooks). Front pocket holds our attendance sheet so I can mark down our school days (I always kept count even before moving to a state that requires it).

The nice thing is that I believe there's no wrong way to make one. I encourage you to make it fit your personality and be a reference point for you.

[TolleLegeAcademy]

I enjoy seeing these ideas!

A little different than what you might be thinking of, but one thing I've thought about doing soon is getting a notebook and dividing it into 12 sections (for grades 1-12) to keep a running list of ideas and notes for future years and curriculum options/recommendations.

[Anne in Hawaii]

My teacher notebook has many of my answer keys in it, along with whatever Omnibus pages I'm working on, and a pocket thingy with a red pen, calculator, and post-it notes. I also keep my master quarter plan sheets in it, too.

[ArwenA]

Make you book unique and personal!
My book contains:
A calendar
Our schedule
Lesson plans
Curriculum reviews
Book lists
Stuff I've printed of from the Internet
Photos of my family
Finished work that hasn't been marked our put in my dc books
Copy and memory work
Answers to tests
Scripture
Other inspirational quotes
Orders and receipts for educational projects
Library books to get, return, holds etc...
Teachers guides if they fit

[Closeacademy]

My daily Teacher's book includes:

In Front--Write-up of our daily routine

First Tab--Our current circle time (we use this to frame our day)
Weekly schedules of the written work for each day
And any worksheets, copywork sheets or maps that we will use that week

Second Tab--A phonics section which has a pocket for the trigger word pictures I have made and a list of my trigger word sentences for the various phonograms

Third Tab--A math section where I keep my fun ideas and homemade manipulatives (they are stored in large envelopes that I have 3-hole punched

Fourth Tab--An other section which can be anything that I think might be important for that week.

I also have a larger binder where I keep the rest of the year's weekly schedules and any sort of enhancers (maps, fun sheets, etc). And in the front of this I have year long schedules for particular curriculums/subjects and a year's calendar.

Hope this helps.

[Rhesa]

Mine has "Our House Rules" on the front. Inside, I have tabs labeled:

Grammar
Reading
History/Geography
Math
Science
Bible
Art
Spanish
Music

The first thing under those tabs is a lesson plan, if I have printed one. (for example: I stole from Trivium Academy for science lesson plans) Then, I have any printouts (lots of those from online), extra info, book lists, stuff I don't want to forget, even printed discussion threads.

Mostly it's just an place to gather my ideas. I like seeing what other people use!

[AllSmiles]

My Teacher Binder


The First Section Contains:

* Our school calendar

*The kids’ individual schedule

*A notebook page that contains a list of supplies we will need for the coming week(s) – I take this out and start a new one when I go shopping

*A notebook page that contains the library books we will need for the coming week(s) – When I go to the library, I take this page, and then I start a new one

*My kids each have their own individual Elan planner, but I make a copy of their current week’s assignments and put it in my binder.


The rest of the binder is divided by subjects. I have one tab for each subject. Behind each tab, I have a very loose breakdown of what I want to accomplish in the year. I also keep the answer keys, lesson plans, songs, and notes we will need for that week. I’ve cut the binders off any of my teacher’s guides that I could so that I can have everything I need for the week in one place.

In the language arts section I also keep a running list of all the books they have read for the year.



I have a separate binder that I keep for curriculum notes. Once again the binder is broken down by subject. Behind each subject are notes I might need to use in the future.

Things I have included in this binder:
Possible book selections
How to use a particular book,
Problems others have encountered using a particular text

[angela in ohio]

I have separate home and school binders, so I don't have things like meal plans and cleaning schedules in mine - they are in the other binder.

What it does have:


tabbed monthly calendar
daily lesson plans
one-week hourly schedule (think MOTH, but different each day of the week)
overview list of each dc's curriculum for the year
syllabus for each subject area, and list of assignments for the year in each
Bible memory lists, poetry memory lists, book lists
resources: homeschool group directory and newsletters, schedules for art and music classes, hours for libraries and other places we visit, etc.
hand-outs to give to other homeschoolers: book lists, notification forms, website lists, etc.

[Mad Jenny Flint]

One family notebook a la Flylady, with address book, cleaning schedules, yearly events, dates, to-do's to remember (like clean the patio furniture:rolleyes:). This book also has our attendance forms in it and our declaration of intent.

Another binder which I only reference occasionally has a few real gem posts from this board and other resources that I am saving to help me to plan for future years. It also contains several great books lists and book lists organized by time period, etc.

I have a notebook I use to scratch out my tentative plans for the rest of this year, next year, and beyond, create my goals and to see where I am in the big picture, and to organize my lists of what to buy.

The notebook I use most is my lesson planner, and after many years I have realized that the only subjects that I really need to plan are history and science. This takes one page, numbered on the left hand side 1-36 for school weeks, and with two headers on top: history and science.

assignments are listed according to subject/week. I have also recently added writing assignments to this mix, but they are very general, just to make sure we hit all the lessons within our writing program this year.

I am relaxing more and more as the years progress. This is good for me, because I started out pretty tightly wound. Four notebooks for my teacher stuff would never have been acceptable to me when my oldest was in K. LOL.:D

[Allen Academy]

Thank you for all your responses - I'll be honest, I am not sure what I want from my teacher notebook, and seeing your ideas has helped me a lot. We haven't even really started formal homeschooling yet, we just do a little with DD(4) because she wants to. I am trying to plan ahead :)

We are moving from Oklahoma City to Japan sometime in the next few months and will pretty much be homeless for probably 2+ months, so I really want to have something I can take with me to keep DD busy and on some sort of consistent schedule during all the chaos. Since she is still little, we don't do too much school anyway, but what we do, I would like to keep doing without too much interruption.

Again, thanks for all you help :)

[Narrow Gate Academy]

The sections run like this currently.

1. Our daily MOTH schedule.
2. A chore section (I try to squeeze a few things in whenever I have a bit of downtime.)
3. A yearly school calendar with the weeks we are planning to school highlighted.
4. Jessie's individual work = these are semester planners printed on blue paper for each subject. I mark the boxes over the weekend with what we want to accomplish and then mark them off a second time as they are completeed.
5. Violet's individual work = semester planner by subject on purple paper
6. Combined lesson plans for history, science, and geography

HTH