Teaching With Terhune: DAILY TAKE HOME BINDERS

At the beginning of the school year I make each student their own daily folder, also known as their "Take Home Folder." I've had a lot of teachers reach out and ask if I can make my daily FOLDERS for daily BINDERS too! So here they are!

Take Home FOLDERS

Take Home BINDERS

These binders can be used as a communication devise between home and school.

The binders should be brought home every night by the students and returned to school the very next day. The binders have important information such as school notes, homework, graded work, and monthly classroom newsletters in them.

The student's daily behavior can also be noted in their take home binder on the monthly behavior calendar.

I've used these behavior calendars for years! At the end of each school day I have my students mark either a green, yellow, or red dot on the appropriate date on the calendar. This dot communicates to their parents the behavior color card they earned that day. If the color yellow or red is marked on their calendar I write a brief description of the negative behavior they displayed. The purpose of this is to encourage a discussion between parents and their child over the misbehavior.

By having the parents sign or initial each night on the behavior calendar this communicates to you that the parents saw their child's take home binder and the information inside of it.

Have students take their take home binder home every day and return it to school the very next day. Any notes from home, money, homework, etc. should be placed in the take home binders so you will receive it - because we all know how sometimes things get lost in a child's backpack. LOL

You can have your students turn in their take home binders into a tub each morning. When they turn them in if you have them place the binders in numerical order it makes it so much easy for you to flip through and see who is at school, who forgot to turn their binder in, etc.

Here's a peek inside the take home binders!

Here's the steps on how to put together your very own Take Home Binder:

Step 1:

Use the binders with the clear plastic covers to make your take home binders. Any size binder will work. I used a 1/2 inch binder here.

Step 2:

Pick from one of my many covers and choose a different clipart character for each of your students. Add their name, their student number, and your class information to the cover. Print each cover and laminate it.

Step 3:

Even though the covers go inside the clear plastic covers, laminating them will make them extra durable. Next, slide the covers inside the clear plastic covers of the binders.

Step 4:

If you would like to add additional pockets to your binders add these plastic pocket sleeves in the rings of the binder. You can purchase these at Wal-Mart.

Step 5:

Use 1" x 2 5/8" labels to label the behavior calendars and homework pockets.

Step 6:

Use 2" x 4" labels for the graded work pocket.

Go over the labels with clear tape to ensure they stay on and do not get damaged.

Step 7:

Place additional important handouts (like school calendars, snack calendars, etc.) in clear plastic sleeves and add them to the rings of the binder.

Step 8:

Choose from the different left and right pocket labels for your binders. Print, laminate, and cut out the labels.

Take Home Binders Left and Right Hand Labels

Step 9:

Attach the labels to the left and right pockets of the binders by using box tape.

Step 10:

Add a pencil pouch to the rings of the take home binders for money, small notes, etc.

*Teacher Tip* - Take the pencil pouches and plastic sleeves out of each student's binder at the end of the school year so you can reuse them year after year.

Step 11:

Add a behavior calendar to each student's binder. The monthly behavior calendar can have school events, classroom events, due dates, test dates, etc. on it. This helps parents easily see what's going on at your school and in your classroom.

Step 12:

Send home these introduction notes the first time you send home the take home binders. The notes explain what a take home binder is, what is inside the binder, and the guidelines to take care of it.