Avoiding the Paper Trap

Organizing the mounds of paper we encounter everyday is not as difficult as it seems. In fact, this page (which is excerpted from Chapter 4 of The Cornerstone book) will show you you can set up a system in a very short amount of time that will provide a place for every single piece of paper! You’ve heard the old adage: A place for everything, and everything in it’s place. It really is that simple!

7 simple steps to organizing your papers

It doesn’t matter what type of containers you use, as long as you have a designated spot for each type of paper. You can use baskets, crates, magazine file boxes, metal organizers,plastic trays, or any combination of resources that are on hand.  I’ll show you photos here of a variety of organizers that have worked for me over the years. I’ve changed systems many times.  But the idea is always the same: there is ONE place for EVERY paper.

You MUST choose containers that make it easy to put papers where they belong. If it’s too much trouble to put them away, you won’t do it.

I hear a lot of overwhelmed teachers say they don’t know where to start when it comes to tackling the massive amounts of paper in the classroom.  So I divided the organizational process into steps which I’ve listed in order of priority.  If you do one or two steps a week, you’ll be completely and permanently organized in about a month’s time.  You can do it! These are easily sustainable systems that can be taken to any grade level and any school you teach in for the rest of your career.

Gather all the containers and organizers you have, and then choose among them for each category of papers, one step at a time.  If you don’t have anything suitable, list the types of containers you’d like to buy, and then make an investment in your own sanity by heading out to a discount store to purchase them.  You’ll be glad you did once everything’s in place.

I’m sure you’re wondering how it’s possible to break out of this trap in a classroom that is overflowing with paper: Where do I find the place for each paper? What kind of containers do I need (and how much is it going to cost me to get them?) How should the papers be categorized?Don’t worry–I’m going to spell out the answers to all of these questions and more in a guide that I adapted from my book, The Cornerstone: Classroom Management That Makes Teaching More Effective, Efficient, and Enjoyable.

The guide is called Avoiding the Paper Trap: A 7-Step System for Organizing Every Paper in Your Classroom. In this free PDF, I will show you step-by-step how I implemented the system and include photos of the materials I used. The system is pretty straightforward and I believe it can be adapted for any teacher at any grade level.

I have already given the Avoiding the Paper Trap PDF away for free to my email subscribers–if you’d like to receive it, too, just enter your email address below and you’ll get the download sent straight to your inbox. Enjoy!