Organizing all those handouts!

How do you organize your handouts for school?  When I started teaching I thought it would be best to organize by unit or by grade level or in binders… I tried all sorts of things.  But it was always hard to remember where I filed things.  I asked for advice from my friends and someone just suggested, ALPHABETICAL!  DUH!  So, no more separating handouts out by grade level, but everything is in a gigantic cabinet organized alphabetically… all of the handouts for grades k-6.  I’ve been doing this for several years now and it works perfectly for me.  So easy, so simple and now I can find things quickly.  I also ALWAYS collect the handouts back and then re-use them every year.  The only time I give them to the kids to keep is if they ask me for them (which doesn’t happen often).  The ones that are really good or have the potential to get dirty, I will laminate. 

Also, did you know I was gone to Disneyworld for the past week and a half?  Nope, probably not because I scheduled posts for when I was gone.  I will post pictures from our AWESOME trip later.