Organization for IEP Season - Part One


IEP season approaches FAST.

Are you typically scrambling to get your reports in on time?

Feeling overwhelmed by the amount of data collection and how to translate all that good info into standard-based goals?

The struggle is real, teacher friend.  I am here with a four part series to share some of the organizational strategies I use to help me prepare for my reports and CSEs.




I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to find the organizational system that works best for you.  Don’t try to be someone you are not.   Every teacher runs his or her classroom differently…and it is going to take trial and error to find the technique that works the best for you.

My biggest suggestion for teachers looking to find their organizational niche is to scour the Internet…or my favorite, Pinterest, for ideas.  I have a ton of boards on Pinterest that I add to on a daily basis.  Please feel free to follow me to check out some of my latest pins.

 I have taken a little of this and a bit of that in order to create the system I find to work best.  For me, that is my teacher binder.

This is basically my go-to for everything.  For the past two years I have created my own custom binder jam-packed full of goodies to help keep myself organized.

I know many other teachers who have multiple binders.  One for planning…and even one binder specific per student…I have tried this technique in the past, but found multiple binders to be overwhelming.  This year I consolidated into one.

Here is a basic breakdown of what’s inside my binder: 


My schedule can change drastically from day to day.  So I stick to very large boxes that allow for a lot of room to jot down ideas, lesson materials, notes, and standards.  I also include the specials my students have each day.


Completely customizable CCSS sheets.  The highlighted side has student names listed so I can take notes on their achievements. The reverse side has boxes for me to mark when I reviewed that standard. 

The next section in my binder consists of the Common Core Standards checklists.  I purchased these pre-made lists on TpT from Tori Gorosave from Journeying Through the Middle.  These completely editable documents are a life saver.

In my binder I have the standards sorted by grade level for the grades I currently teach and sorted by subject.

Here is how I used them to help me
A) better plan for my daily lessons and,
B) write standard-based goals for next school year.
  • I customized the columns to fit the number of students I have in that grade (you can see this highlighted in yellow).  Here is where I fill in notes about my students as to whether or not they mastered the standard, how I make accommodations to achieve the standard, or if they are not on target to meet this standard for the year (helps me with goal planning).
  • Then, I also customize the document to fit enough columns for each month of the year going across the top of the page. In those columns I jot down the dates for when I cover the standards.  By doing this, I always have a very quick reference to know whether or not I covered a particular standard for the year and how many dates were spent reviewing that skill. 
  • I print these sheets double-sided in my binder so that the student data is on one side and the planning dates are on the reverse side.

Obviously pretty self-explanatory here.  I include a monthly calendar where I jot down important notes for upcoming meetings.

Of course I mark down when my IEP and Education Evaluations are due, in addition to my CSE meetings.

You can snag these cute, blank calendars already made for the whole year for free through Primary Graffiti's TpT store. Super cute!


Here are my Reading Behaviors Logs.  These are where I track my students' oral reading fluency, accuracy, and amount of time spent reading.

I also have a comments section where I take notice of important behaviors taking place as the student is reading...the time of day we read...things of that nature.

The graph paper is used to graph my students' WPM progress.  This data is SUPER helpful to me when writing my IEPs because I have all of my data smack dab in one spot...no need to go back and search through a million papers and checklists!


In this section I keep all my students' goals so that I can quickly refer to them on a daily basis.

All the way on the right column is where I jot down notes for strategies/standards needed to address that particular goal.


Lastly, I include a checklist of the students' accommodations/modifications.

In the past I used to keep a separate sheet for each student...but that became so daunting each time I was asked by a colleague for an accommodation for a particular student.  I was constantly thumbing through papers.

This year I decided to just make a standard checklist since many of my students receive similar accommodations/modifications.

Then, I just check off what those needs are...or jot down notes in the column which specifically states what the need may be.  For example, under Scribe/Assistive Technology...I make note of which one each child specifically needs.

So there you have it...part one of my series is really meant to stress the fact that you must find the organization system that will work best for you.

Have some great strategies for organizing your data throughout the year?  Leave your comments!

Looking for more tips? Click any of the pictures below to jump ahead in this series.




1 comment

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