The take-home folder is one of the most important and essential elements in the home/school relationship. Often times, it’s your best tool for communicating with parents. If you can get your students in the habit of using it every day, it can really help your organization and communication in the classroom. We gathered up some of our favorite take-home folder ideas from teachers around the web. We hope they help inspire you in your classroom this year.
1. Lend a Hand
This take home folder helps kids and parents stay organized in a really easy way. Your students can trace their hands in different colors and then paste them to the inside of the folder. This should help them get in the habit of what to keep and send back.
2. Take it Vertical
If you don’t have the cubbies or space to stack your folders, then take it vertical with this kind of system. Now this is an awesome use of space!
3. Use a Binder
Don’t let the “bulk” of a binder dissuade you from using one as your take-home folder. This blog, Teaching with Haley, explains why a binder has been a great solution for this teacher. She gives step-by-step instructions on how to make the home-school organization easier.
4. Reading Folders
Now you can send books home with students and feel confident that they’ll come back on time and in good shape. All you need is some folders, labels, and a little bit of velcro. Take a look at how this teacher figured out a good reading system for her classroom.
5. Milk Crate Organization
We’ve seen different versions of this system…from keeping the classroom organized to having a place to store graded papers. We like it for keeping take-home folders organized, too. It keeps it all in one spot, and students can pick it up at the end of each day.
6. Put it Front and Center
Here’s another idea we want to steal and modify! Instead of putting take-home folders in a desk or another place that could get forgotten, how about putting them on the front of your students’ desks? With some velcro magic, you could easily install these. Then they can easily add things to the folder throughout the day.
7. Mini MailboxesÂ
If you have the space and funds, then pick up a few sets of these plastic drawers in the organization area of your local store. They are easy to move around and decorate. Plus, there’s enough room to put a take-home folder and all that extra paper that piles up during the week.
8. A Borrowed IdeaÂ
Sometimes the best ideas come from the most ordinary places. This is the case with this next one. It takes a dish drying rack and turns it into a folder organization system! Genius.
