Managing Teaching Files

Computer files! Save it, can't find it when you need it. HATE THAT!

So I try to organize them. I had teaching files on my thumb drive and on my computer; some duplicates, some where in one place when I would look for them in the other, some where just in the wrong place.

Then I started using Dropbox.. their motto is 'simplify your life' and they have been successful at simplifying mine! 

Sign up for free here! It is only free for 2 GB of storage but thats a lot! I have a ton of files and haven't come too close to hitting the limit. 

Whats so great about it? Well I have Dropbox installed on my computer at school, on my phone, and on my computer so I can access my files from any of these locations without needing ANYTHING! 

No more forgetting to save a file on your thumb drive and now you don't have the copies you need the next day at school. Also no more duplicate files all over the place and not knowing where you put them (my favorite part).

So first step is put all of your files in one place. I choose my computer. This took time. I really went through them and decided what I wanted to keep and where to put them.

While I did this I made a lot of folders.. a lot, a lot. 

The little green checks mean they are loaded into DropBox.

Then inside each folder get even more specific with more folders..

Inside my reading folder this is what you'll find:

I just basically did a huge sort (like our students do) and put things that that were similar together.

Math is a little different, I organized it by skills so I'm putting all related worksheets/printables/workstations/centers all in one folder on that skill. My thought behind this is when I get ready to teach it I just open up that folder and see what I have. 

After I finished organizing all my folders on my computer, I just 'selected all' and dragged them over to Dropbox. As I said, I downloaded Dropbox to my phone too so now you can see how I have all my files easy to access even on my phone:

Not sure why I would need them on my phone BUT I do know why I'd need them in my classroom on that computer!

It's so nice knowing where I can find what I'm looking for. Sometimes all the folders make it for a few extra clicks but it is worth it by how much time I'm saving not searching everywhere for what I'm looking for!

Happy organizing!

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