Making Paperwork Work

In our school district, enrollment paperwork etc. comes to the teachers in large manila envelopes which we then distribute to parents. This can get confusing when some papers need to be completed immediately, some need to be returned within the week, and some can stay at home. To alleviate the confusion, I created Open House Folders this year.

Each family received a bright green folder with all the annual paperwork inside. The folders were placed at student desks so parents could easily locate their paperwork and complete it. I decided to set up the folders like our standard Friday Folders to familiarize parents with the routine. This gave me two pockets: Left at Home and Right back to School. I ordered the papers by importance within their pockets so parents saw the most critical things first.

I needed parents to complete three papers before they left for the evening. I placed these at the front of the Right back to School pocket. I placed a brightly colored sticky note on the first page that didn't need to be completed right away and marked it "Stop here!" Take a look!

The parents who made it to Open House appreciated this arrangement and it eliminated a lot of questions, which gave me more time to get to know my future students. A winning situation all around! And that's how we keep it class-y for Open House, folks.