The "Turn it in" Binder

I'm linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper again to share what I am trying this year for collecting student work...

For the last several years, I've used the "different drawer for each subject" method of collecting student work. While it did a great job of keeping my classroom organized, there were some definite drawbacks. Mostly, it's REALLY easy to skip out on grading until the drawer is too full to hold anything else! I know the phrase, "just stack it on top of the papers from a few days ago" has come out of my mouth more often than I'd like to admit!

I'm trying something different this year, and I LOVE it so far! I'm having my students turn all their work in to different pockets in a "Turn It In" binder. (Disclaimer - I got the idea either from Pinterest or from someone's blog, but now I can't seem to find it to give credit. If I stole this idea from you, let me know so I can give you credit! And thank you, thank you, thank you for making my life easier!)

     

All you need is a binder, a package of plastic divider pockets, and a bunch of copes of your class list. I put the pockets into the binder, and made a cute cover page with instructions for those who forget. When it's time to turn in an assignment, I tape a class list on an empty divider and write the assignment on it. Students place their work in the pocket and highlight their name on the list.

Reasons I love it:
1. It's easy to look and see who hasn't turned something in yet.
2. I mark absent students (or students who are at speech, etc.) right on the list so it's easy to see why I may not have work for everyone.
3. When there's just a pocket to turn in the paper, students HAVE to put it in neatly, and most of them put it right side up!
4. When I'm ready to take papers home to grade, I just grab the binder and throw it in my bag.
5. There are only 8 page protectors, so I can't let papers pile up too much!

FREEBIE: If you like the binder cover I made, you can grab it FREE in my TPT Store! Just click on the picture!