Tips for Binder Organization

• Keep binders simple, as their purpose is to aid in organization. Le Club Symphonie/Ian Nolan/Photodisc/Getty Images

  Are you an unorganized student? Do you have an unorganized student in your life? Binders make wonderful organizational tools. A binder allows students enough freedom to personalize their organizational methods but also enough structure to keep their schoolwork together. Organized students experience less stress and more success, as they are prepared for class and are confident in their work. Binders help students with organization.

Binders

• Creating an organized binder requires several decisions. Students should first decide if they want a large binder for several classes or individual binders for each class. Once they have decided, they should sort through their papers, throwing away unnecessary ones, smoothing out papers and making piles.

  A tip in first setting up a binder is to hole punch all the papers and then place them in the binder. Students should not "poke" their papers with the binders' prongs, as this is messy. Another tip is to buy loose-leaf paper. Notebook paper has messy edges and catches on other papers as students flip through their binders.

Dividers

• Binder dividers help students locate information easily in their binders. Stores sell dividers that students can personalize. Some students prefer to make their own out of thick paper or cardboard. Students often use dividers as an opportunity to color code their binders.

  Dividers work best when they work for the student and his class. For instance, a language arts class may have divisions of grammar, reading quizzes, writing assignments and notes. Division must make sense to the student, or she will lack ownership in it and stop using the binder.

Maintenance

• Students are often fabulous at designing their binders. The biggest tip is for students to use their binders well. Students should not include material that is irrelevant to the binder. Students should not rip loose-leaf paper or assignments from it, but instead open the prongs to remove the paper neatly. When the teachers return papers, students should take time to place papers in their proper location.

  Students should look through their binders often because they aid in writing papers and studying for tests. Binders are easy to flip through, and students should do so when brainstorming a paper or preparing for a test. binders are a neat compilation of a class's material.

  Students should remain diligent about what they include in their binders. If a unit is over, students should ask the teacher if the paperwork needs to be kept. If not, it can be discarded so the binder does not become cluttered.