How to Organize and Save Student Artwork and Notes

One of the questions I frequently get asked when I’m presenting to teachers about classroom organization strategies is, “What should I do with all the drawings and notes my students give me?”

I can’t think of any other profession besides teaching where people constantly draw you pictures and leave happy little notes for you. It’s one of the perks.

It also leaves you with more paper to manage and organize. As teachers, we already have our hands full with that. I’ve been guilty of saying, “Oh this is lovely. I’m going to take it home and put it on my refrigerator.” None of my little friends have ever questioned the fact that there is no refrigerator large enough to hold all of the student artwork that is allegedly hanging on it, but I digress.

I had designated a spot in the classroom to display student creations and would rotate it out as new pics came in. However, taking down one student’s work to put up another’s could be hurtful.

This is a perfect solution.

Create a binder to store all of those sweet little notes and drawings.

I love the idea of making it available for the class to read because it encourages writing for an audience/purpose.

If you are going to go that route, I suggest asking the author/artist before putting a piece of his/her work into the binder in case they view it as personal.

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