Altering the Teacher Manual physically

[mom2one]

Howdy all,
I was looking, but didn't find an answer on the message board.

This is our first year with HOD. I was curious...
Do you keep your manual as is, or alter it in anyway to make your daily use easier?

The post-its sticking out, and the flipping back and forth... I could do without that.
However, I am unsure what the best solution is.

Any suggestions
Tia

[mindywp]

This is my second year using HOD & finally bought stick on divider tabs, I believe they are the Avery write on tabs & are strong, but removable. I use them on my HOD & DITHOR Teacher's Manuals. I was using sticky notes & they were not holding up too well. HTH

Mindy

[Candice]

Post-It Filing Tabs are very handy and durable.
They have a great adhesive backing that totally keeps the tab in place yet, you can easily move it if needed. And it doesn't crumble and wrinkle like a basic sticky-note. Very useful for keeping things clearly marked and organized.

[striving2Bprov31]

For the two-page daily spread, I just use a durable sturdy boomark!!! Like those plastic-ish kind......




For the poetry I just make a copy of each poem and keep them in a file folder, same for dictation....so that it is all seperated and we don't have to handle the teacher's guide to do poetry and spelling.

HTH!

[arstephia]

I copied the poetry and dictation pages too. We like to hang the poems on our school room wall for awhile so I copied on pretty paper. The dictation I copied mainly because where she sits and does her dictation writing varies so it is in her binder and goes with us. (Sometimes we have to go to a different room if the other kids are doing work that requires quiet.) Otherwise I have a HUGE binder clip that clips the smallest half of the pages of my book together so I can just flop it open and I just move the clip to the next day when the school day is done. I know some people cut the binding off and put in a binder, but I would be afraid of losing a page.

[mom23]

I'm teaching from 2 manuals. I have the bindings cut off and put them into a 3-ring binder; then each week pull out from my two big manual binders the weekly plans that we need for each child, as well as the poetry, etc. and put those together in one small binder that's easier for me to lug around and find what I need. I also use those more durable sticky tab dividers labeled with each child's name so we can find what we need quickly.

[hopeallgoeswell]

I took mine to FedEx/Kinkos and had the spine cut off, front/back pages laminated, and then spiral bound. I still have tabs sticking out (having to flip between the daily schedule and the dictation) and copying the poetry is awkward on my printer with the big TM. Next year, I plan on doing what mom23 does. I think that will fit me better. I must say, I am very glad I laminated the front cover. It is very durable! I guess it comes down to personal preference.

HTH!

[Bramble]

We use the sticky tabs. I'm amazed at how well they work! I don't like how worn my covers are getting, though, and have thought about having them spiral bound and laminated for ease of copying and durability (for the covers.) However, I don't really like spirals and how the pages get worn at the binding.

[birchbark]

Here's what I did. It's working fabulously.

[basesloaded]

These are all such great ideas! All I have been doing is putting a different colored paper clip at the top of the page at all the different spots like today, dictation, extensions, poetry, etc. Thanks for sharing all your ideas!

[amarie]

Hi Tia,

My Beyond manual was punched for 3 rings and is in a large 3 ring binder. I have another smaller binder that we use every day. I put maybe a month's worth of the lesson plans in the first section of the smaller binder, and then I have four more sections for poetry, reading questions, spelling words, and extra stuff that isn't in HOD. This way it is not as heavy and cumbersome for my hands.

Amy

[mom2one]

Gals,

These are great ideas.
I think I put them to good use.

Tia

[water2wine]

I tab divide mine with post it stick ons to mark all the sections and where we are at. I also write in the guide anything that we are adding on that correlates easy with what is there for my oldest as a beef up. For other things I have my oldest doing I make a Spread sheet and tape it to the inside flap. Also have a little check list inside of what needs to be checked by me each day so things do not slip through the cracks. And sometimes I write notes to myself in it or notes to the kids like different words I want the to look up or Bible verse to look up. I try especially hard to put things in for the next time I use the guide as well, maybe things that were neat to do or a part of the Bible to read. Pretty much it is a mess when I am done with it. But I am not looking to sell it, just get the best use out of it my several times I use it.