Mini Response Journals

We do a lot of writing in my class.

A LOT.

Everyday my students respond to the question of the day, jot, power write, practice vocabulary & grammar, etc.

In the past I had them organize all of their hard work in a spiral binder.

Classic Teacher Requirement

This was working out great until I had to grade them.

All 120 of my students turn them in on Friday, I would put them in four large crates, find a wheely cart, wheel them out to my car, drive them home, and have my husband & son help me lug them into the house.

All weekend they would take over my living room and kitchen.  On Sunday night {more like 3 am Monday morning} I would pack them back into the crates, load them into the car, and drive them back to school Monday morning.

I would have the janitors help me carry them into my classroom and I would distribute them back out to the students.

After about 4 weeks of this I was dreading Fridays!

Then, in a moment of genius I came up with.....

THE MINI JOURNAL!
{Insert angels singing}
It's a compact organizational dream come true!

I copy a cover, table of content sheet and 8 filler pages {front to back} for every student.
We  fold, & staple every 4 weeks.  {I spend about 5 minutes having my students make their own.  However, you can always make them ahead of time.  If you had that kind of time.}

Now when I take them up on Fridays, I put 120 of them in one little tote and skip out the door.

It has made my life ten thousand times easier!!

Instead of having the students purchase notebooks for class they just have to buy a pack of paper.

The ease and simplicity of it all makes my heart happy. 

The awesomeness is available at my TpT store!