Organizing Materials for Classes

[Charlotte]

I'm back with another question regarding how you organize your materials for class. I suppose this is more of a two part question:

1. How do you organize the materials you find FOR your class such as interesting articles, websites, videos, class activities, etc.? Sources that you may want to use in a class one day and you do not want to forget about and lose?

2. Actual organization of student papers/assignments, grade sheets, tests, handouts, lecture notes, etc.

(As an aside, how long do I need to plan on keeping completed tests/grade sheets for students?)

I am typically quite organized but with it being my first semester teaching, having to plan to move online if necessary, and never having taught so many classes at the same time before, I'm already feeling a little scattered. I'm also trying to set up assignment reminders in a calendar so I don't forget anything.

What do you use/do to stay organized?

[marshwiggle]

I'm back with another question regarding how you organize your materials for class. I suppose this is more of a two part question:

1. How do you organize the materials you find FOR your class such as interesting articles, websites, videos, class activities, etc.? Sources that you may want to use in a class one day and you do not want to forget about and lose?

My normal way of delivering courses is via web pages. They're great for the things you mentioned because , for instance, links on the website are good unless/until the linked resource is removed.

2. Actual organization of student papers/assignments, grade sheets, tests, handouts, lecture notes, etc.

Your institution probably has a rule about how long exams, etc. must be kept. A year is pretty common.

And on my computer, I have folders for each course, sub-folders for "admin", "lectures", etc. and then I have sub-floders of each of those by year.  That way, when I need to update something, I copy the previous version into the current year's folder and make the changes. That way I can also go back to any previous version, or find documents I used earlier but haven't lately if they need to be revived.

(As an aside, how long do I need to plan on keeping completed tests/grade sheets for students?)

I am typically quite organized but with it being my first semester teaching, having to plan to move online if necessary, and never having taught so many classes at the same time before, I'm already feeling a little scattered. I'm also trying to set up assignment reminders in a calendar so I don't forget anything.

What do you use/do to stay organized?

One thing for assignments, quizzes, etc. is to name them "quiz 1", "quiz 2", etc. if they come in a logical sequence because each one prompts the next one (as opposed to "reed baskets", "twig baskets", etc.) Also, if you can ALWAYS have quizzes on Monday (or whatever) it means you don't have to remember as much; it's just a routine to follow.

[spork]

Students appreciate routine too.

[Caracal]

I'm back with another question regarding how you organize your materials for class. I suppose this is more of a two part question:

1. How do you organize the materials you find FOR your class such as interesting articles, websites, videos, class activities, etc.? Sources that you may want to use in a class one day and you do not want to forget about and lose?

2. Actual organization of student papers/assignments, grade sheets, tests, handouts, lecture notes, etc.

(As an aside, how long do I need to plan on keeping completed tests/grade sheets for students?)

I am typically quite organized but with it being my first semester teaching, having to plan to move online if necessary, and never having taught so many classes at the same time before, I'm already feeling a little scattered. I'm also trying to set up assignment reminders in a calendar so I don't forget anything.

What do you use/do to stay organized?

Um....I download them and save them to a folder on my computer probably called 1181-Fall 2017. If I'm lucky, that's the right file, but if not that's what the search function is for. If I do lose them, I can probably dig them up again...

I don't try to save paper copies of lecture notes or handouts. They also just go in the class file on the computer and I toss the paper copies after class. Some of this is about my inability to keep things organized, but I'm not sure paper copies would even be all that useful. I often make  small changes to my class notes every time I teach.

You sound like you are less likely to end up with a bunch of crumpled up papers in your bag than I am, but even so, I'd suggest avoiding collecting lots of paper copies of small stakes assignments to grade. When you are teaching a bunch of classes that kind of stuff really adds up. If there's a way to have your students do things like quizzes or assignments on the CMS, do that. Ditto on grade sheets. I resisted the CMS grade sheets for a few years, but it simplifies things. There's certainly no reason to be carting around paper copies of that kind of stuff.

You'll hear different things about how long you're supposed to keep things like blue. books for. I'd just look at the policy for grade appeals. Mine says they have to be filed a month after the start of the next term. So I keep them till then and then toss them (at my house far away from campus)

[Vkw10]

1. How do you organize the materials you find FOR your class such as interesting articles, websites, videos, class activities, etc.? Sources that you may want to use in a class one day and you do not want to forget about and lose?

My standard file layout is:
CourseName
...Mod1-BasketTypes
...Mod2-ReedBaskets
...NeatStuff
...x2020SummerGraded
...x2019FallModules

The current course materials are in the Mod folders, ready to add to Canvas. At the end of semester, I copy all the Mod folders into a folder named for the semester (x2019FallModules).

Graded assignments are dropped into folder by semester, with file names patterned as LastnameFirstnameInitial-Assignment. Example: FordGeraldR-quiz1. If I need an assignment, I can find it. When I'm no longer required to keep, I just delete the folder.

The NeatStuff folder is for things I might use sometime. I prune it every time I set the course up for a new semester. Anything that I don't use in course setup is deleted. I always have more NeatStuff than I can use, so I'm ruthless about deleting items.

When I set up course for next semester, I copy over modules from last time I taught. I go through NeatStuff folder and move each item to appropriate module, completely emptying the folder. I review the folder for each module, editing as needed and deleting anything that I'm not going to add to Canvas.

FYI, the x at beginning of folder names is to force the historical materials to file after current materials.

One of my colleagues adds items that might be useful to EndNote, with tags for relevant course. Another files by course name and module. A third set up blog for each course, where she posts about interesting items she's found, including links and tagging items with the module name so she can find later. (Some of students even follow her blog and comment on items.) The only "system" I've seen that didn't work was just dropping all the "might be useful" items into one folder, with no indication of where/when it might be useful.

[Charlotte]

Re: quizzes being numbered. That's a good idea, thanks! I had considered putting smaller assignments and quizzes on Blackboard and leaving it open for a week but that does mean if one takes the quiz first they can share the questions with the rest of the class.

On the other hand, I'm sure there are students who will cheat no matter what I do so I'm trying to find the balance between not making it easy for them but also not stressing over something that is somewhat out of my control.

[Hegemony]

No, definitely do not let them take the quizzes online in any way they can share with others. They will cheat. The only way to give quizzes online is to make a large question group of multiple-choice questions, set up the LMS to choose a certain number of questions from the group for each student, have the order of the answers randomized, and set a time limit per quiz. But if you're teaching in person, just administer the quiz in class.

Setting up the quizzes so that students can cheat will mean word gets around, students will hear others talk about cheating, they will be demoralized, and they will resent you for putting them in a situation where being honest means getting a lower grade. Do not do that.

[downer]

For organizing materials I find on the web, I started using dropmark.com. You can make folders for different classes.

Now I just add links with some descriptions to a shared page on Google Docs.

If you are in danger of getting swamped, them always remember to keep things simple. If you find you have too much to do, then reduce the amount of work you are giving yourself.

[Charlotte]

No, definitely do not let them take the quizzes online in any way they can share with others. They will cheat. The only way to give quizzes online is to make a large question group of multiple-choice questions, set up the LMS to choose a certain number of questions from the group for each student, have the order of the answers randomized, and set a time limit per quiz. But if you're teaching in person, just administer the quiz in class.

Setting up the quizzes so that students can cheat will mean word gets around, students will hear others talk about cheating, they will be demoralized, and they will resent you for putting them in a situation where being honest means getting a lower grade. Do not do that.

That's a good point, thank you!

[Caracal]

No, definitely do not let them take the quizzes online in any way they can share with others. They will cheat. The only way to give quizzes online is to make a large question group of multiple-choice questions, set up the LMS to choose a certain number of questions from the group for each student, have the order of the answers randomized, and set a time limit per quiz. But if you're teaching in person, just administer the quiz in class.

Setting up the quizzes so that students can cheat will mean word gets around, students will hear others talk about cheating, they will be demoralized, and they will resent you for putting them in a situation where being honest means getting a lower grade. Do not do that.

It depends what the purpose of the quizzes is. Mine are just reading quizzes, they are very easy and don't count for that much.  If you even skim the reading you'll get a 100, and I give students a chance to retake the quiz once. All I'm trying to do is make sure there's some accountability for the reading. It has the effect of getting the more diligent students to read, something even they won't do otherwise. I don't really need to care too much if some students try to get around doing the reading by cheating. They aren't actually saving themselves much time and they'll do worse on the exams.

[mamselle]

For ordering things by date, I use the yyyy.mm.dd system at the beginning of the file name.

That automatically sorts them by date in descending order.

(You can add the "x," or a series of numbers with a period afterwards, as well, if you need to make them fall out in some other way)

I learned this from a lab director I used to work for, it was very easy to work with his files as a result.

M.

[FishProf]

All good suggestions, the most important of which is "think through your organization and standardize the naming a priori.

Folders and tags (if available) are your friends.

[Charlotte]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate how the members here take the time to answer my questions. I've also been reading some of the older threads and I feel more prepared for this semester.

I will standardize my naming practices as many of you suggested and keep a folder of NeatStuff organized by class type, probably further organized by assignment type, website, etc.

I think I'm going to put my quizzes and exams online but have them take them during class time in the computer lab. This will minimize cheating and also keep the physical paper copies to a minimum.

The professors that I was a TA for always kept paper copies of grade sheets in addition to the online grade book. I'm not sure why, perhaps it was some department policy or they didn't trust the online grade book? I may print a physical copy of the online grade book just as a backup, but not keep an individual grade sheet for each student.

[marshwiggle]

The professors that I was a TA for always kept paper copies of grade sheets in addition to the online grade book. I'm not sure why, perhaps it was some department policy or they didn't trust the online grade book? I may print a physical copy of the online grade book just as a backup, but not keep an individual grade sheet for each student.

You might just do a periodic screenshot and save it to your local (i.e. NOT cloud-based) storage, so if there's a problem like that you can recreate things by hand.

[spork]

During the semester I periodically export/download a copy of the gradebook so that it resides in multiple locations. My university uses Canvas and Microsoft OneDrive, so exporting from Canvas means I've stored students' grades twice on the cloud, presumably on distinct server networks, plus I have a local copy on my computer. If all three storage locations fail simultaneously and permanently, then Jeremy and Kaitlin probably have much bigger things to worry about than their last quiz scores.