My Favorite Binders

I recently posted about my new love affair with binders... a binder for each unit (Head, Heart, Hands) with page protectors for things like form drawing or watercolor painting that you don't want to damage with a hole punch. I have found the perfect binders! They are made by Wilson Jones who, according to their website, invented the three ring binder, so I'm not surprised. The GREAT thing about these binders is that you don't have to cut an annoying little strip of paper to go down the spine for labeling them. These genius folks have developed a binder where the spine label and the front cover consist of just one 8 1/2 x 11 paper which you find templates for online, create, and slip in. Presto!




They are called Custom Imprintand I prefer the 1 inch wide White ones.

Yes, they cost a little more but they are well made, easy to use, and look soooo nice standing in a little row on the shelf. I use the spine label in all caps to tell the name of the unit and then on the front I put the title of the block, whether it's Head, Heart, or Hands, and when I taught it. I put all my lesson plans and notes in there and it's great. For example, with the Baking unit (3rd Grade Maths of Practical Life) I can add all the recipes that we used, or stash away a recipe for future use if I see one and think, "This would be great for the Baking block." I was reading King Beetle-Tamer: And Other Light-Hearted Wonder Talesto my students the other day and, when we came across the chapter titled "New Days, New Ways," I thought this would be perfect for our Microscope Studies binder! So I went and got the Microscope Studies binder off the shelf and wrote myself a note for next year.