The W.I.P.

The kids will never lose work again!

This idea was actually given to me by a beloved friend and colleague of mine. She is truly one of the greatest people in my life.

W.I.P. stands for "Work In Progress." It's an envelope that you tape to the back of the students' interactive notebooks and wherever else you want to put them. The students keep the work that they are not finished with in their W.I.P.'s. You can also put work that they missed while they were absent in there. I actually have the person who is in charge of the group for the day take care of that for me. It saves me time. The kids always know where to find their work and so do you!

(Word of advice: If you are going to tape the envelope to their notebooks and the notebook has holes in it like the one above, put a piece of tape on the other side of each hole, too, so that there is no dirt collection.)

It also helps to create a W.I.P. for that student who is always forgetting things like homework. Talk with the child about what they always take with them wherever they go no matter what. For one of my students who was a chronic homework-forgetter, she decided that her agenda book is something that she never goes anywhere without. We taped a W.I.P. into the back of the agenda, and she never forgot her homework again. =)

Truly a great idea!