Tapestry Users- What do you think? Crazy Idea or Good Idea?

[FlyingMOm]

So I was just thinking about Tapesry this morning and had an idea- I'm wondering if you think this is nuts or a good idea? Is there something I haven't considered?

 

Here's what I'm thinking of doing:

 

I've realized that I pretty much never use my Taestry binders or the Teachers Notes and was marinating on why this is so- I realized it's because the binder is just SO huge, even when divided into two binders- it's just not practical to use. I am thinking about separating my Tapestry into two sections-

 

One would be a smaller binder that just has the assignment pages, SAP's, etc. (basically, everything other than the notes) I'd keep them in the three hole binder for ease of use when copying, making my lesson plans, etc.

 

I would pull out all of the Teachers Notes and have them spiral bound into two notebooks- one for each semester. I think I would be much more likely to read & use the notes if they were not so cumbersome.

 

 

Do you have any thoughts on why this would or would not be a good idea?

[bethben]

Not crazy, but then you would have trouble with resale if you spiral bound everything (if that matters to you). I keep three weeks at a time in my teacher binder, but I never look at it because I copy everything I could possibly want at the beginning of the year. I do like your idea of just having the teacher notes for me to read in a separate binder. I might actually read them. I could get rid of the two levels I don't worry about right now. Hmmm...

 

beth

[coffeegal]

I think it's a crazy idea that just might work! :laugh: Instead of spiral binding the teacher's notes immediately, you could put them in their own binder (or two). Then you could restore TOG to it's original format if it doesn't work. Later, after a test run, you can spiral bind the teacher's notes as you originally planned.

[FlyingMOm]

Those are both good ideas/thoughts, thank you!

 

I think I just might do it.

[Professormom]

So I was just thinking about Tapesry this morning and had an idea- I'm wondering if you think this is nuts or a good idea? Is there something I haven't considered?

 

Here's what I'm thinking of doing:

 

I've realized that I pretty much never use my Taestry binders or the Teachers Notes and was marinating on why this is so- I realized it's because the binder is just SO huge, even when divided into two binders- it's just not practical to use. I am thinking about separating my Tapestry into two sections-

 

One would be a smaller binder that just has the assignment pages, SAP's, etc. (basically, everything other than the notes) I'd keep them in the three hole binder for ease of use when copying, making my lesson plans, etc.

 

I would pull out all of the Teachers Notes and have them spiral bound into two notebooks- one for each semester. I think I would be much more likely to read & use the notes if they were not so cumbersome.

 

 

Do you have any thoughts on why this would or would not be a good idea?

 

. This is really a terrific idea... The size if the binder is a roadblock for me too, but I love having the binder because, frankly, I got used to it with Sonlight and would be miserable without it, lol. But taking out the teacher's notes... That's genius, not crazy:-)

[besroma]

Like bethben, I keep only a few weeks in my teacher binder at a time.

 

If you want to separate things, I would buy the small binders from Staples instead of getting the spiral binding.

[Georgiana Daniels]

Give it a try! If you're already not using the teacher notes then trying something new couldn't hurt :)

 

For a while I stopped digging into the notes because I couldn't find the extra time. Now I discovered that having the binder on the couch next to me works because in the minutes the kids work without asking questions, I can read the notes.

[HLDoll]

I keep the current week and the next week in a small teacher binder so I can read the notes when the kids are working independently on something else. The size of those big binders is just too much for me; they stay on the shelf. I spend a day each quarter and do all the book and activity planning for the next unit with the big unit binder, but for my day to day teaching/reading, I only keep 2 weeks on hand. Much more manageable and less intimidating.