BINDER + NOTE TAKING ORGANIZATION

New school supplies...hooray! I don't know if I'll ever get tired of shopping for school supplies. Today I will share with you how I have been organizing my binders since my freshman year of high school! 

In high school I had two binders: one for morning classes, and one for my afternoon classes. I would go to my locker after lunch and switch them out. In college, I now have one for my MWF classes and another for my TTR classes. I printed some covers out and used our label maker to make the tabs for each class I have. The first document in each tab is always our class syllabus with important due dates and important reference sheets. In my school bag I always carry a small three- hole punch to hole punch papers distributed that may not have been punched in the copier. This way I can just pack each binder the night before class! I love not carrying around a bulky plastic file folder or having to remember each individual folder. 

When doing homework I keep my laptop open to Word and take notes using the 'Notebook Layout View' and then print my notes and stick them in my binder to bring to class the next day. When taking notes in class however, I use a 5 subject notebook because most of my professors prefer us not to have a laptop in class.  Above is a photo of my notebook and below, a screenshot of what my Notebook Layout View looks like. 

Depending on your class schedule or teachers preferences you may need to tweak this a little bit. I also have a 1/2 inch binder for my education class because we are observing and this involves PAGES of notes. It may not be binders but find a method of organization that works for you in the beginning of the school year and stick with it! When essays and finals come around it's so much easier to write/study if your notes are already organized by unit. Good luck!