Teacher I work with is very unorganized!! Help me find the words to tell her?

Question

I just went back to work after summer vacation and have a wonderful wonderful teacher I assist and work with throughout my day. I couldn't ask for more , we work very closely and get along great and work very well together, however I am a very organized person when it comes to work i hate papers laying around everywhere and i like knowing where to find things when i need them, she is the complete opposite and is very very unorganized which puts a whole lot of stress on me through out the day, she sometimes can't find important papers and i have to find them for her ,she stresses out when she misses a deadline because her calender is missing This is driving me crazy!!! I have tried in the nicest words to tell her but now it's a new year and has already started! I'm constantly cleaning and organizing and am hour later it's a huge mess!! I'm not obsessed with being neat or anything but my mind does fell a mess when I can't find anything!! Help! help me tell her in a nice way please!

Answer 1

Don't sugar coat it be straight and honest of how thing won't work for her if she keeps on being so unorganized she needs to be careful as to where she places her important things because losing something she might get in trouble, now as for you don't stress over something that can be fixed by letting her get in a bit of trouble, some people learn the hard way, she is supposed to be an adult she should know more about organization and responsibility or what can she teach her students about something she doesn't practice

Answer 2

If she is disorganized and not able to locate papers easily, I would work with her to come up with a strategy to organize things.  Invest in some new paper trays, in/out boxes,  and then hopefully she will learn to adapt to being organized.  

Answer 3

Most disorganized people would LOVE a neat freak on their team.  Explain your affinity for organization and offer to share your talents.  She'll love it.  Make sure you take the approach of teaching her techniques though.  Otherwise you may end up a "maid".

Answer 4

Don't tell her she is disorganized. She knows it. Ask her tactfully if she would like some help getting and staying organized this year. If she accepts, set up systems for her, label boxes, have a place for everything and train her to put it in its place. Creative people often don't know how to label things. My son, for instance, has a big box labeled "important papers" which is full to overflowing but totally unsorted.

Some important papers can go up on the wall, like the calendar, weekly bulletins, etc. Horizontal surfaces should be avoided. Another good strategy is to teach the kids how to help their teacher. There are always several gifted organizers in every class, and they can be really helpful. When I was teaching third grade I even had a student who wanted to learn how to make lesson plans for me. After I showed her how, she was a genius at it. Another student always knew where every single item was. Harness those kids! They will love it.

There are websites for teachers on how to get organized in the classroom. I recommend you visit one yourself, rather than telling her, which probably wouldn't help. Be sure you teach her to do all this herself though, or your work will increase, not decrease.