A simple way to keep your students’ files organized on their device

It’s that time of the year when my students reflect on what they’ve learned and present it at our annual Portfolio Night. During this digital showcase, they’re expected to gather artifacts from throughout the year that demonstrate how they exhibited our program’s learning outcomes, as well as what standards they’ve mastered in each content area. It’s really an amazing part of the program, one that I think everyone should do in some form.

I was so impressed today with my students’ level of analysis and reflection from just combing through their work from 7th grade on.  They really saw how much they’ve grown in various areas, and what still needs work. If you haven’t had them do some sort of digital portfolio and/or reflection, I highly recommend it. Students – especially struggling ones – benefit from seeing the progress they’ve made and that effort in school isn’t futile.

The caveat: it’s not easy to find past assignments! My students have been hunting these down from various places because I’ve collected them in various ways. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve used JunoDocs in JupiterEd, assignments uploaded to JupiterEd, Google Docs shared with me, and Google Docs assigned through Google Classroom (which automatically shares their work with me).  I’m a big fan of experimenting with different systems to find the best one(s) for my students; however that’s led to a bit of a scavenger hunt for them!

Organization is essential!

After asking them to scour their iPad for assignments spanning from the beginning of 7th grade to now, I realized that my students have different forms of “organization” based on what each teacher has taught them. Some teachers are very organized with folders and subject dividers in Notability, while others require that they just back everything up to Google Drive and/or Dropbox.

I think it would be helpful for teams to come to some sort of consensus as to how and where students should backup and store their data. This is really important because the students are still learning how to organize (and probably will continue to learn that into adulthood!). In the absence of a physical binder, dividers, or folders, Notability or Google Drive can quickly become a dumping ground for files that they’ll “eventually” put in order (anyone remember Monica’s junk closet on Friends?). It’s so much easier to hide your mess in the cloud, since the files just keep getting pushed down to the bottom. At least with a physical organization system, you can actually see the mess and are (ideally) forced to deal with it.

I remember in school having teachers who required different methods for storing their assignments. One teacher insisted on using a binder with dividers, another required Pee Chee folders, and one wanted composition books. With access to cloud storage, it seems like it would be much easier to stay organized! However, teachers must continually reinforce their organization system if they want students to be consistent about using it. I knew that my English teacher wanted a binder with dividers, and she’d notice if we didn’t have one. It’s less apparent on an iPad or device, but we too can demand the same from students.

After careful consideration, I finally decided what I think works best for my students.

My recommendations

There are obviously different organizational methods, but after having the iPads for a few years, I’ve found the easiest and most efficient ways to organize files are:

Option 1: Notability

1. Use an app like Notability for completing assignments.
2. Create subjects and folders for various classes and units. Be consistent about having students start a new folder in your subject whenever you start a unit.
3. Have a naming or numbering system for all assignments so that they’re easier to search.
4. Back up all notes to Google Drive since Google Apps for Education allows them to have unlimited space.

Option 2: Google Apps for Education (GAFE)

1. Use mainly GAFE for completing assignments or creating products. These will automatically save them in Google Drive.
2. Have students create folders for each class, and subfolders for each unit.
3. Have students start new Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc. within that folder so that it saves it where it needs to be.
4. Have a naming or numbering system for all assignments so that they’re easier to search.

Option 3: Dropbox for their thousands of pictures

1. Have students turn on Camera Upload in Dropbox so that they can save all of their selfies. Keep it separate from their Google Drive so that they don’t mix things up.
2. After the photos backup to Dropbox, have them delete those photos from their Camera Roll.

These are just the ones that I’ve used successfully, but I would LOVE to hear other suggestions, so leave a comment below about methods you’ve found to be successful!