When I was in middle school (grades 6-8) the principal decided to start of school wide focus on organization. It was a little crazy at first but it really seemed to work.
All students in the school were required to have a black three inch three-ring binder. The binder had to have a cloth or plastic pencil bag, a divider for each subject and a slim hole punch that was kept in the binder. The pencil bag had to have pencils, pens, a small pencil sharpener, hole reinforcer stickers, erasers, and a small pack of map pencils - basically all the supplies needed for middle school....
Thanks for posting about this! We had a similar organizational training experience... from elementary school on, a folder color was specified for each subject. In upper grades, this was both a folder and a tabbed binder. Supplies in a pencil bag inside the tabbed binder... a place for everything, and everything in its place. Occasional classroom checks for compliance.
Your MS principal's preference for one binder sounds good too... a bit larger to carry, but there's not a risk of a student bringing the wrong binder to any class.
This organizational practice is something which I took for granted... maybe thought everyone was doing some form of this. Definitely something which more schools could adapt and implement... lots of students and families may benefit.
