The October Reset: Getting Organized in an Inquiry-Based Science Classroom

Because great science learning can come with a ridiculous amount of paper.

If you're reading this, chances are you're interested in inquiry-based teaching. And I gotta tell you, I think it's the most fun way to teach science.

But it's also one of the most laborious.

There are SO many moving parts. Investigations, models, student thinking, discussions, notes, reflections... and, of course, the never-ending piles of paper.

For a long time, there were so many things I was doing right. But there were also so many things I was doing wrong.

Here's what I've come to realize: Students absolutely need inquiry for good science learning. But they ALSO need notes. They need organized binders. They need summaries of all that great learning they've done. Because what good is an incredible investigation if, three weeks later, students can't find what they figured out?

After years of trial and error, I think I've finally figured out a few ways to get a handle on all of this.

And some of these ideas are so ridiculously simple that I'm almost embarrassed it took me this long.

1. The Clippy Part Is Nonnegotiable

I have a VERY strict binder policy. Students must have a binder with rings, which I affectionately refer to as the clippy part. They also need pockets or those clear plastic flaps on the sides of their binders that act like folders.

Here's the deal: I only hole-punch papers that I actually want students to KEEP. Those papers get a page number at the top, and they belong in the clippy part. Every paper you want students to keep, take a moment to pause and have kids handwrite the number in at the top right hand corner and circle it. BOOM. Major organizational tool in place! This might sound elementary, but honestly, I don't remember learning this in teacher school. It wasn't until an administrator shared this idea with me a couple of years ago that I realized what a difference it could make.

Here's why those page numbers are so great. As long as you can get kids to actually write the page number at the top, you've got half a chance of getting them organized. And let's be realistic. You are ABSOLUTELY going to have kids who just shove everything into the side of their binders.

• Even though you've thoughtfully given them time to put things in the correct clippy part.

• Even though you've reminded them.

• Even though you've probably stood there and watched them do it.

• Because they're ninth graders.

  
  

BUT here's the beautiful thing about numbered pages: other adults can help them get organized, too. A special education teacher, teaching assistant, parent, or anyone helping a student can look at those numbers and figure out where things belong. It's a simple system that doesn't require someone to understand every single thing happening in your science classroom.

2. The Investigation Workbook Gets Its Own Home

I print my investigative notebooks workbook-style, with two staples along the side.

And I make the front cover GREEN. That green workbook lives in the side pocket of their binder, NOT in the clippy part. This makes life so much easier as we move through a unit.

Instead of students digging through 14 different papers, I can simply say, "Get out your green workbook," or "Turn to page 5." That's it. And because all the investigation pages are together, students have a running record of their thinking as they work through the unit.

3. Color-Coding Is My New Best Friend

I've also started printing certain materials on specific colors of paper.

Nothing fancy. Just a system that makes important materials easier to recognize.

• Yellow: Our initial model page, where students record their early thinking about a phenomenon.

• Blue: Lab takeaways, where we pull together the big ideas we've figured out.

• Pink: Quiz objective sheets, so students can easily find what they need to know.

• Green: The investigation workbooks that live in the binder pockets.

I love this because I can say, "Find your blue takeaway page," and students know exactly what they're looking for. Well, most of them.

It's also a visual reminder that not all papers serve the same purpose. Some are for figuring things out. Some are for capturing what we've learned. And some are for helping us prepare to show what we know.

4. Not Every Piece of Paper Deserves a Spot in the Clippy Part

This one has been a big shift for me. I used to feel like students needed to keep EVERYTHING.

Every Brain Stretch. Every homework assignment. Every little paper we used along the way.

But here's the thing: They don't.

If we completed a Brain Stretch to get our thinking going, and that learning has since been captured in a more complete set of notes, we probably don't need to keep the Brain Stretch. Same with homework. If the important learning has already been summarized somewhere else, do students really need to hang on to that paper forever? Nope.

The goal isn't to create the world's thickest science binder. The goal is to create a binder that students can actually USE.

I want students to be able to flip through their notes and find the important ideas we've figured out, rather than dig through six weeks of papers just to find one diagram.

5. The Post-Investigation Binder Cleanout

Here's another routine I've started building into my classroom. After we finish an investigation, we take a little time to go through our binders together. We toss the papers we no longer need. We make sure our numbered pages are in order. And we move anything important out of those side pockets and into the clippy part where it belongs. It's basically a little binder reset.

And yes, I know. In a perfect world, students would just put everything away correctly the first time.

But I don't teach in a perfect world. I teach ninth graders. And I've realized that if I want students to develop organizational skills, I actually have to give them time to practice those skills.

Not just tell them to be organized and hope for the best.

The Bigger Picture: Inquiry Needs Organization, Too

I think one of the biggest lessons I've learned is that inquiry-based teaching doesn't mean students should have to piece everything together on their own forever. The investigations, discussions, and modeling are where so much of the learning happens. But students also need opportunities to stop, make sense of what they've figured out, and capture that learning in a way they can return to later.

That's why I've become much more intentional about the notes and summaries that come after investigations.

I'm not trying to replace inquiry with notes. I'm trying to make sure all that wonderful thinking doesn't get lost somewhere between page 7 of the green workbook and a crumpled Brain Stretch at the bottom of a backpack.

And if a few colored pieces of paper, some page numbers, and a very strict clippy-part policy can help with that?

I'll take it.