You guys have my utmost respect. Teaching is tough. How do you do it all? Because, really, the actual teaching is the least of it, isn’t it? Just off the top of my head (and I’m NOT a teacher), you’re also:

Forget “educational rockstar.” You’re a fah-reakin’ hero.

If you haven’t heard of the bullet journal before, it's basically a blank notebook that does all the things. It becomes a planner, a writing journal, and a personal diary. The concept was developed by Ryder Carroll. You draw (or paste) in your own calendars and use the notebooks for tracking all kinds stuff. The components that make a Bujo a Bujo are:

• an index;
• logs (daily, weekly, monthly, and/or future lists);
• the “rapid logging system” (aka bullet notes); and
• signifiers (symbols) that identify your entries in some way (e.g., as tasks, events, or notes).

The thing about Bujos is that they give you ONE place for ALL THE THINGS. No, really. No more tracking stuff (grades, attendance, supplies needed, meetings, lightbulb moments, stuff students say) in multiple places. No more lost sticky notes. No more pulling your hair out when the system or the wifi is down. Just one personal journal, always at your fingertips for quick reference. (Unless you forget it at home. Don’t forget it at home, ‘k?)

For educators, paper records are da bomb. A blog post over at Alexandra Plans explains why: “Although I log attendance online, I can’t stress to you enough how important it is to have everything down on paper. There have been times where attendance records have been wiped out and grades have been changed.”

Clearly, paper rocks. But why not take it one step further and keep ALL THE PAPER in one place? Namely, in a Bujo. Genius, eh? That way you get your office supply fix, your washi tape fix, AND you become wildly efficient. Plus you will never again have to empty the recycle bin on your desk again to search for a wayward sticky note.

Trackers are often used to help people develop (or break) habits. Water consumption, daily exercise, meditation, a limit to screen time, and no-spend days are all things that can be tracked. But of course, they are also used to track data and tasks. This is where they deserve a gold star from educators. They rock at keeping track mundane stuff -- all in the same place! -- like:

Bujos are a terrific repository for all the notes teachers need to make (and later lose in their mountains of paper). Think about having one source where all this information is stored and is easily retrievable:

Jessica Chung has some sage advice about what NOT to do in a Bujo. Skip the lesson plans, she says. Keeping your lesson plans in digital format makes a lot more sense. Digital files can be edited more easily, which is especially helpful as they evolve from term to term. They’re also easier to share with others if they are in digital format.