Summer is so close. You can almost hear the sound of the ocean and feel the warmth of the sun on your face. But, before taking that much-deserved break let’s take a few moments to make sure we are nice and organized for the end of the school year.

Below you will find six quick and easy tips to help you wrap up your school year while leveraging popular tools from Microsoft.

Tip 1: Use proper naming conventions for all of your documents

There is nothing more frustrating than having to go through a bunch of different documents to find the one you are looking for. A simple way to prevent this time-waster is to have a naming convention for all of your documents. This will not only make it easier to identify each document, but it also will make them searchable. One example of a naming convention could be: Unit/Period, Title of Unit/topic, What the Document is (Quiz, test, handout etc).

Tip 2: Create folders

Once you have created your naming convention and named all of your documents, putting them in folders will help keep them organized. You can create folders by class, period, subject/unit or by student. You can also create folders within folders. If you haven’t been doing this all year, this is a great opportunity to get everything organized for easy access and searchability next year. This will not only save you time spent looking for things or recreating things you already have, but it can also make it easier to collaborate in the future with a co-teacher or other members of your team. Check out our skills video on Organizing Files in OneDrive to learn more.

Tip 3: Archive work

There is no true way to archive your documents in OneDrive, but we do have some tips for cleaning up space and your view. The best way we have come up with is to create an “archive” folder. At the end of the year, or the beginning, create a folder for the school year that all of your other folders will live within. (Remember, you can create folders within folders.) If you are creating it at the end of the year, simply drag and drop everything into that school year’s folder. From there, drag and drop that school year folder into the archive folder. Once there, you are still able to search and access all of your documents.

Tip 4: Use Microsoft Forms to get student feedback

It is common practice for a teacher to distribute a survey at the end of a unit, course, semester, or school year. Using Microsoft Forms to do so has several advantages. First, it is easy to send to students, as you have several options from sharing a link to creating a QR code for instant access. Second, Microsoft Forms also makes it easy to view results by exporting them to an Excel file which will save you time handing out, getting back, and sorting through handfuls of assignments.

Tip 5: Create a to-do list in Microsoft Planner

As the year winds down, things can get very hectic for a teacher between final projects and grades being due, to end-of-year celebrations. By creating to-do lists in Microsoft Planner, nothing will slip through the cracks or be forgotten.

Tip 6: Clean up your inbox by creating folders and archiving emails.

Unlike OneDrive, in Microsoft Outlook, you can actually archive emails. By archiving emails, you clear up and create room in your inbox, but past emails still remain searchable. We also recommend making folders within your inbox. Check out our Skills video on Creating an Inbox Folder to get started.

To explore these tips even further, and get step-by-step instructions, watch our course Wrapping Up Your Year With Microsoft 2021.

For more tips, tricks, and tools for teaching in and out of the classroom, check out more articles on the Teq Talk blog.

We also offer virtual professional development, training, and remote learning support for educators with OTIS for educators. Explore the technology, tools, and strategies that can spark student success — no matter where teaching or learning are happening.