Homework Hotspot Video: Homework Organization Idea

I am here to share my life-changing homework management system, The Homework Hotspot. Yes, I said life changing.

With The Homework Hotspot, all of your homework organization problems are over! It’s been a serious game changer for no-name papers, missing assignments, homework organization, and more.

The Homework Hotspot - homework management system - Young Teacher Love by Kristine Nannini

It has been a classroom management dream to have this as opposed to different subject baskets. I can easily see who is missing what, and I have a student whose job it is to be the “Homework Hotspot” checker each morning. Not only does it help me to see who has turned in assignments that day, but also when it’s time to enter grades, all I have to do is grab each paper out of the spot in number order and my student’s papers are in alphabetical order for easy grade entering.
No more disorganized papers in baskets. No more shuffling through papers trying to put them in alphabetical order. Also, if I have a no name paper it’s easy to see whose paper it is based on where it falls in my already ABC ordered pile.
It really is THAT amazing, and since I have had so many questions about it, I thought it would be best to make a video to really show it in action!
Click below to watch the video:

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71 Comments

    1. I have three groups of students for reading, we switch classes in 4th grade at my school! I’d love to use this but any suggestions on how to manage with three different classes? I don’t want to have 3 homework hotspots bc I don’t have that much room lol

      1. I am a 6th grade teacher at a middle school and I am running into the same issue. I was actually thinking about just using the one homework hotspot for all three. You would just need to make sure you take the homework out of the folders before the next class comes in. You could also place 3 manila folders inside each folder that represents each class that you meet. Just an idea! I am definitely doing this hotspot this year.

        1. I agree Sara! I teach sixth and I was thinking about just having a person collect the homework at the end of each class! The homework hotspot is a great idea!
          Alice

      2. Kristine Nannini says:

        For multiple assignments due, I have my student helpers quickly do their jobs to monitor the papers and organize them for me. The only thing that is different about the process is that students go through the “round” of grabbing papers twice (or three times if there are three assignments due). They get really good at it after a few times, and it never takes more than a minute or two. If I know of a few students who struggle to turn their work in, I also may just quickly walk over and glance in those few students’ pockets real quick. It’s easy to see in about a second if they turned in one paper, three papers, or no papers! :) I hope that helps!

  1. What a great video! I’m thinking of trying this with 1st grade in the fall. :)

  2. I’m officially converted. Tracking homework was the bane of my existence. I keep kids in during lunch recess if they don’t bring their homework, but sometimes I would be too busy to check in the morning and then it’s too late. This is going to help me AND my students. Thank you!

  3. I hear ya sister! It would make me so dang irritable in the mornings! Now it’s a breeze to check in! I hope it works well for you!

  4. Love your video!!! I’ve been using a similar numbered sorter system for my students to turn in homework and tests this year and it has seriously made my life so much easier!!

    Molly

  5. This is the best! Right now, I have my homework sorted by subject, but this is SO much better! I can’t wait to try it next year!

  6. LOVE! I WILL be trying this in the fall!! :) Thank you for sharing!

  7. Thank you all so much! I’m so glad you all understood my super fast talking! I hope you love it as much as I do!

  8. I LOVE this, seriously. I have a disdain for homework for a variety of reasons, and checking it in and sorting it is just the tip of the iceberg. To start my day like this would be a load off my mind for sure! Thanks for sharing :)

  9. Thank you Elizabeth! That’s so kind of you! I’ve been obsessed with all thing Fun in Room 4B since forever! So that means a lot!! :)

  10. Love, love, love this system! Thank you for posting it as a video, too. The quick video explained so much. Brilliant as always :)
    Elizabeth
    Fun in Room 4B

  11. This was the cutest video ever! You cracked me up with your 30 students comment. I believe you!! You know I love this, as we’ve talked about in the past. I love it so much, I just enjoyed watching all about it! I have a question though, where did you get the red pockets? Thanks for linking up (and sorry for my delayed response!)

  12. Haha Thanks Kristen! :) After I shot it, I thought to myself…I should have filled it all up with papers to really show what it should look like, DUH! Oh well! :) I actually got the pocket charts off eBay last year! All of the big school stores like Really Good Stuff and Lakeshore sell them, but they can be a bit expense, so I totally recommend eBay! I wish they came in other colors though. Last year I tried dying these red ones with black fabric dye, but they ended up a dark red/purple, so that was a big fail! Glad you like the video and thanks for an awesome link up! I have loved these ideas! :)

  13. Fantastic idea! I already have one of these pocket charts gathering dust in my classroom, just gotta grab a few more. I’ve tried to have a homework checker as a classroom job but it was a challenge for the that student, this would make it so much more streamlined! Plus, we have our specials first thing in the morning and that is when I theoretically check homework – sometimes I get distracted by the billion other things to do, and sometimes I forget.

    Question…do you have a certain procedure for multiple assignments being turned in so that you can still see who has/has not turned them in at-a-glance?

    Also, your video was adorbs!
    Upper Grades Are Awesome

  14. OMGosh! Best.Idea.Ever!!! I especially like the idea of how to figure out no namers and how to figure out who hasn’t grabbed or turned their homework in. I am using this next year! Thanks for the great idea!
    Sara
    First Grade Funtastic

  15. elizabeth de la rosa says:

    I really love this idea! Any suggestions on how to adapt it to a middle school setting where I don’t have the same kiddos all day?

  16. I would do the exact same process, but instead of collecting the homework at the beginning of each day, I would do it at the beginning of each class/hour. Assign a couple students the job of “Homework Hotspot” and as soon as each new class walks in, they immediately turn their homework in, your students that are assigned the job mmediately grab out all papers and put them in a stack for you! I hope this helps! :)

  17. Have you used the pockets for a duel purpose at all? Like the classwork they finish during the day? More endless papers that are not sorted or checked : ( Does anyone have a cute name I could call the hot spot if it wasn’t just homework! Love the idea btw..thanks so much for sharing.

  18. As a fifth grade teacher who is done with the PILES of homework, I am so READY to try this method! It is so simple and the students are in control which makes life easy. Thanks for sharing!

  19. Love this idea!! I’m sitting here trying to figure out how to make a Homework Hotspot for our journals now. It would make checking at glance so much easier in the mornings!!

    Thanks for linking up!

    Abby
    Third Grade Bookworm

  20. I agree with Mamauv2 about using it for dual purpose. Since I WILL BE DOING THIS THIS YEAR – THANK YOU SO MUCH! – you could have a student take them out like she showed in the video after every student gets there before you start the day (like during the morning work/time period and then have them turn in class work into their spot after the homework has been taken out. I’m so inspired this evening!

    Courtney
    4thGradeSprinkles

  21. Anonymous says:

    I added duct tape to mine to strengthen it and add a nice pop of colour to the charts. I am totally going to set this up in my room next year.
    Maria

  22. Anonymous says:

    This may sound silly, but when using the numbering system and ABC order….what do you do when a new student comes in mid year? Do you shift all the numbers down? I ran into that problem this year.
    I love this idea though! :)

  23. Thanks! I never shift numbers. I either add the student to the end, or because I have a transient population, there tends to be an open # in the middle of the batch that I assign to the student. It isn’t hard to manage, especially if you just keep a small class list near you.

  24. I spend time going over the homework with the students. I like it as a tool to check that they’ve completed the homework. But, do you have any ideas about a better way to get two uses—would I then pass them out for students to review with me?

  25. Hi Ms. Nanni,

    I totally incorporating this into my classroom this year! I love it! I just ordered some of the file organizer pocket charts and downloaded the sign & numbers from you. I was just wondering if you might be able from 33 to add up to 40 for the black circles that are kind of filled in (page 2) and if you can, can you email it to me? I’d really appreciate it!

    Thanks.

    Colleen

  26. This seems like a really great system for homework! one question – what do you use for turning in daily work? Is it a similar system or different? Thanks! Love this idea!

    Andrea

  27. Anonymous says:

    Great idea by the way…Just one question… you mentioned grading their homework and recording it in your grade page.. I wondered how you grade homework, since you cannot be sure who did it .. the student independently or the parent/older sibling etc.

  28. I use standards based grading, so I grade homework as a responsibility grade. Thanks for your comment!

  29. Thank you for sharing, after reading everyone’s comments, I think I may have thought of other ideas, but am not sure if it would make it too confusing for the students. My idea would be that you could also use it at the end of the day if you have a handout to give to the students or tests that have to be collected. What do you think?

  30. Hi there! I wondered what you do if you have more than one homework assignment due from the students? Do your student helpers count the papers in each spot? At a glance, it would be hard to tell if there were multiple papers turned in or if it was just one. It is a great idea, just trying to make it fit in my room :)

  31. Hi there! This looks like a fabulous idea to help with all those piles of papers! I just wondered how you make it work when there are multiple assignments due. If I just glance at the Homework Hot Spot, one paper would look the same as two or three. Do you have your student helpers monitor that or do you just have them turn in one assignment at a time? Hope I can make this fit in my room somehow- thanks for creating and sharing :)

  32. Jodi Holland says:

    I didn’t read through the other comments, so I apologize if this is a redundant question. Do you have any ideas on how I could manage this being departmentalized? I have three classes of math. If you could email me at jdholland@stillwaterschools.com

    Thanks

  33. @jodi holland I would do the exact same process, but instead of collecting the homework at the beginning of each day, I would do it at the beginning of each class/hour. Assign a couple students the job of “Homework Hotspot” and as soon as each new class walks in, they immediately turn their homework in, your students that are assigned the job mmediately grab out all papers and put them in a stack for you! I hope this helps! :)

  34. @Mrs. R- For multiple assignments due, I have my student helpers quickly do their jobs to monitor the papers and organize them for me. The only thing that is different about the process is that students go through the “round” of grabbing papers twice (or three times if there are three assignments due). They get really good at it after a few times, and it never takes more than a minute or two. If I know of a few students that struggle to turn their work in, I also may just quickly walk over and glance in those few students’ pockets real quick. It’s easy to see in about a second if they turned in one paper, three papers, or no papers! :) I hope that helps!

  35. Do you have a homework club or some type of reward for students who turn in all their assignments for the week/month/9 weeks etc..? What is your procedure for late/missing work?

  36. I wanted to thank you for this! I am going to be a first year teacher in August and cannot wait to get my classroom ready! I love you blog, thank you for sharing!! You give me such great ideas for my classroom!

  37. If you don’t mind me asking, what are your consequences for students who do not turn in their HW?

    1. For multiple assignments due, I have my student helpers quickly do their jobs to monitor the papers and organize them for me. The only thing that is different about the process is that students go through the “round” of grabbing papers twice (or three times if there are three assignments due). They get really good at it after a few times, and it never takes more than a minute or two. If I know of a few students that struggle to turn their work in, I also may just quickly walk over and glance in those few students’ pockets. It’s easy to see in about a second if they turned in one paper, three papers, or no papers! :) I hope that helps!

  38. This is a great idea! I’m definitely going to utilize it this year. One question though…how do you use this method to manage multiple classes/assignments? That seems to be one of the things that gets overwhelming for me with collecting homework. Thanks for sharing this great idea!

  39. PanaMathTeacher says:

    Thank you for posting this video and taking the time to reply to all of these comments. I’d love to know more about your procedures or consequences for students who miss multiple assignments. Would you be willing to share that?

    1. Kristine Nannini says:

      Hello! Thank you for your comments! I pretty much have a zero tolerance policy with extremely high expectations. If you’d like more information, send me an email at nannini.kristine@yahoo.com. Thanks!

  40. I absolutely LOVE this idea! I usually assign four HW assignments a day (4th grade) and I was wondering if you had any suggestions as to how to quickly check if the students that turned in their HW turned in all 4 assignments. I may be assigning HW differently this upcoming year, but I figured I’d ask my question based on how I did things last year. I incorporate a monthly HW club for those students that have 90%-100% HW submission so it’s pretty important that I check all the assignments for completion. Do you typically scan through the HW at the end of the day once the students have left?

    Thank you so much for posting a video of your system! It was a phenomenal visual!

    1. Kristine Nannini says:

      Hi Tami- I touch on this in this comment section. If more than one assignment is due that day, I follow the same process but may have an additional student help out. They go through the first assignment due, check off who has turned the assignment in and who hasn’t, then paperclip the papers for me. Then these students repeat the process for the other assignments due that day. I hope this helps!

  41. Hi,

    I am a first year teacher and I LOVE this idea! I wonder, though, what you do when you have to correct homework later in the day WITH your students. Do you ask students to turn in their homework at the beginning of the day, regardless of whether they will be correcting their homework later in the day? For example, if they correct their math homework in the afternoon as part of math instruction, do you still have them turn in their math homework during the morning routine?

    I would love a response and some feedback! Thank you :)

    1. Kristine Nannini says:

      Hi Mia- Thanks for your comment! If we have work that we correct together as a class, I have my students hold on to it. I often include a little note in my morning message to them that says something like, “Keep math pg.6 in your blue folder. We will check this later as a class.” This quick reminder is usually sufficient. I hope that helps!

  42. Do you ever correct homework with your students? Do they go back and take their homework out of their pocket to do this?

  43. How does the no name system work if one or more individuals before and/or after the no name paper did not turn their assignments in?

  44. Hey, I was looking for some cool ideas for organizing homework and then I came across this post. The homework management system is extremely amazing. I am also a teacher and I’d love to use this. Being a teacher all I want is the homework and classroom assignments organized and this is why I will use the recommended “Homework Hotspot” options. Thanks for sharing such nice products. Will look forward to reading more informative blogs on your website.

  45. I never shift numbers. I either add the student to the end, or because I have a transient population, there tends to be an open

  46. I saw this post a few years ago and it has been a lifesaver. I’ve been using it for years and it has saved me SO much trouble. I pull a page out at a time for the spelling HW and circle the misspelled words and give them back right away so students have time to study before Friday’s spelling test. I leave the rest of the homework in the pocket until the end of the day when I grade it and then return it to their take home box. My students by te constantly forget to turn in their homework and this system has allowed me to ask them for it before it becomes late. Thank you Kristine! You are so innovative.

    1. Kristine Nannini says:

      Love this, Stevie! Thanks so much for your kind comments!

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