Getting organized as a student

I like to think of myself as a very organized person, but in reality I'm just a very organized student and I'm working on getting the rest of my life together. But that counts. Right?
Being a college student (especially in an education program) comes with a mind-blowing amount of paperwork and due dates and events and meetings and about a billion other things, but for the most part I think I've gotten the hang of keeping everything organized in a way that works for me. 

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1. The most important thing for me, personally, is my planner. I have one that is almost identical to the one pictured except for the pattern, and I really like it. It displays by month and week; every week takes two pages with big spaces for each week day.
(I'll post pictures of my own planner later if/when I find my camera)
2. I'm a super visual person and I love color. It's probably stupid but having a planner full of color makes it a little easier to look at. This is my absolute favorite kind, although they're more like very thin markers instead of pens. I use a different color for every class and then one more color for my club. This way I can glance at any month or week and see exactly what I have due in every class just by how much of which color is more prevalent. I also use these when taking notes and studying (I write most of my notes in regular black pen and then go back with a different color later to add things or circle especially important/confusing stuff). 
3. I love Post-its. A lot. I use these to write lists and then stick them in my planner, or write details about an assignment and then stick them on a handout or on my notes. I also use them to write notes and stick them in my textbooks. I also cut them up and use them as flags for important pages. 
4. Until last semester I hated binders. I used to have a notebook and folder for every class which worked out great for my gen ed classes. But when I started getting into my serious education classes I realized I was out of my mind if I thought I could keep shoving all of my papers into one folder. So I made a binder for my two most important education classes. I like these binders because they're easy to open and pretty sturdy, and I like the clear sleeve in the front in case I ever feel ambitious and want to make a cover. 
5. And of course, dividers to go in a binder. I need plastic dividers because the paper ones tear way too quickly...or maybe I'm just too rough with my stuff, who knows. 
6. I hate loose leaf. Sorry not sorry. Maybe I'll reconsider this one day but for now I'll stick to notebooks with perforated pages that I can tear out. I've never been disappointed with the spiral bound Mead notebooks, but they're a little expensive unless I can find them on sale. I like buying one or two big notebooks with a couple subject dividers in them so I can take notes for different classes and then tear out sheets and put them in my binder later. 
7. People obsess over Thirty-One and I totally understand why. Their stuff is cute and most of the prices are pretty reasonable, and they have started catering a lot towards teachers. This utility tote is really popular with teachers and I can definitely see why. I love mine and it can hold a lot of stuff without everything getting tossed around like a regular backpack, plus it looks so much more professional than a backpack or purse. 
8. Binder clips save my life and I use them for everything. I use them to hold all my students' papers together, all my projects, to hold my place in my planner, to close the occasional bag of doritos. I usually just buy a multipack of the plain black ones in all different sizes, but the ones I link to are super cute.