It has taken me all three years of teaching so far to figure out how to organize myself! I guess I spent too much time at the beginning just trying to plan, grade, and teach everything that I never bothered to organize. But I have made it my mission this year to go back and get organized.
1. Kid-friendly storage that works
I have just a few quick ideas for classroom storage. As we all know, if the students are going to touch it, it will never stay as neat as it was the first time you put everything in its place. I used to spend hours reorganizing my reading library and table supply bins, but my new organizational system is making it so that students are responsible for cleaning up themselves.
These are my cute owl buckets (inspired by a craft idea from Oriental Trading Company). At first they just sat around and looked cute, but now I use these buckets to hold pencils. All of the sharpened pencils go in the pink owl, so a student can grab a new pencil anytime they need. (This means we don't have to sit through the time it takes a 6 year old to sharpen). Broken pencils that need to be sharpened go in the blue owl bin, and I sharpen them later (or have a helper parent or responsible student do it).
What? You only paid $40 for your shelves? That is the question I get all the time when people see my classroom library. Back when Borders went out of business I went and swiped up these shelves from their children's section. They are solid wood and amazing! Keep your eyes open for furniture deals at Goodwill or other stores' clearance or going-out-of-business sales.
2. Oh so many papers!
In order to keep myself afloat above the overwhelming sea of papers, I got these cube stackers from Target clearance. I put them together in the usual cubes for holding books and such. Another teacher friend of mine told me she had used the extra shelf pieces and some zip ties to make shelves. Now I have sliding drawers for all my copies for each day of the week! I am in love :)
1. Kid-friendly storage that works
I have just a few quick ideas for classroom storage. As we all know, if the students are going to touch it, it will never stay as neat as it was the first time you put everything in its place. I used to spend hours reorganizing my reading library and table supply bins, but my new organizational system is making it so that students are responsible for cleaning up themselves.
These are my cute owl buckets (inspired by a craft idea from Oriental Trading Company). At first they just sat around and looked cute, but now I use these buckets to hold pencils. All of the sharpened pencils go in the pink owl, so a student can grab a new pencil anytime they need. (This means we don't have to sit through the time it takes a 6 year old to sharpen). Broken pencils that need to be sharpened go in the blue owl bin, and I sharpen them later (or have a helper parent or responsible student do it).
What? You only paid $40 for your shelves? That is the question I get all the time when people see my classroom library. Back when Borders went out of business I went and swiped up these shelves from their children's section. They are solid wood and amazing! Keep your eyes open for furniture deals at Goodwill or other stores' clearance or going-out-of-business sales.
2. Oh so many papers!
In order to keep myself afloat above the overwhelming sea of papers, I got these cube stackers from Target clearance. I put them together in the usual cubes for holding books and such. Another teacher friend of mine told me she had used the extra shelf pieces and some zip ties to make shelves. Now I have sliding drawers for all my copies for each day of the week! I am in love :)
Great ideas! I love the font change, too. So much easier to read!
ReplyDeleteI love the owl buckets...adorable! =)
ReplyDeleteI am happy to be your newest follower. I would love for you to come and visit me when you get the chance.
Heather
Heather's Heart
Love the zip ties! Must do!!
ReplyDelete☼Libby
First Grade Dual