I wanted to share a few of my favorite classroom organization tricks! I learned fast that organization is key when trying to be a great teacher. I wanted to spend the least amount of money possible to create a fully functional and organized classroom. Here are a few of my tricks:
I make anchor charts on the daily and try to make them look colorful and appealing. I got this little bucket from the Target dollar section (one of my favorite places to find cheap classroom items). It holds all of my markers and can be stuck on a command hook on my white board when I need to use them on chart paper.
Instead of buying a planning book that did not match my schedule, I decided to make my own. With some help from a co-worker, we developed a weekly lesson plan template that fit our exact needs! I copied enough for the entire year and keep it in my Teacher Binder.
This is one way that I have found to work when trying to organize the three different subjects that I teach. I have a magazine holder for each subject (also found at the Target dollar section). Starting on the far left, I keep my teacher manuals, then Science, Math, and Language Arts. I keep all the books I will read, tests, quizzes, and worksheets for the subject all together. I usually copy for a week at a time or per unit.
The "I Can" Statements have become a must-have in Common Core classrooms. Since my classroom is owl themed, my header reads: "Whooooo Can? I Can...". Then I have a child friendly "I Can" statement for each subject I teach. Sometimes I have to change them daily, sometimes weekly, and sometimes per unit.
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I needed a way to organize our laptops and keep the cords from getting all tangled together. I purchased a dish rack and they fit perfectly! It holds all of them and the cords stay separated through the side slots.
I needed a way to organize and store all of the students back to school forms, medial information, and notes I receive from parents. I use a crate and file folder for each student. I labeled them by number so I don't have to redo each tab each year. I can easily grab out parent information or file student inventories.
I despise students sharpening their pencils in the middle of a lesson so I had to come up with something so that students could quickly grab a sharp pencil. I found these labels on Pinterest and used modge podge on the inside of each drawer. When a student needs a new pencil, they place their pencil in the pencil hospital and can take a sharp pencil. I have a student at the end of each day sharpen all of the pencils in the pencil hospital. I notice that the pencils that they come with at the beginning of the year last much longer this way and they don't end up having one inch long pencils.
I use binder clips with a small label to label my shelves (Monday-Friday) . I use this tray to organize the materials that I will need each day of the week.
Once again, I use binder clips to label (notices, copy, file, morning work).
Since my students need to master their multiplication facts, I have monthly centers for them to do whenever we have extra time in math. I got the white shelves from Target and the blue tubs from the Dollar Tree. I found free multiplication games on TPT and Pinterest to use and rotate them out each month. This has really helped the students memorize their facts in a fun way.
With our math series, we have so many manipulatives that the students need on a daily basis. It takes so much time to pass them out at the beginning of each lesson so I put together a "math tool box" that has each manipulative and enough for each table. I got the green baskets from the Dollar Tree and have one for each table. At the beginning of math, the student in charge of the table gets the basket and puts it on their desk to use.
In order to create a community atmosphere where my students are responsible for their actions, I guided the students as they created their own class rules. They each signed it and we hang it in our classroom. They take pride in their rules and enjoyed having created them.
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