Classroom Organization

I'm using the mantra, "Wait one more week.  It can wait one more week," to keep myself from driving up to my school and messing in my classroom.  I know that once I start messing, there will be no stopping me and my summer vacation will be over [sigh].  So instead, I'm focusing my OCD tendencies on this blog post to share how to organize your classroom and STAY organized, because isn't that the hardest part during the year?

1.  The Endless Piles of Papers

You need...

• A place where students turn-in their papers when they finish an assignment
• A way to transport papers to grade
• A way for papers to get home to parents

A.  Place for Students to Turn-In Papers

  VS.  

I love both of the ideas that are pictured above.

With the crate, you can easily have students flip to their file and put their paper in, and then all you have to do is take a folder and grade their papers and put them in their Take-Home Folder.  With the tray-method, you can have students turn in papers for a particular subject, and then I have a student alphabetize them (we have students put their "number" in the top right corner of their paper to make this easier) before I put them in my accordion file grader.

If you have room in your classroom, you can also have students put their papers in a mailbox system.  I love my mailboxes and use them for students to store their writing materials, and they can also write friendly letters to one another and place them in there.

 

B.  Way to Transport and Grade Papers

    and     and  

If you have not discovered ThirtyOne yet, oh my my my, you are missing out.  I love my ThirtyOne tote, and it is the perfect size for carrying papers, teacher editions, etc to and from school.  If you decide to use the crate approach, you can take home a handful of files a night.  If you like the tray approach, you can paper clip your papers and sort them by subject in an accordion file (middle image).

No matter how you decide to transport your papers, there is one tool that will make it easier and faster for you - an EZ Grader!  I absolutely love mine and it makes it simple to grade something based on the number of items on your assessment.

C.  Way for Papers to Make it Home to Parents

 My school provides the students with a vinyl folder that has our school logo printed on the front.  Inside, the pockets read "Keep at Home" and "Return to School."  The fourth grade sends folders home on Tuesdays and the parents can expect to find graded papers, important news from the school and PTO, and a newsletter from the teacher.  The folder is due back on Fridays, and parents sign a paper that is found in the back pocket of the folder to indicate that they saw the papers and leave any comments they may have.

Dollar Store Deals

I don't know about you, but I always sometimes get into trouble when I go to the Dollar Tree or stop at the Dollar Spot in Target.  I think the difficulty of leaving the store without at least $20 worth of "stuff" comes from my teacher mind going into overdrive...not to mention the always fully stocked teacher aisle.  Here are just a few of the wonderful things you can find there and some ideas of how you can utilize them in your classroom!

First Thing's First:

• Stock up on classroom rewards and small gifts.  My students love decorative pencils.  Every holiday that comes around, they get a new pencil.  I can always count on the Dollar Spot to have seasonal pencils (packs of 12), and the Dollar Tree will too, but usually only a 10-count in a bag.

• DIG for the good stuff.  The party favor section in the Dollar Tree is a great place to find some pretty good little prizes...usually at the bottom of the bin.  I hit the scenty-eraser jackpot in the Dollar Spot at Target back in the spring, but that also meant I had to stand on my head for about 5 minutes to dig through the other junk to find them.  DIG - it's worth it in the end. 

• Have a purpose.  Don't break the #1 rule in dollar shopping -- HAVE A PURPOSE FOR AN ITEM BEFORE YOU BUY IT.  Otherwise you are going to end up with a ton of stuff you thought you could use, and people are going to start whispering the word "hoarder" behind your back.  Space is something we as teachers lack, so don't fill up what little space you have with things that were half a thought.  Make sure the items you DO have a plan for have a clear and fitting space in your classroom before you buy as well.  Trust me on this #speaking-from-experience.

** I'm more for the free-prizes (wear your slippers in class, bring a small stuffed animal, computer time -- a post on that to come soon), but sometimes little incentives and prizes are necessary for other times in my classroom (like when the Organized Owl checks out cubbies or desks).

Mini Pocket Charts

• Lunch Count / Status of the Class - Put their lunch cards (or name strips) in the chart and have students move their name under their choice for the day.  Quick and easy way to take attendance.  Also, have students' names in a chart and have them move their name to one side when they finish an assignment to get a quick visual for the status of the class.

• Objectives / Schedule - Cut sentence strips in half and put your objectives, "I Can" statements, or schedule in the chart.

• Vocabulary - Display spelling or vocabulary words in the chart for students to refer to.

• Poem of the Week/Day - Print your poem out and put the verses in the chart.

• Use as a Center - (See Image Below)  Construct a simple and inexpensive pocket chart stand for students to use during centers to sort things or play different games.  [I could totally see my kids using this during a math center to sort angles or match equivalent fractions! #4th-grade-moment]

Here's a tutorial on how to make the PVC pocket-chart-stand.

 

 

Mini Accordion Files

 

Check out "Tattling to the Teacher" (Laura's blog)

 

• Storage for Flash Cards and Other Center Materials

• Classroom / School Economy - My school uses "Blaze Bucks" as positive behavior slips.  Students write their name on the back and then turn them in with their "passports".  The student in the class with the most Blaze Bucks at the time passports are collected gets to choose a prize from the administrative team.  [I love Beth Newingham's classroom economy!]

• Reader's Toolkit - Store index cards with different strategies, post-it notes, pencil, sticky tabs, etc. Store in students' reading bins so they can have access to them during independent or guided reading.

• Combination - Using Laura's idea, the students use them as personal containers for flash cards and their classroom economy.

Small Tupperware Containers

• Dice - Put a die or dice in the container for students to use during centers.  Dice won't clank and roll all around the classroom, and you won't have to replenish them!

• Counters - Store counters or Bingo markers for each table in your classroom.

• Money - Store coins for students to use at their desk or at a center.

• Craft Storage - Glitter, sequins, and googly eyes are all small things that can become quite annoying to sort out when trying to do a craft of some sort.  Have them already sorted and make crafting that much easier in the classroom.

 

More to Come Later!

More Dollar Store Deals

 

Here are more ideas for your dollar deals!

 

Packs of Die-Cut Shapes

Visit "I Love 2 Teach" (Belinda Kinney's Blog) 

to see her cute ideas for how she uses them in her second grade class! 

Other Uses for Die-Cuts:

• Put students' names or numbers on them for a simple desk plate or cubby/locker plate  

• Use them on a bulletin board (book reviews, use them as a symbol on a graph, etc.)

•  They make great clipart for anchor charts

• Hot glue them to clothes pins to put student work on

• They would make great flash cards or cards for centers
• continents and oceans sort
• prefix and suffix words
• nonfiction text features

 

Plastic Baskets

• Organization - Store supplies in them and add a decorative label so that you know what is in each basket.

• Classroom Library - Categorize your books by author/genre/series, etc and add cute labels!

• Individual or Partner Reading Baskets - Students keep their independent reading materials (book, bookmarks, post-its, etc) in the basket and grab it during IR time.

• Center Baskets - Put materials for your center in the basket and students can grab it and take it to a clear space in the room to use.

• First Aid Basket - Put bandages, wipes, etc in the basket and a student can grab it to take with you to lunch, recess, field day, etc.

• Math Manipulatives - Same idea as the center basket (and could be applied to science experiments too).  Put materials in basket and then students can grab and go.

Plastic Photo Albums

• Flash Card Write-and-Wipe
• Math Facts
• Spelling
• Vocabulary

• Procedure Book - Put your procedures in the protectors and keep one at every table for students to refer to whenever the need arises.

• Small Groups - Keep titles and descriptions of the various small group roles and have the students grab a book whenever small group work is involved (or put it in a plastic basket ^).  If you like using the necklaces for students to wear, those can easily be stuffed behind/beside the description of the role (ex: Director, Illustrator, Timer, etc).

• Reference Books - Use them in any subject!  Keep reading or comprehension strategies in them for students to use during independent reading.  Do the same with nonfiction text features, genre descriptions, etc.  You could put vocabulary cards for the various units for science and social studies to make mini glossary books.  Endless ideas!

I know this item isn't $1 (I WISH!), but it does have multi-purposes.

• Stack to make student cubbies for textbooks, reading bins, etc. (See Below)
• Use to organize picture books that won't fit in small baskets in your library
• Transport student library books in them
• Setup a student file system for graded papers, writing samples, etc.
• And my favorite...make storage seats for your guided reading table! (See Below)

            

Introducing...The Bloggers!

Hello all!  My name is Mary Catherine, and I currently teach 4th grade in South Carolina.  My sister (and co-blogger), Gracyn, teaches 1st grade in SC as well.  Our hope is that you will be able to use this blog as a resource to find great ideas and activities for your students whether you teach early childhood or elementary.  A lot of ideas we come across are geared for one age group or the other, so we want to take ideas and make them do-able regardless of the grade you teach!

Please feel free to leave comments, contribute ideas, or ask any questions!  Educators have to support one another and share new ideas, so that our students can be the ones who ultimately benefit.  Thank you!