Classroom Organizational Resources - Sunday Teacher's Feature
A happy day with warm thoughts are coming your way. This is the time of year when you are a teacher in Northeast Ohio you begin to do all of the Snow Day trends such as flushing ice cubes down the toilet and wearing jammies inside out. Of course EVERYONE loves a surprise day off from students to teachers to even the admin. However, what if we changed our mindsets and tried to figure out how to help our classrooms flow better with exceptional organizational resources? Believe it or not, an organized classroom is a pretty strong indicator for the feeling or vibe your classroom gives off. Don't worry because we've got you covered with some super duper helpful organizational resources.
One of my biggest regrets as far as being an organized teacher is waiting so long to purchase the 10 storage drawer set from Michael's. I kept thinking that I didn't want to spend money that way and I had no space in my classroom for these drawers. Boy was I wrong! These 10 storage drawers were a game changer at improving my organizational system in my classroom. If a student was absent, their work went into the drawer. If a student didn't finish their work, then the work went into their drawer. When we switched classes, each student from the other class knew their materials were ready to go in their drawer. This was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!
The next must have classroom organizational resource would have to be classroom baskets. I am a firm believer and preacher in the idea that everything needs a home. From worksheets to be graded, to worksheets yet assigned, to all of the countless number of library books...everything needs a home. What better place to store items than in baskets because they literally come in every size and shape and cost as little or as much as you want. When I first started my career I would pick up baskets at the Dollar Tree and they would last forever. As you progress in your career, you will see that opportunities will arise where donations are made and money needs to be spent so this is when you can upgrade to a higher quality basket. My baskets never matched and I was a-okay with that because it helped students to remember where to store them. Every book in our classroom library was stored in a basket which helped students to easily see the different books that were available.
The final must have organizational resource for your classroom is one you probably already have in your desk, Sharpies! Sharpies are an amazing and easy tool to help you label just about everything in your classroom. Don't have a label maker? Then simply use a Sharpie and an index card to get the job done. I highly recommend that you label everything that you can especially if it is student school supplies. Scissors, glue bottles, crayons, marker...label, label, label. In my opinion, it is a bit faster to label with a Sharpie than using a label maker because you can just grab it and write. Trust me, when things start magically showing up on the ground you will be so happy that you have your Sharpie written label on it.
The list of classroom organizational resources could go on and on. These are three affordable tools that you can put into effect right away. If you are looking for more ideas, please reach out to us and we are happy to share. If you have an organizational tool that you find especially helpful, let us know on IG (@lessonplantoolbox) so we can all be "wowed" together.
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