Organizing My Classroom

This post may contain affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small compensation from qualifying purchases. All opinions and recommendations are my own.

All of the items from Amazon can be here before the kids arrive, are low-cost and sturdy!

If you don’t have Amazon Prime yet, try it 30 days FREE by clicking here

ALL OF THESE IDEAS ARE APPROPRIATE FOR PRESCHOOL, DAYCARE, ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE SCHOOL, HIGH SCHOOL, HOME SCHOOL!

Returning after the summer break can be overwhelming. BEFORE I even get into my room and start arranging furniture, I am thinking about how I need to organize the day-to-day papers that usually end up in piles around the room!  I need these bins! It’s really amazing how having a color bin designated for different things will cut down on piles of papers stacked on any and EVERY available flat surface!

Teachers can use these in all grades!  Currently on sale, and I’ve been checking around for good prices.  Set of 4 colors to easily designate them for papers.   RED=”Need More Time”, “Didn’t Finish” or “Need to Finish”.  Instead of an unfinished paper getting shoved into a desk or maybe put into an “unfinished folder” on their desk, have a designated bin for it.  This accomplishes 3 things:  1.  When a subject is finished and work is to be turned in, EVERYONE turns something in.  If they finished it goes into the GREEN=”Finished” tub.  This gives you a quick view of who finished.  2.  No more lost papers!  It’s easy to see if someone either continues to work when it’s time to move-on or doesn’t get up to turn something in (maybe they’re shoving into their desk?).  So, cleaner desks and everyone on the schedule!  There are less 0’s in the grade book too because someone couldn’t find their paper.  3.  Perhaps the most important, It puts the responsibility back onto the student.  They need to check the RED tub before having any free time or when it’s time to go home (if it’s something you want them to take).   Work it into the schedule for students to check the RED tub.    How could you use them in your room?

Ideas for BLUE & YELLOW tubs:  “Graded”, “Coloring Pages”, “Extra Credit”, “Journals”.  Designate a helper to check the GRADED tub every day and pass out papers.  Someone gave me the best advice when I started teaching:  Delegate!  Let the students help.  Create an atmosphere where they want to help!  Your GREEN tub is full of all of the papers you need to grade (or at least look at), so it’s easy to grab them, or the whole tub, as you’re leaving for the day or during a break.  It’s also easier to have a place for all turned in work when you have a parent helper come in to help grade!  It doesn’t matter if you teach preschool or 8th grade – even high school!  I haven’t met a child yet who doesn’t like to go through coloring pages when they need to find something to do.  You might need to be a bit more creative with the older students.  Find out what’s “Hot” or “cool”, make sure you have several different pages to color that features it.  Maybe it’s Justice League, DC Comics, Pokemon, Mickey Mouse, Star Wars, Winnie-the-Pooh, or whatever the latest movies are.

FOR PRESCHOOL:  In our class last year it was definitely Paw Patrol and DC Comics.  It was a treat for our kids to get to search through papers of their favorite characters to color.  It doesn’t take any time at all for the students to know what the colors mean for each tub!   We typically have 3 small groups each day and by the end of the week, every child has been through all 3 small group lessons.  These tubs can designate groups by color, holding the materials or papers needed for that group and a sticky note on the outside to document student names so no one is missed!

We will have journals this year and I will designate a color for each class (2) and put the tub in an easily accessible area for students to find their own journal.

Of course, they are also used for the obvious toys or manipulatives.  They can be carried to the table, even by the youngest child.  The size makes them ideal to see exactly what is inside and to not hold too much so that they are not heavy.   Use them for your playdough and cookie cutters, Mr. Potato Head with accessories, Legos,  or Beads and shoelaces.  Tape a photo sleeve on the front and slip in a real photograph of what’s inside the tub.  This makes clean-up a breeze and you can switch out the contents and photo easily!

Give it a try and see if it doesn’t help with easier transitions, less chaos, better behaviors and a tidier classroom!

 

8 1/2 x 11 file write-on file jackets (set of 25) is a MUST-HAVE for student folders left in the classroom!

These Individual files are less than $1 each.   (Maybe you could ask each parent to send in $1 to help with your cost.)  I love that you can write on them!  There are multiple uses for these, and I’d love to hear your ideas! I will use them for student work that I will show parents during conferences.  I will then let the parents take the contents home each quarter.  For our room it would consist of important milestones, like writing their name, copying letters/numbers/shapes, informal assessments I’ve given, pictures of structures created with legos or blocks, self-portraits, etc.  It keeps me accountable!  I can quickly get a visual of a file that might be empty or have only a few things in it and know that I need to be more aware of those students. If there isn’t any “paper” work to collect because they aren’t holding a writing tool yet, then I should get pictures of them playing with a peer, participating in music, or going down the slide.   It could just be that this student loves to take everything  home as he/she completes it so I need to be creative and have them complete duplicates, talk them into leaving it for only a little while until mom comes, or hang it up in the room so they can see it and will want to leave it.

This works across grade levels, by the way!  Include those amazing papers you have displayed on your “Quality Work” wall!  Papers need to be current, so you are putting them up and taking them down weekly (maybe).  Perhaps the work is a major improvement for a student, has the best handwriting in the class, shows incredible detail or is an example of following the directions!  As you are taking it down quickly consider whether you would want to show it to the parent and put it in the child’s file.  If you have student’s take their own work down make sure you’ve announced to them that if they feel it is quality work and would want to share with their parents during conferences to put it in their folder.  It is a great way to put responsibility back on them, create an atmosphere of pride and instill good work habits.  When everyone knows that some of their work is going to be shared at conferences they will work harder.  Maybe you assign one student to take all of the work down on a Friday? take a few minutes to look at the wall before school that day and remove the work that you would want to keep. Other things to include in these colorful student folders:  Informal/formal assessments or data, work that might need improvement if the student continues to turn in work that is unfinished, messy or full of errors.  *Be careful with this though.  IF you don’t have ANY work that would show improvement make sure you have documented contact with the parent that you have some concerns.  Then when you show them the messy or unfinished work it is just an “example” of what you want to see improvement on.  I HIGHLY suggest finding something good to put in the conference folder.  Artwork, Good notes from specials, a paper that will show even the smallest improvement in handwriting, # correct or completion.

We all know it is a stretch sometimes to find the positive things, but these individual folders will keep us focused on looking for the improvements!

*Another use for our preschool would be for me to keep individual data on their IEP goals in one place and easily accessible.  I’ve had to go to the file cabinet to search through a child’s IEP several times a month in the past to double-check that I’m not missing something while working with them.  An individual file like this would be easy to grab while working with one child or a small group and keep us all on track!

The next thing I’m looking for would be something to keep items together in their cubby to send home. They will have backpacks and jackets (and sometimes multiple other things!) that they store in their cubby.  I’ve searched and found that these would be perfect!

They are so pretty! Have a finger hole to easily grab it without gripping the whole box and will add a nice touch to our welcome area!  These are a nice change from the primary color bins and since the adults are the ones who will be putting things in or taking them out I feel they are definitely sturdy enough!  I plan on having them for years to come.

I’ll update with pictures as soon as I get it all set up!

Comment below to share how you’ve used a color coding system or any of these ideas to make your teacher life easier!  or Tips to help me and others have a clutter-free, user-friendly room!