Extreme Classroom Organization

I have been very lucky this year, because I have been able to be in my room since June. I had to be out at different times for various reasons, but I have had lots of time this summer to work in my room. This has been a first, because we typically do not get to work in our rooms until right before school starts. Let's just say that I took advantage of this extra time.

My goal this summer was to get extremely organized. Now for anyone that already knows me, they know that I am organized pretty much all the time. However, my classroom was never organized like I wanted it to be. I replaced a teacher who retired 5 years ago, and she left LOTS of things behind. Most of these things were great and useful. However, I did not know what I had, because I had never went through it all. So I got busy this summer. I can actually say that I have been through everything in my room. Take a look at my organization:

First step: Clean everything out!

Next: Designate a purpose for the storage. This one is now my Math cabinet. I still have some labels to make and a overview sheet to put on our Math box (top shelf).

I have another cabinet right beside this one that is devoted to Science and Social Studies materials, test-taking materials, technology stuff, and indoor and outdoor recess equipment. (I forgot to take a picture of this cabinet.)

 

Since I was able to devote a cabinet to Math, I was able to make my closet all about Reading. This will make it extremely easy to find materials.

When I started teaching, I was given this hideous, huge brown shelf. I mean this thing is gigantic, and it is very old. (If I move classrooms again, I don't think I could pay the other teachers to help me move this thing again. We have done it so many times, and I'm not even sure if it would hold up another move.) However, I am able to cover it up in the corner of my room by putting a curtain on the front. This is probably one of my favorite pieces of furniture that I own in my classroom, because on the outside it looks like this:

On the inside it looks like this:

That's right it holds bulletin board sets on the bottom as well as big books, charts, poster boards, etc. Whatever you can imagine, it probably holds. I took out some of the top boards so that I could use it for personal things that I use daily since I don't have a desk. (As you can see, I have a toolbox started but it doesn't have labels yet.) I love this piece of furniture! My kids thinks it cool, because I can hide things behind it. :)

Last I tackled all my notebooks. The previous teacher tore everything out of books and grouped them in notebooks with dividers. This has been very helpful, but I never use all the worksheets that she had. Plus, she had worksheets from the past two Reading series. Yes, sometimes these are very helpful, but I didn't need all this stuff. Do you have things like this?

I was able to get my notebooks all organized. This is just a picture of a few of the notebooks. There are plenty more! I am very excited to be able to go straight to worksheets and activities when I need them.

Well that's a look at the classroom organization that I have been working on. Check back next week for some sneak pictures of my classroom. I can't wait for school to start back!

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