DeClutter Your Classroom

Hi Dear Friends!  It's Back to School Time for me!!  AND you know what that means.... time to get that classroom ready.   Something that I spend some time on at the end of the year and sometimes at the very beginning of the year is streamlining my classroom.  I feel claustraphobic in clutter.  It's terrible.. I know!!  

We all begin the school year with a beautiful and highly organized classroom.  It's the rest of the year that I often struggle with.  My motto used to be... if you can't see it, then there's no clutter.  Seriously... my classroom could appear to be organized ,but if you were to open my filing cabinet, storage closet, and even inside some of my boxes that held files one would see a major paper mess. So I finally did something about it by finding ways to keep things organized... not just at the start of the school year.

1.  Get rid of most paper in your filing cabinet!!  

It's a leap, I know BUT it was the best thing I did.  Most of my files are now digital.  I purchased a flash drive and have files listed with subjects and by quarter.  I dump the digital copy of each item into this particular folder.  I have 2 school flash drives.... Just in case I lose one.  Actually the other one I keep with my Danielsen binder. This has actually made my life much easier as many times my planning takes place of an evening after I tuck my kiddos into bed.  There's no need to go into my classroom late at night because I have all I need for planning on my flash drive.

2. Organize those task cards and games into plastic tubs that are labeled.

I have all of my math task cards and activities in plastic tubs.  They are labeled according to the unit.  I also have my Wonders for reading organized into these very same plastic tubs.  It makes it so much easier for me to place those task cards or activities that I have spent so long laminating back into these plastic tubs.  In the past, these task cards might be shoved into all different sorts of cubbies in my room.  The plastic tubs stay shelved above the storage cabinet in my room. 

3. Banker boxes and canvas bins to keep copies for the week and lessons for each day.

 It seems that each year I have been so fortunate to have amazing parent volunteers.  Last year my parent volunteer came in EVERY single FRIDAY.  One of the things she would do for me is copy all that I needed for the following week.  I would simply paper clip items needed for each day that needed copying.  She would copy them and then place the completed copies in the banker boxes for me.  It was AWESOME, and such a time saver!!  This also reduced my paper clutter by no longer having stacks of papers sitting in piles on the back of my cabinet.

4. If you haven't used it in the past two years... throw it away!

Last year, our entire school had many classroom changes due to a grade level moving into a different building.  So I had to move my entire classroom at the end of the year!  It was a lot of work, but one of the best things I did to get rid of my clutter.  I have taught for 18 years, and I had items from my student teaching days that were never used.  SO there's nothing like having to pack your entire room to make you really think about whether you need something or not.  If I hadn't used it in the last two years, I donated it to others or threw it away.  It helped tremendously with the clutter, and I didn't miss one single item that I had thrown away in that purge.

5.  Lastly, try working without a desk.  I think you will like it!!

I had a desk... that I NEVER sat at.  It basically held my papers, lesson plan book, and supplies.  It also took up a lot of room in my classroom.  So I made the plunge 2 years ago to get rid of it.  I replaced it with a round table that I desperately needed for small group work.  My plan book with lessons and activities for the day sits on the back of my counter.  My papers that needed graded, filed, copied and other supplies are now found in these containers next to my counter.  It took me a few weeks to get used to not having a desk.  I did miss it in the beginning, but now I would never go back to a desk in my room again. 

Enjoy the rest of your week!!  I know many of you are already back in the trenches or are working on your rooms.  Best of luck to you on a new school year!!

Optimum Organization Linky- Organizing Student Papers

Hi Sweet Friends!

I am loving all of the fabulous organizational ideas I have been reading about through the Optimum Organization Linky Party.  Now that I've finally been able to get into my classroom to take some pictures, I couldn't wait to link up with Ladybug's Teacher Files and Fun in Room 4B for

I thought I would share with you my organizational system for copies, graded papers, and student work.

1.  Copies

These are book boxes that I have labeled with days of the week.  These are where I keep my copies for the week.  They are easy to access and also make it easy for a sub to find needed copies.  I cut out colored scrapbook paper that matched my classroom decor to put on the spine of the book boxes.  Then I printed out the days of the week.   This idea came from the Clutter Free Classroom.

2.  Graded Papers

I know it's not very pretty, but it works really well.  In our district, all important communication and student papers are sent home in a "Friday Folder" at the end of the school week.  To organize all of this information quickly so that it isn't overwhelming at the end of the week, I have a hanging file folder for each student in a crate.  This is where I place all graded papers and other communication forms from our school.  Then at the end of the week a parent volunteer places these papers in each student's Friday Folder.

3. Student Work

I purchased these plastic trays from the Dollar Tree.  I attached labels for each of the subject areas onto the baskets.  These baskets are placed along a shelf at the back of the classroom.  This is where my student's place their classwork when completed. 

Don't forget to check out all the fabulous classroom organization ideas by clicking on the linky button at the top of this post.  Thank you so much for stopping by!!  

I would love to hear how you organize graded papers and classwork completed by your students.

My completed classroom.....

IT is finished..... my classroom set up that is.

I  have been working on this since early July.

My classroom design this year is Pinterest and teacher blogs inspired.

Thank you!!!! I wish I had "before" pictures of my classroom to show you.  

I LOVE how the new design turned out.

Take a peek.

This is one view from the doorway of my classroom.

Another view from the doorway of my classroom.

The library.....

Another partial view of the library...

The ladybug and dots calendar

The ladybug and dots cursive alphabet...

The math workshop board and my math word problem posters above the workshop board...

A view from my desk.. it's at the back of my classroom.

Another view from the back of the classroom..

Our meeting area is located in front of the Promethean board.  I forgot to take a close up of this area.

This is our "Bulldog Brag Tag" board.  I am out of bulletin board space so I used the door to

the front of the built in cabinet as a place for our "Brag Tags".  I just used the Contact hooks and numbered each one.  Students will be able to wear their brag tags on Fridays.  I purchased the necklaces from Image Stuff, but decided to make my own tags to go on them.  Below is a peek at the first tag each student will receive.  It has their name and our school mascot on them on one side. On the other side is the name of our school along with the  picture of our mascot.

This is a partial view of the writing center...

The CAFE board... I used the posters from  Ginger at  Ginger Snaps.

Just a little snapshot of a portion of my word wall that is below the CAFE board..

My Pinterest inspired bathroom passes and sign out sheets from the  Clutter Free Classroom.

My little classroom is ready and waiting for my new students ( 24 of them so far).

Back to School Night is Monday, and I can't wait  to meet  my students ( and their parents) the night before school begins. It's a great way to help students with those "first day jitters".

AND of course, with only a few days left before school begins, you have to have some time for fun. So my daughter and I did a little back to school shopping today.  She's SO totally not a shopper.   When I mentioned to her about having some mother/daughter time ( without brothers) to go school shopping, she says " Can we just pick something out online?" I just had to laugh.  I did manage to drag her into a few stores AND we had a lot of fun.

Since we are on the topic of shopping... did you hear about these fabulous back to school sales?

TPT is having a Back to School Sale on Sunday August 12-Monday August 13.

If you use the code below you will get an additional 10% off each item.

All items in my store will be 20% off for this sale.

Teacher Notebook is also having a Back To  Sale on August 11-13.  All items in my Teacher Notebook shop will be 30% off during this time.

I have already been filling my shopping cart with items that I want for my classroom.

Stress, Flash Sale, and Sea Lions

It is FINALLY finished!

My classroom library makeover that is.

Can I tell you I have spent many HOURS and sleepless nights over this little makeover?

( Yes, I lost sleep over my classroom library.  Sad, I know.)

Once upon a time, I was quite happy with my library.  It was simple and easy for my students to put away books when they were finished.  I had it organized according to Accelerated Reader reading levels.  I had book baskets that were labeled with levels such as 3.1-3.6 or 4.1-4.5.  There were colored stickers on the basket labels and matching ones on the books.  I was happy with this system until I read the Daily 5.  It made me rethink my whole classroom library.  I wanted a way for my students to easily find books they were interested in AND books that were at their reading level.  

So, I came up with a new little system that created  some more work for me.  

My husband would literally find me making supper with my laptop pulled up at the kitchen counter entering a pile of my classroom books into www.librarything.com. 

If you haven't taken a peek at this website, I recommend it.  I easily entered all

700 of my classroom books into this program.  I now can easily see my book categories and what books I have.  It's also great for categorizing your books.  I haven't read all the books in my library so I am uncertain as to what category some of them might fall into.  Once a book is entered into Library Thing, a list of categories this book falls into will appear towards the bottom of the page.

Here's a snapshot of my old library.

And here's a little peek at my new library... I LOVE the book baskets from Dollar Tree and my new categories.  This will make selecting a book so much easier for my students.

I created 44 different categories for my classroom books.  I included pictures to go along with each book basket label.  Then I created labels to put on my books that include the same pictures as the book basket label.  This will make it easy for my students to know which book basket to return the book when they are finished reading it.  Finally, I didn't want to lose my reading level on the books so I created color coded labels that go on each book so that students know the reading level of each book.  Then I created the poster below  to hang in my library about the color coded reading levels.

I just loaded this " Label It" Classroom Library Kit onto my TPT store.  It is $5.00.  This item is made specifically for grades 3-6.  If you purchase this item and find there is a category that you would like added, please e-mail me or leave a comment below.  I can't make any promises, but I will try my best to create a new category.  ( It's a busy time of year right now.)  Here's a sneak peek below.  Simply click on any picture below to be find out more about this item in my TPT store.

 

Book basket labels

Labels created using Avery 5160 format for the books.

Labels created using the form Avery 5160 for the book levels

I just had to share a few pics of our trip to the St. Louis Zoo yesterday.  I woke my kids up bright and early to get there before the 100 degree heat set in (It was great practice for getting back into the school mode.)  I really wanted to check out the new Sea Lion Sound exhibit ,but we also visited a few favorites too..

 

The outside view of Sea Lion Sound

One section of the underwater viewing tunnel... the sea lions loved to show off for their guests.

My "gang" (minus the one in yellow ,who is my daughter's friend)

Touching the stingrays at Caribbean Cove

And of course, no trip to the zoo is complete without the train ride.

Do you notice my daughter's less than happy expression about the train ride in the background.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Teacher Binder

Hi everyone!

Today I wanted to share with you my teacher binder.

Yep!!! It's finally finished AND I can't wait to use it.

I have seen these all over the place in bloggy land last spring and I knew I HAD to have one.  

I didn't have time to make one until this sumer and it's FINALLY completed.

Don't you just love the yellow and black polka dots?  There are so many fabulous binder resources out there, but this matched my classroom.  It's from Amy at the Resourseful Room. Click on the picture below to download this from her blog post.  It's FREE and look at all that it comes with...

Oh, and I just noticed this morning that Christie at Teaching in Flip Flops posted about some amazing freebies she has in her store, and these adorable binder resources are free.  Simply click on the picture below to be taken to her post.

Filling my clear binder with these fabulous printed items was easy.... then I kind of begged, borrowed, and created the other items to fill my binder.

I have a place for meeting notes at the very back of my binder.  Isn't the form above so cute?!  It was one of the freebies the Clutter Free Classroom has been posting to the TPT store lately.  I have found so many fabulous resources from them including a parent communication form.

I filled the standards area of my binder with the "I CAN" common core statements I received at a workshop I went to in January.  I like these much better ,and they are a little more in depth.

Next I created some of my own items to fill my binder with.  I used the polka dot theme.  You are welcome to download them from Google Docs by clicking on the pictures below.

This is my goal sheet for the year in each subject.  I use this to sketch out what I would like to cover in each subject area during the school year.  I created one for each subject area.

Next I created a weekly station schedule to help me sketch out my plans for the stations and any materials I might need. This year I am going to try and implement the Daily 5 and math workshop. If you would like a copy, just click on the picture above to download from Google Docs.

These are my lesson plan forms.  I typed  my schedule into my lesson plans along with a place to write the Common Core standard covered with each subject. I provided  blank forms for you to write in as you wish.  I copy these front to back so that when they are placed in my binder I can look across and see the plans for the entire day.  Just click on either picture above to download from Google docs.

In the student information area, I am including a copy of the form above. This form is part of my parent communication packet I have on TN.  It's free.  Click on the picture above to be taken to my store to download this packet.  I will have the form above on a clipboard at a station at Back to School Night in which parents will need to provide their e-mail.  Our school has drastically reduced their paper budget this school year, so I'm going to send most parent communication via e-mail this year.  This will include my weekly newsletters.  The teachers of my oldest two children did this last year, and  I LOVED it.  I felt so informed.  For those parents who might not have e-mail, I will continue to send home paper copies of communication.  I also keep a copy of the student list I receive from the office which has each student's phone number, address, and any medical issues I might need to be aware of.  ( We are also required to make another copy of this list that is small enough to fit into our teacher badge that we are required to wear.  If there was ever an emergency, we would have a list of important information about our students with us.)

Other items that I have left to fill in my binder with will have to wait until the school year begins.  I will put the IEP information about some of my kiddos that I receive from the special education teacher in that area, and information about RTI and data will be placed in that "Data" area.

I now have an organized place to keep all of my important information rather than in separate folders located in a bin on my desk.  I can simply take this binder with me to meetings and 3rd grade collaboration and have all I need together in one place.