Things are so much easier in the classroom if you can have everything labeled. When you’ve had a long day, the last thing you want to worry about is having to find stuff. So, if it’s labeled, then you don’t have to worry about it!
If you have all your lessons decided for that year (or semester, or quarter, however you work), then divide them by weeks. Keep them in a file cabinet (or something similar) so you can easily locate them.
When your lesson plan comes up for the week, have a separate spot that allows you to divide them up by day. This way, you can know exactly what you’re going to teach each day and can plan accordingly.
When you collect school supplies from parents during your open house, just have big bins where parents can put the supplies in. Then, just store those bins away and pull them out whenever you need the supplies. Super easy and way less stressful.
If your students are constantly using supplies or doing projects, then consider having a caddy at each table so they don’t have to be pulling supplies out of their desks all the time. Keep things like rulers, scissors, markers, etc., in there.
Have a “heavy duty” station with all the big stuff like staplers, tape dispensers, hole punchers, etc. This keeps things way more organized and, if needed, you can easily keep your eye on the supplies.
Use clear bins as much as you can. You won’t want to have to dig through a bunch of boxes to find something during the school year, so store things in clear bins. That way, you know just by looking if what you need is in a certain box.
Have a large classroom calendar that you and all your students can look at. Put important dates (like holidays, conferences, tests, etc.) on it so that no one forgets.
Keep a big bookshelf that has all the reading material or just books that your students can read. I think it’s a great idea to break them up by series or genre. It helps kids stay engaged and entertained with reading.
Paper is a big part of any classroom, and you want your paper to be as organized as possible. I suggest dividing your paper up by color and then keeping them in separate sections of a divider to be as efficient and organized as possible.
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