One week before my classroom is
filled with noise and excitement as we kick off another school year. I made
some changes last year to help keep the class running smoother and shifting
some of the work and responsibilities for that to my students. Surprisingly, it went better than I
expected. Here are a few of my
organization tips that made a big difference:
1. Bins
We’ve
all seen the funny pictures showing how student desks get smaller while
students (and their stuff) gets larger.
After years of listening to calculators, rulers, pencils, etc. hit the
floor, I decided to add a little extra storage to each desk. I saw these bins at Big Lots, two for $1.30,
and took the plunge. I became an instant
celebrity during pre-planning with a number of teachers going out and getting
them too. We were all concerned with how
they would hold up to 125 – 160 students per day, and were all thrilled at the
end of the year. I personally lost two
bins to damage, but feel that fault lies with me for installation error. I used zip (cable) ties and found using 3-4
for each basket keeps it stable. My
students also kept these fairly clean – they did not turn into mini trash
baskets!
2. Pick-up Station
Distributing
papers can seem like a never ending job, so the pick-up station was my way of
getting students to help. It took less
than a week for them to become accustomed to picking up their own handouts at
the beginning of class. I added a line to
my daily agenda on the board called “Pick-ups” and would write the number of
pick-ups for that day next to it. This
also had the wonderful side benefit of me not having to hear “but you didn’t
give it to me” anymore. Love it!
3. Turn In Station
The
reverse of the pick-up station, students were responsible for handing in their
work in the appropriate drop-off bin.
Another time saver that increased student responsibility. I recently saw a wonderful idea on Squarehead
Teachers Blog where they had a laminated paper on top of the turn in basket
reminding students to check that their name is on it, all questions answered,
etc. with directions to put their paper under the reminder sheet. A great reminder that also reduces “peeking”
at someone else’s paper.
4.
Absent Work Station
I’ve
had a variation of it for years, but with the other stations added, it seems
like I heard a lot less of “what did I miss” last year. Now if we could just eliminate “do I have to
make up what I missed yesterday?” I’d be a happy camper.
5. Homework Parking Lot
Something
good finally came out of all those faculty meetings and trainings – my homework
parking lot. Students put up the number
of any homework questions they want to review before the start of class each
day. That gives me an opportunity to get
ready to review them after attendance and before students finish their daily
warm-ups.
I hope you find some inspiration
and ideas from a few of my favorite things for classroom organization. I’d love to hear what is working in your
classroom.
Happy teaching!
Laura
