A New Year, A New Way

Let's Get Organized, Organized...(sung to the tune of Let's Get Physical) My room has become a dumping ground. Changing grade level assignments each year leads me on the path to disorganization. Yes, I chose to loop with my amazing class, but I lost 2 floor-to-ceiling cabinets and several feet in the length of my room. You don't think it sounds like much until you're in there and using it! So, like most, I've taken to look at all those lovely classroom organization pins I have pinned (you know, the ones I had planned to implement, but they remain just on my pinterest boards). Ta da! I am pretty proud that I did a few of them...maybe, not the most productive ones, but baby steps, Melanie, baby steps.

I saw E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. making "Teacher Toolkits" in the summer so I set out to make my own. I am a pack rat so I need 2. Now that the school year is on, I need about 10. :) Here are my first Pinterest projects.

Next, I pinned and actually made these after seeing them from Charity at The Organized Classroom Blog at the start of the school year for my cubbies. I always labeled with their numbers, but I liked the aesthetic appeal so I made these in DJ ChunkM font with their name and number:

I also pinned and sorted my bulletin board letters this from Marg at MargD Teaching Posters which really helped me see how many of each letter, what patterns or colors, etc. I had.

I also pinned and organized -- but does this really count? Yes, I think so since it was a pinned idea and I actually followed through! Something so basic I never thought of from Jami at Two Things in Common was simply sorting construction paper by color. The best part? My fast finished frequently replenish this so I use slave student labor to help keep the class creativity flowing with momentum. :)

I used these cute money for school notes from Angela at Hello, Cuteness in my P.I.R.A.T.E. notebooks this year and it has helped SO MUCH and kept most kids from bringing in pockets of coins and not knowing why they have to give it to me. *smile*

And hey, I even bought the bag from Thirty-One Gifts (below) and had it monogrammed...but that's about as far as I got....with this pin from A Bowl Full of Lemons.

I attempted these after pinning them from The Frugal Teacher, but they were a nightmare since we have to stack chairs at the end of the day -- E.V.E.R.Y.D.A.Y.! Great idea if chairs could stay down or could be stacked on the desks, but we can't at my school. Boo!

So for the New Year, this is what I want to do...

1. Get my guided reading area organized
2. Find 18" x 12" baskets for my class library
3. Organize lesson materials, scan more often, and save them to save me TONS of time
4. Force myself to enter CSCOPE test answers the same day
5. Start MY way of charting the scope and sequence for next year with links to YouTube videos AND which books based on skill, etc.

I am taking baby steps here. I could rattle a list off that's 40 miles long...but I want to be able to accomplish it! How about you? How is the organization in your classroom? Is that one of your teaching resolutions for the new year?