My Mind's in the Gutter Today

I got quite the reaction when this was my title in an email I sent out to staff.  I had LOTS of responses looking to hear something juicy...but that's not the case.  I'm sure I could've come up with something good.

Just thought I'd share a NEW organizational feature I added to my classroom!

How many of you have a book display in your room?  It has ALWAYS driven me crazy!  I never know where to put it.  The kids lay on it, try to crawl behind it (even when it's against the wall), and the books fall down beneath.

So...I decided to use a 10 ft. gutter!!  Try fitting that into a car.  It does work, believe me I did it last night.  I went to Lowes and bought a guttah for about $6.

It fit perfectly in my car and I set it up in my room this morning.  Now, it would be interesting to see how many more I could fit in my car.

So far, the kids are LOVING it!!  This is a much better way to display books and it takes up less space.  Gotta love that.

BEFORE

Not liking how the books look...

AFTER

WOW!!

Classroom Pics

I love how clean my room is and everything is in it's place.  I'm sure it wont' look this great after the first week of school.  Here are a few pics!!  Click the picture and it will enlarge.

Pic 1: Where I store my craft supplies and word work materials. The kids complete Poetry Art in this area.

Pic 2: Organization Galore!!  I bought the plastic storage bins at Walmart.  This is where ALL of my Daily 5 materials are stored.  The kids also use Bookflix here.

Pic 3: Reading group materials and storage

Pic 4: NO more teacher's desk.  I got rid of it last year and couldn't be happier.  I NEVER sat at it and it only collected mounds of paper.

Pic 5: My teepee-I made it at the end of last year and the kids LOVED this reading nook.

Pic 1:  Where kiddos can complete math.  I've included Work on Math during Daily 5 time and will be doing a math workshop this year.  

Pic 2: Where kids sign in

Pic 3: Where kiddos Listen to Reading-It's so comfy with the pillows and yes I made them.  If I can do a straight stitch ANYONE can!

Pic 4: Our meeting place

Here are some pics of the start of my bulletin boards.  I ALWAYS create these with the kids as we complete lessons but I added my anchor charts.

More pics can be seen here Ode to Summah.

Optimum Organizational Linky

I decided to join in on the fun and participate in a linky party.  Fun in Room 4B is hosting this and is giving teachers a chance to share and learn new organizational tips.

I'm an organizational freak so I have to join the party and share what has worked with me!!

I do apologize for how disorganized it looks but it's the end of the year and my room needs some cleaning.

First up, my cart from Target.  I use this for my reading groups.  The larger drawers hold my reading group materials, lessons, books, and journals.  The smaller drawers hold markers, magic tape, letters, etc.  It has worked PERFECTLY and I like that everything is in one spot!!

BINDERS...BINDERS...BINDERS...and more BINDERS.  So I've been teased about my obsession with putting everything in binders but I would have it NO other way.  Its' the easiest way for me.  I have my binders labeled by month so I can quickly grab the binder I need.  Look how nicely they look on my shelf!

Next up, I have book boxes labeled by subject.  I've seen them labeled by days of the week but I found this works better for me.  I try to stay ahead of the game in photocopying (ugh) so I just add my materials to the bin.

I store my listening center books in these cute bins.  I found they were taking up a lot of space or sliding off the shelf.  I like that I can hide them away.

For the kiddos writing materials I bought these plastic storage containers.  The kids go and get what they need.  I store pencils, erasers, publishing stamps, story maps, paper, and editing checklists.

And the last two storage solutions I've been trying out this year are...

My teacher toolbox.  I bought this at Lowe's for about $15.  I'm so glad I made this.  I got rid of my teacher's desk and couldn't be happier!

I've seen SOOO many different ways to store Daily 5 materials from ziplock bags to folders, to manila envelopes.

I found these bins at Walmart and thought they might work for me.  This is still a work in progress but I plan on organizing each bin by month/theme.  Each one will have a label so I can pull it out as needed.

I hope some of these tips help you and I can't wait to see what ideas I can try out.

Finally...a Teacher Toolbox!! I'm Pretty Excited.

SooOooo, I've been wanting to get rid of my teacher desk for quite some time.  If I'm ever sitting, I sit at my jellybean table.

Since I never sat at my desk and its only use was to pile papers on top of it, it NEEDED to go!!  Over break, I decided to finally get myself EVEN more organized and I bought a toolbox at Lowe's.

I used the labels from Ladybug's Teacher Files.  I came in over vacation and plugged that hot glue gun in and began gluing away.

I'm so happy with how it came out and it has worked great. I don't miss my desk at all!!

Organization That Has Worked For Me

Some of you have been posting what works for you in your classroom to keep you organized so I thought  I'd share too.  Here are a few things that have really helped me!!

The first item is for my Daily 5 storage.  I found the shelf and bins at Target.  I have my Daily 5 activities in gallon zip lock bags.  This is also where I keep two laptops with Bookflix for the kids.

The labels have fallen off but will be back on!

I found this at Target and LOVE it!  I had to order it online and it was a tad expensive but it has worked so well in my class.  I store all of my guided reading supplies here.  Each drawer holds my reading group lessons.  I also store markers, tape, wipe off boards, alphabet letters, etc here.  It's right behind my jelly bean table (yes I call it that).

Behind my desk I have boxes that store materials I need for the upcoming weeks.  Each one is labeled with a subject.  This is where all of my photocopies for the upcoming weeks go.

It's a bit messy but it's the end of the year!

On my door I have this pocket chart that I got at Really Good Stuff.  This is where I keep my math, spelling, and word work lessons.  I also keep the kids science notebooks here.  It's easy for them to grab their work.

Next up...my books for each theme.  I put my books in labeled white bins.  It's easy to just grab the bin and put the books out for the kids to browse.

I dislike filing cabinets!!  I just find they don't work for me and I've always LOVED binders.  I have binders for each month with the themes labeled on the side.  SO much easier!

I've been told I'm some what obsessed with binders!

For Daily 5 I was looking for an easy way to collect papers.  I wanted to find a way so the kiddos weren't up and walking around to hand in papers while  I was in a reading group.  Each bin has a done folder.

Last but not least, I bought these to store writing supplies the kids would use on a regular basis.  They know right where to go when they need something!

So How Do I Stay Organized?

Growing Kinders is having an Organization Linky Party and I wanted to share some of the ways I stay organized so I'm not in constant chaos!

Let's just begin by saying that I've always been pretty darn organized with all my white binders labeled by subject, papers in place, books in order, and book bins labeled.  This year, since moving to first I feel like I'm all over the place.  Papers in random piles, books out of place, and supplies stored in random spots.  This is the worse nightmare for any teacher who likes things in place!!  I'm slowly working on weeding through items that I don't need for first grade so they can be put into storage.

1.  I have found some items to be EXTREMELY helpful in first grade.  I'm beginning to place everything in binders based on themes so they'll be easy to get to next year.  File folders drive me CRAZY!!


2.  I also bought this storage cart at Target that I  absolutely love.  It was a bit expensive but it has worked so well for my Guided Reading Groups.  In the small bins, I place magic tape, markers, and other reading supplies that I can grab quickly.  In the larger bins, I labeled each one with a reading group.  I keep all of my materials for each group here-reading group lesson plans, folders, books,  and wipe off boards.  On the top, I keep my container of alphabet letters and a binder with running record sheets, reading plan sheets, reading strategy bookmarks, and possible word work lessons.




3.  I also bought a storage shelf at Target that holds bins.  Each one holds different materials for Daily 5 (word work, writing, math, etc).  I can easily grab what I need and put it back in it's place.  On the top of this I have 2 laptops that kids can also use during Daily 5.  They have the option of going to Raz-Kids or Lexia.  What I love is that it's useful for storage and takes up very little space.

4.  Storage bins-who can't get enough of those?  The clear ones are perfect because you can quickly see what you need.  I store all of my holiday items and math manipulatives in labeled bins.  I also bought small bins from the Dollar Store that hold all of our class library books.  Each bin is labeled with a favorite author or theme.

5.  I also made a daily schedule for the kids that's laminated and has magnets on the back.  I change it as our schedule changes.  This makes it so easy for the kids because each morning they can look at the board and see what our plans are for the day.