I wish I could tell you my house is just like my organized classroom, but at the fear of my husband commenting on this post and saying otherwise, I’m going to err on the side of caution and not outright lie. There it is. I said it. My house is not the picture of perfection my colleagues probably imagine it to be.
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5 steps to an organized classroom
#1 Label all the things


#2 Teacher Toolbox
Honestly, I don’t know who came up with this idea but whoever did is a genius in my book! Since getting rid of my desk (the paper hoarding monster), I needed to come up with creative ways to store all my junk stuff. I saw this idea on Pinterest and 2 minutes later I was in the car on my way to Home Depot and then on TPT to buy these beautiful labels from Teach Create Motivate. This toolbox doesn’t need anymore explanation-it’s just fabulous. Hello organized classroom! Where have you been all my life?
#3 Binders, Binders, Binders

#4 Rolling Cart
This cart can be a little pricey, luckily Michael’s is always having great sales. This cart was originally $45 but with a sale and armed with a coupon, I got it for $20. They also have them in bright colors as well as pastels. I personally prefer the neutral look of this one because I can use it year after year even if I change my classroom theme-God forbid the cart doesn’t match the class decor ::wink:: It’s great because it can easily be moved and it’s thin enough to fit into small spaces.
You can pretty much use this cart to store any papers. In my class, we use it for independent work and centers. I store my comprehension passages and some of the word work centers. It’s perfect for differentiating because students can access the drawer that you identify as the one they can use. I’ve seen other teachers label their drawers by color. So based on what group each student is in, they can grab independent practice from the drawer that has their color label.
#5 Drawer Bins
I use these drawers to keep myself organized on daily teacher routines. When I quickly pull things out of my binder to go copy, I sometimes don’t have time to file it back into the binder. When that happens, I store the papers into the File Drawer and I pull it out when I have time during a prep. As the day goes on, we always have things that come up. We may need to copy or grade and keeping this drawer system ensures that I don’t have papers stacked everywhere. When it’s my copying day, all I have to do is pull out the copy drawer.
Make sure to grab these drawer bin labels by signing up for access to my exclusive resource library!
I also use the bigger drawer bins to organize posters for the focus wall. I keep them under my computer table next to the focus wall. Every Friday afternoon I look at my plans for the following week and I change out the posters based on our learning objectives. The students always have a clear idea of the expectations.


How do you stay organized? Any ideas I could implement in my classroom?
Happy Organizing,

1 Comment
Kelly
January 16, 2017 at 1:10 amYour room looks great!