Bloghoppin Organization!

So it's "Why" Wednesday- My tips for staying organized and why they work for me.

This is my favorite piece for organizing my weekly activities. I put the handouts, games, and crafts in the bin for the day. I love that each bin is big enough to hold craft materials and bulky things. It came with plastic file folders that are color coordinated- I put the handouts for the day in the folder. This way if I am ever unexpectedly absent, the sub can just look in the tub and do anything in that days tub.  I bought this organizer from Lakeshore here. It was pricey, but I'm pretty sure I had a coupon of some sort. I've had it for several years now and it still looks perfect! 

This is where I keep track of our work station rotations.  I have 5 families that rotate through 5 stations every week. I've seen so many ways to track this activity and they always seem so confusing to me. This is super easy- I just move the family down each day. Easy Peasy!

These carts seems to be in everyone's classroom.  I have two of them- they were a Black Friday steal at Michaels a couple of years ago. With coupons and discounts...final cost $14.99! Anyway, I use one to store originals of my handouts.  Each drawer contains the handouts for one month.  The other one stores my work station and afternoon small group activities, again drawers are organized by months.  At the end of the year, I weed through each drawer so I am ready to start the new school year.

I can't remember where I saw this idea first, but this is a new one for the school year. I love the idea of this especially now with 25 kindergarten kids in my classroom. I have several bins that I made a "Tidy Tub" label for and stuck it on with contact paper. I will put them on the table when the children are doing any cutting to collect scraps.  I can't believe I never thought of this before. My assistant and I would constantly walk around tables and pick up scraps as the children cut. These tubs are going to make it so much easier! 

This organization idea was born from a BTS nightmare. I usually have my families bring their supplies at my open house before school starts. I stack them in the coat area or behind my desk. It's basically a hot mess.  And then I'm always worried that they won't label the crayon box or smock and then I don't know whose is whose. Well with 25 families bringing in supplies, I knew I needed to come up with a plan. A big thank you to our local Trader Joe's for letting me have enough paper bags for my students for FREE! I stapled a sheet protector so I could reuse the bags.  The note has a place for the student's name and asks for 4 supplies to be put in the bag.  These are the supplies that I want to make sure get labelled for the right student. They can then put the other supplies in the classroom or hallway for me to store for later.

So those are the things that keep me organized. Well besides my lovely Erin Condren Teacher planner. Love, love, love it!

Head on back to Bloghoppin for more tips for keeping organized!