#5Things That Help Me Stay Organized

I know that the July Challenge is over, but since I missed two days, I have given myself a 2 day penalty.  :)  The challenge was difficult and I even threw a fit or two on my evening walk with hubby, but in general, it was a positive experience.  I often had no idea what to say and I'm certain that there were days that what I did write was not worth a thing, but if nothing else, it helped me form better blogging habits, which was the original goal.


With that said, August 1 is here, which means it is time to buckle down.  It's been a crazy week as I recouped from the awesomeness that was TMC14 and this day is even more special as it marks the day that I committed to spend the rest of my days with my hubby.  If you were at TMC14, you might have had an opportunity to meet him, but he is simply the most amazing man I know.  Today marks our 16th wedding anniversary, which is bizarre to me, because it does not seem like that many years have passed! :)


For today's #5Things post, I decided to focus on classroom organization.  Most of these have been posted before, but I thought it might provide something of interest to someone out there...

#1 - Absentee Work...

Near the door to my room, you will find a bulletin board with the monthly calendar, hall passes, and this neat hanging file thing. I found this years ago at Mardel and I love it. The folders are movable, so of course they had to be in ROY G BIV order because I color code my classes. :) If a student is absent, I write their name on the handouts and put them here. It is up to the student to pick up the work the next day. Hubby made me the awesome hour labels and I added the label to the front last summer. This is probably one of the best things I've ever purchased for my room.

#2 - Desk Paperwork...

For years, I kept my attendance, etc on my podium, but I had a habit of moving it throughout the day and it seemed like I spent a lot of time chasing it down. A few years ago, I ran across this fabric hanging organizer at Big Lots and I love it! It is the perfect size to hold my attendance book, my INBs, etc. This hangs right by my desk, so it really helps keep the clutter off my desk and where it belongs. The best part is that I've stopped losing my attendance book and students know exactly where to go to sign up for reassessments or to leave the classroom during Advisory.

#3-5 - The Shelves...

There are 3 elements of my classroom organization all tucked together on my shelves. First off is the "Extra Handouts" baskets.  I picked these up a few years ago at Dollar Tree and they are just the perfect size for paper!  After putting the absentee work in the folder above, any extras go here.

The "Table Buckets" can be seen to the right of the Extra Handouts.  These little buckets are also from Dollar Tree.  Each one has 4 sets of scissors, 4 sets of "paper clickers", and a set of Red/Green/Yellow cups.  Anytime we are doing group work, these are on the desks for students to use.

On the bottom shelf are my "Pass Back Folders".  Each student in each class has a folder and this is where I pass back papers.  I used to pass back papers in class, but found that often took precious time away from learning.  Instead, I file the papers in my spare time (or have a student aide do it) and students have easy access to their papers without having to take up class time.  Students tend to store other things in their folders as well, such as their 1st semester notebook or AP Review packets.

What things do you use that keep your classroom organized and running smoothly?