Tame your Space

I am constantly being asked by co-workers what my tips are for keeping my room organized and 'tamed' and tame would be the verb I would use for teachers keeping their areas organized. It is never perfect, and it will never be complete. So all you can do is tame the situation. 

I know that a lot of teachers get over-whelmed at the end of the school year with the amount of STUFF that has piled up or been covered up or put in closets and all of that has to be re-organized and gone through. 

Now I know that it is impossible to keep the clutter tame all the way, and at the end of the school year, I always end up feeling like I have to throw everything away and that it is going to take years and I get frustrated and just go sit in another teacher's room and talk about summer plans. 

Here is my solution to that this year: 

Every week I am going to have a focus area. (teachers love goals) 

I am writing my focus areas in my plan book. 

My focus areas are: 1. Books 2. cabinets 3. Shelves 4. Files 5. Manipulatives

This year it is super important that I go through everything: I am changing positions next year. Currently I teach second grade math. Only math. We have been departmentalized for some time now (three years). Next year, I will be teaching a mixed-age class of second and third graders. A new math teacher is coming in, so I need to get her curriculum and teacher books, books from my library, manipulatives, everything!

This week I have gone though my classroom library and paired it down quite a bit. I don't want her to start her teaching career with a library that is not well-rounded. And since I will have third graders, I need to "beef-up" my library. 

I am hoping that having clear goals for each week will stop me from being so "if you gave a mouse a cookie" as I go through my room. And take away the frustration altogether!

Bonus Tip :  Don't handle paperwork more than three times. When I grade papers, I grade them, write their points on a grading sheet (or even better put them straight into the grade book/computer), and then put them straight into their mailboxes. (I try to sit close to their mailboxes if possible)

The BEST thing to do is grade their papers as SOON as they hand them to me, and have THEM put it into their mailboxes. (But I know that can't always happen)

That will help you keep the paper-pile-up down to a minimum throughout the school year. 

Happy Organizing :)