I just received a comment from a reader that said she loved my classroom, but wanted to see what it looks like after the kids have torn through it.  Well…that got me thinking about my classroom.  Honestly, it doesn’t look too different than the photos I showed you back in September.   Here are a few of my tricks to keeping a tidy classroom.

1.  Never leave school until your desk is cleaned off.  Seriously, my desk can look like a pit during the day.  I have my empty Diet Cokes (need my caffeine to get me through the day!), papers, notes, love letters from my students, toys that were confiscated from students, and lots of other junk scattered all over!  When it is time to leave, I make sure I toss it all out and organize everything so I feel good when I walk in the next morning.

2.  Make your students work.  I do not let the kids out the door until EVERYTHING is cleaned up and spotless.  They have the floors, tops of tables, and everything put away before they go home.  I usually get a big mess by the book basket area.  I always call on a few children that I know are great cleaners to get the area cleaned up before we go home.  For an incentive, whoever I choose, they get to move their behavior clip UP to the next level on our behavior chart for helping me.  I usually have the kids BEGGING me to clean up!

3.  I no longer have designated areas for Centers.  For most of my teaching career, I had separate areas in my classroom designated for Centers.  I would have a separate Writing Center, Reading Center, Word Work Center, Math Center, and Art Center.  I have completely eliminated this in my classroom and it has done wonders in keeping my room in order.  I have memories of children throwing the supplies back on the shelves – all in the wrong containers, manipulatives were all over the room, papers were everywhere, the room was a big, hot mess by the end of the day.  I would spend hours trying to replace items and put it all back together.  Now I keep it simple. 

I could probably write a book on this subject.  To make a long story short, I decided to eliminate all of the “fluff.”  The children still get to write, but I have their writing folders in a designated spot, along with writing paper and a container of pens.  When they write, they either take it to their seat or find an available spot to sit on the floor.  I no longer give them a ton of supplies or choices – everything is kept to a minimum.  I have a separate spelling area where they can pick up an activity and take it to their seat.  I have a rolling shelf with about 12 books/CD’s/portable CD players. The books are changed out every month.  The kids grab a book and CD player and sit quietly and listen to a story by themselves.  When the children are reading alone or with a partner, they take their book baskets with their leveled books to an available area in the room to practice reading.  I no longer have all of the extra clean up and preparation. 

4.  Fun Friday.  On Fridays, I have Library, Computer Lab, Gym or Music, and we always start the day with a half hour assembly in the gym.   My entire day is filled with fun activities for the kids!  I purposely scheduled Library and Computer Lab on Friday, so I could get four full days of teaching without any interruptions.  With everything scheduled on Friday, I end up having only a couple hours of instruction time available.  I use Fridays to do fun art projects or schedule a fun activity.  I give the students about an hour of free choice time at the end of the day.  This works out perfect to have students finish work or take a test they might have missed due to an absence during the week.  I am also a HUGE believer that children learn from one another.  Giving them an hour during the entire week to choose whatever they want to do in the classroom has so many benefits to even begin to list.  As they are practicing what they have learned throughout the week, I can organize, clean up, and get ready for the next week ahead. 

5.  Cleaning and Organizing Tip!  My second year of teaching, I taught next to the most organized and meticulous woman I have ever met in my life!  One day, I walked over to her room and asked her what her secret was.   Her biggest secret….when cleaning or organizing her room, she would start in ONE designated area of her classroom and clean the entire area without moving.  TRY IT!  IT IS REALLY HARD!  I swear, if you pay attention, you will have the urge to move, but don’t!  STOP!  Stay in that spot until it is perfect.  Slowly, move around the perimeter of your classroom and stay in that area until you have it the way you want, then slide over to the next area until you made it around your entire room.  Works like a charm!  Woohoo!

6.  Keep it Simple!  Okay, I am pretty obsessed with teaching and finding things that make my teaching life easier.  I want to make my room the ultimate learning environment!  In the beginning, I would purchase everything I could…puzzles, games, manipulatives, furniture, charts, baskets, EVERYTHING!  I had a calendar area the size of a football field!  I had junk and clutter everywhere!  I had to have every new item that came out!  I scoured garage sales for old toys and furniture for my classroom.  Well…I have changed.  I no longer buy so much “stuff” for my classroom.  More “stuff” = more clutter.  Seriously, you really don’t need it.  My good friend, Jana, teaches Kindergarten in my building.  Her classroom is SO organized and it feels so good when you walk into her room.  She will often say that her organization comes from not having a lot of “stuff.”  She doesn’t have shelves that are jam packed with broken games, puzzles, or junk falling out of them.  Her counters are completely clean.  Everything is kept to a minimum.  So…stop buying!  I mean it!  Consider this blog post your Schoolgirl Style intervention!

7.  What do you do with all of those important papers?  I am constantly being bombarded with paperwork in my mailbox.  I get schedules, procedures, important assessment information, information about students, etc…I used to put it in a bin behind my desk because I knew I needed to keep it, but eventually, the bin became a “catch all” for junk and half way through the school year, it was out of control, not to mention, it looked really bad.  I now keep a 3-ring binder with a folder inside and place all of those random papers in the folder.  I usually take it to meetings as well.  It is a perfect place for all of those handouts that you get and you aren’t sure what to do with it or where to put it.  Now, I am NEVER looking for anything.  If I need to find something that was given to me, I just look in the binder and it is there!

Well, there you have it folks!  Nothing too earth shattering or exciting!  Just a few tricks that I use to make my life a little easier!

Happy Organizing!

Melanie

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