Hello friends! It's Day 3 of our Teacher Week blog hop! Today's post is all about staying organized. Music to a teachers ears right??? Here are 3 ways I keep things straight in my classroom!
1. LABEL, LABEL, LABEL! I am a bit label crazy! It's helps me stay organized because I am also a huge lender-outer (is that a real word?) of my stuff and have a hard time remembering what I've lent out! My colleagues are very honest thank goodness but my personalized stamp definitely seals the deal!!! I used to print stickers with my name on them and stick them to my books. Then I decided to invest just $25 to get myself a personalized stamp! SO MUCH easier, cheaper, faster!!!! I stamp all my books, centres, games and anything else that gets laminated! I even ask my kids to bring me any book they find in our classroom that doesn't have a stamp on it. It's like a fun little treasure hunt for my students! Just google "teacher stamp + from the library of" and you'll get a ton of results!!!
2. Long Range Plans!
I keep a huge print out of my long range plans attached to the wall behind my desk. I'm teaching a new grade this year so I don't have a picture of it yet but I will post it as soon as I can! Having the whole year mapped out in view keeps me on track. My long range plans are colour coded, divided by subject and have approximate teaching times for each unit.
Did you know you can print poster-sized pages at home??? Dragonflies in First has created this easy to follow tutorial! Check it out here!
3. Product Catalogue!
Yup! That's right! I made my own product catalogue :) If you are like me you have probably downloaded a whole bunch of awesome freebies and other units that you sometimes forget you have. I used my good friend Ashley Schroeder's "What Do You Own" template to put together a binder full of product covers. I simply flip to the section I need (i.e., Math Resources) and find the unit I need (i.e., Fractions). This is a definitely plus when planning!
Now it's your turn! How do you stay organized in your classroom? Link up with us and share your great ideas!
Your ideas are great & your blog is very inspiring! I invested quite a bit of time over the summer working on my long range plans and it feels good going into this school year so prepared.
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awwwww thanks Donna!!! It's a work in progress and it's been especially difficult being out of the classroom for almost 2.5 years but I am ready to go back! Off to visit you now :)
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