More Organization

One of my favorite things in life is organization...in fact my husband jokingly (I think) calls me an organization Nazi.  So here are a few pics of some organization ideas from my room.  Let me know if you have any other ideas...I'm always looking for ways to get more organized!

I have a coat closet...not that necessary in Texas...but I have found it is handy for storing my big books.

It was love at first sight when I saw these book holders.  They were expensive but I loved them so I splurged.  They are colorful like the student book organizers, but different enough so the students know not to get into these.  They are sorted by topic - weather, Christmas, desert, beginning of school, etc.

Obviously in first grade we read A LOT so when it was time for me to get rid of my couch (that I have had since I was 16) I knew it had to come to my classroom.  The only problem was space.  But I decided that two of my shelves would be storage for my math manipulatives, games, books, etc. which always looks messy.  So it would not be a big deal if my couch covered those up.  My couch is super-light so it is never an issue moving it when I need to get to my supplies. 

So the purple couch is a class favorite.  In fact in the mornings when alumni come to visit and say hello most of them ask why I didn't have a couch when they were in first grade.  So cute!

Okay...now here is a zoom in of my math shelves. Looking at them kind of makes me cringe because it looks really sloppy.  However, all the games, books, photocopies, etc. for each six weeks is on one shelf.  It makes it very easy to find and get ready for a math curriculum that takes a lot of prep time.  So I love it even though I wish it could be closed in a cabinet so I wouldn't have to see it...

Now on to happier things.  This is probably the cleverest of something simple but made amazing in my room.  So it obviously did not come from me.  A long time ago when I was first hired to teach a sweet librarian was moving to a new position so she gave me her rocking chair, easel, and pocket chart / dry erase board set up.  I never would have thought to staple a pocket chart onto a dry erase board but I don't know how I would teach without it.  I use it ALL the time.

So these are the 3 layers of my teaching zone.  The top layer is a pocket chart that is cut to fit the dry erase board and stapled at the top.  The second layer I added because sometimes we are keeping a reading chart and need a Venn diagram for science so I needed more space.  So I just tape some butcher paper to the dry erase board to add another layer.  The nice part is that you can add as many chart paper layers as needed.  Those can then be removed and place around the room as anchor charts if needed.  The last layer is the dry erase board.  I don't know how I would teach without this little layered zone!

Since I am and organization crazed person, I try to instill a slightly healthier amount of organization to my students.  Here is how I keep the tables and students organized.

Each table has a couple of color coordinated buckets.  In one bucket are the book bags and word work journals for Daily 5 rotations.  The larger bucket holds the thought protectors, clipboards, data folders, and an assortment of books that the students might want to read (early in the year these are the only books they may choose from to fill their books bags, but I'll explain more about that when I go into Daily 5 things).

Then each individual student has a chair pocket that has their unfinished work folder, poetry folder, and learning journal in it.  The chair pockets are a little big for my small chairs so if we put anything else in them they might fall out.

Each student also has a pencil box to keep his / her things in.  The box keeps their pencil, eraser, crayons, scissors, glue stick (come on - you must know I'm too uptight to let my kids use glue bottles), black sock (cheap and easy to use as eraser when doing dry erase) and dry erase marker in it, and wallet with coins.  The wallet and coins are part of my behavior system.  I'll get in to that in a different post. 

So that's a little more about the organization in my room.  I hope it helps give you some ideas of what you can use.  Also, let me know if you have any good ideas - I'm always ready to be more organized myself.  Especially those math shelves...