Quick Tips: Classroom Organization

As I dig through pictures of my old classrooms to get ideas for setting up my new space later this summer, I keep finding some really great ideas that I forgot about. I thought I would share some organization tips that worked for me in the past and might work for me (and hopefully you) in the future. Enjoy!

Color-Coded Center Organization

This first picture shows how I used to organize centers when I was math workshop and reading workshop queen. The back row of book boxes are math centers. The front row of paper sorting bins are reading centers. The colors for each bin represent the level (although that wasn't advertised to the kids). On the white board next to this shelf, there was a color coded list of names for reading and math, so students always knew which color to grab for what subject.

Small Group Separation

Occasionally, I would have little fights or frustrations break out during reading or math small groups because of table space. Messy kids would have their things spilling all over and neat kids would have no tolerance for it. I used washi tape to separate my table into six spaces and it worked beautifully. Plus, it was super easy to assign spaces during groups if there were students that needed to be separated.

Use Numbers, Not Names

This picture shows my book boxes and unfinished work bins from this past year. I used number labels vs. name labels for a couple reasons:

1. If they held up (which they did on the bins) I wouldn't have to replace them this year.

2. It helps students always put things back in the right order/spot.

3. I could start labeling things right away and not have to wait for my class list.

Let me know of any oragnization tips that you swear by, I would love to find new tricks!

Check out my other quick tips!

Morning & Afternoon Routines

Managing Student Interruptions

Keeping Up with Unfinished Work
Back to School Prep

Quick Tips: 5 Tips for Back to School Prep

I'm back with another Quick Tips post to give you 5 things to think about when setting up your classroom and preparing for your students. These 5 tips have saved me a lot of time throughout the year by shaving minutes off of day to day activities. This time adds up, people!

Let's Go:

No more arguing over whether or not you already stacked your chair or wondering where your chair ended up during center rotations (because apparently in third-grade world, it is super important to have the exact same chair all day).

It is no fun to do this for them in August, it takes time. But, there will be no more confusion over what side houses what. This is more to hold my parents accountable for their end of communication than my students. I also include my procedures, homework schedule, and contact information right on the folder so I will never hear the excuse, "I didn't know" (...hopefully). This 3 pocket folder is from Teacher Direct.

You will thank yourself mid-year when everything is a mess and you don't have time for figuring out where something needs to go. It also makes it easy to give students directions to find something because we all know "on top of, right beside, to the left of, etc..." will not result in you getting the thing you need.

I am so glad that I hopped on this bandwagon after reading this post from The Kindergarten Smorgasboard. If you do interactive notebooks in your classroom, this is a must! It saved me so many precious minutes throughout the year when gluing down smaller, sort pieces.

I have noticed students respond better to libraries that have a corner. When bookshelves lay flat against a wall, there isn't really a space for students to gather. Creating a nook makes them feel like it is a separate area and they are more likely to spend time there. It sounds cray, I know...but it's true!

Check out my other quick tips!

Morning & Afternoon Routines

Managing Student Interruptions

Keeping Up with Unfinished Work

Quick Tips: Morning & Afternoon Routine Reminders

As teachers, we know that students need routines and a certain degree of predictability in order to feel safe in a new classroom and learn what you expect of them. One of the most important things we do to help with this is establish morning and afternoon routines. Not only will students feel less anxiety by knowing exactly what they will do while transitioning to and from school, but teachers will be able to use their time more productively.

Thanks to Pinterest, we are given a variety of ways to display our morning and afternoon routines to help our kiddos remember what to do. Check out some of the awesome examples below:

Mrs. Wills' Kindergarten

I Love Labels

Life is Better Messy Anyway

What I have found works best for me, is to display our routines on PowerPoint slides on the board. 

I love this because:

1. It frees up wall space- I don't know about you, but that is prime real-estate in my room. I don't have a lot of free space and I need every square inch I can get.

2. It's flexible- If our routine calls for something different, like turning in a permission slip or reading instead of morning work, I can change it up quickly without having to repeat myself a billion times.

3. I can personalize- My students love when I personalize the morning routine PPT. They argue over who will be first to enter the room and read the board. 

Some ways I personalize the morning routine are:

   *Add pictures of students or field trips

   *Add pictures of topics we are studying

   *Ask questions or give surveys that require them to write their answer and place it on my desk

   *Tell them what the special of the day will be 

   *Include pictures or stories about my life

Here are some examples of personalized slides from last year. I switched from a to-do list to a letter after they got the main morning "to-do's" down. This helped my student's work on their reading skills. I would usually hide something at the bottom to let me know if they read (ex. put a red crayon on your name tag, quietly write what you would like to do for Fun Friday and place it on my desk). Students who didn't read it were easy to spot and didn't get a vote if there was a survey.

Here are what my basic slides look like at the beginning of the year, before I start getting fancy!

 ...and my afternoon routine

More Quick Tips:

Tackling Unfinished Work

Managing Student Interruptions

Quick Tips: Managing Student Interruptions

I'm back with another super quick tip from my classroom to yours. Today's focus is finding a way to manage student interruptions during a lesson. Have you ever been really into a lesson? Everything's going your way, then you ask a phenomenal question and hands shoot up. You see a student raising their hand that doesn't usually participate and you think "Man, I am on FIRE! All my students are engaged!" ...and then you call on the kid and they ask to go to the bathroom, or for a drink of water, or how much longer until lunch. Bummer. I have been there and it is not my favorite. It is usually met with my no-nonsense glare that implies, "This is NOT the right time for you to be asking me that!"

Here is a tip I recently learned in an inservice:
Teach students the difference between a public and private question.

Public questions have are about the lesson or assignment and have answers that will benefit the entire class. Students can go ahead and raise their hand for these. Public questions let the teacher know the student is listening and cares about their learning.

Private questions are not about the lesson, or an assignment, or anything that is currently happening. If a student needs to ask this question in the middle of a lesson, they put their hand over their heart and the teacher will get to them when momentum allows.

So there you have it.

Public Questions: Hand in the air
Private Questions: Hand on chest

I will definitely be taking time at the beginning of the year to discuss, model, role play, sort, and correct.

I would love to hear what you use in your classroom. Comment below and let me know!

Quick Tips: Keeping Up with Unfinished Work

I've decided to start a new series on my blog called "Quick Tips". The plan is to share a tip from my classroom that will hopefully be helpful to other teachers. My goal is to always share pictures and never to be too wordy.

Today's tip is on keeping track of unfinished work. I'm sure many of you have the same problem I do with desks eating classwork. I finally decided to clear out my mailboxes and use them to hold unfinished work. This way I can see if they are missing something and they can't sneak off to an activity they shouldn't be at. Also, there are far fewer "black hole" desk problems. One piece of advice, watch them put the papers on the shelves when it is time to clean up from an activity. If the student can sneak it into their desk, it could be gone forever!

Thanks for stopping by!