What teacher doesn’t want a more organized classroom space?! Here are four simple ways you can improve your organizational system…
- Purge!
If you’re anything like me, you have so much stuff that you couldn’t use it all in a million years. I take the term “teacher hoarder” to a new level. I have class sets of craft supplies, even though I teach 8th grade. I have extras of every random item that I’ve ever come across, because “you never know when you might use it!” I know it sounds obvious, but I think it still needs to be said… you don’t need those binders that you’ve been carting around for 8 years, or that filing cabinet that wasn’t opened once last year, or that class set of magnifying glasses because you teach English! (Yes these may be actual examples of things I had to purge from my own classroom.)
I know from experience that it can be super hard to let go of things because, once again, “you may need it one day!” But trust me, it feels good once it’s gone. It’s amazing how much space I was able to free up just by purging! And this is before I did any organizing at all!
- Invest in some simple clear plastic bins.
I’m not a big advocate for teachers spending their own money for things in the classroom, but this one is totally worth it. Bite the bullet and buy some inexpensive clear plastic bins that can be used for organizing everything left after you finish your purge. (You can use whatever bins you like, but these come in a huge pack of 18 for only about $45.) Drag everything out of the closet and drawers and set them out in categoric piles. Then you’re ready to improve your classroom organization and place each of the piles into a bin.
- Take the time to label your boxes/bins.
As you’re putting your things into bins, take the extra few minutes to label each bin. When you put them back into the closet with the visually pleasing labels, you’ll get all the warm fuzzies, and you’ll feel so accomplished and productive!
You can use something as simple as masking tape or strips of white paper, or you could use something a bit more fancy like the bin labels in my TpT shop.
- Go digital
I have been guilty of hoarding huge stacks of papers and binders because, just like the random stuff in the closet, you “never know when you’ll need it,” but it. is. not. worth. it. Going fully digital has changed my entire attitude toward classroom organization. I used to have a separate binder for everything, and they took up so much space, but no more! I now have a digital folder for each physical binder I had, and I am able to keep everything I need without cluttering my classroom. I also don’t have to worry about losing it because it’s always there.
Any time there is a physical handout that I want to save digitally, I either scan it using my school’s copy machine/scanner, or I scan it using my iphone. (Yes, you can do that! Find directions here.) I have a small stack on the corner of my desk of handouts that need to be digitized, and once a week or so I’ll scan them in and save them into my Google drive.
It seems like the argument to digitize files has been done a million times, but let me know in the comments if you would like to see a blog post dedicated to that!
None of these things are revolutionary; I’ve just put them in this neat little list. Hopefully, it will help you get motivated to clean things out and organize a bit for this upcoming school year.
Comment below and share your organization hacks!
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