*Originally posted on E, Myself, and I (9/27/13).
Today was the first day back with students. I am tired and already feel overwhelmed; but, honestly, it’s good to be back in the game. All of my new freshman were smiling and eager, and it was really nice to be starting the school year in a familiar place again with two out of my three classes being the same kids as last year – almost like we were just returning from Winter break except with suntans (them, not me) and new school supplies (I for one am shocked that the marketing world hasn’t caught on and started doing a big push for re-stocking school supplies in January too. Anyone else?)
Anyway, today, I thought I’d share some photos of my classroom in hopes of “inspiring” some of my fellow secondary teachers. We don’t have to leave all the cute decor and Pinterest-worthy organization ideas to the elementary school folks!
My “information center” is home to a weekly calendar, a white board decal for each class’ announcements and important information about the school schedule, emergency plans, etc. I also have my Yellow Sheets for missing work in an accessible place here, my make-up work binder, and extra pens (that look like flowers for added fun to prevent stealing) for the students.
My desk is big and takes up a lot of space in the tiny room. To try to best utilize that space, I make all kinds of office supplies – stapler, hole-punch, tape, paper clips, pencils, etc. – available to my students on it. For the most part, they are respectful and mature enough to handle this “easy access.”
Behind my desk, I have a large (ugly) filing cabinet with a drawer for each grade level to store their writing assignments all year long. The white box on top is for class hand-outs that have been copied and papers that need to be returned to students.
Across the room from my desk is another bright bulletin board (which I made from plastic tablecloths) just waiting to be filled.
In the front of the room, I have a special bulletin board specifically for posting my lesson plans each week. This helps cut down on the “whatarewedoingtoday” drone that will start in about two weeks and keeps us all on the same page. Also, I like to think that if I’m ever absent unexpectedly, the sub would know just where to pick up with my plans this way.
There are also labeled bins at the front of the room for students to store their journals…
And a large bookcase with all of our supplemental novels. *New this school year, I’ve numbered every single book in my classroom. At the beginning of the year, each student is assigned a number that will be theirs for the year (usually alphabetical), this way I know exactly who has lost their books and students can easily grab them off the shelf at any time.
And, finally, toward the back of the room, I have two more plastic drawer sets. I have numbered each drawer (one for each of the six groups in class) and stocked it with scissors, glue, fresh markers, highlighters, etc. I found this idea on Pinterest and love it! The best part? Groups can take their entire drawer back to their desks to work and return it at the end of the block.
Alright, that’s all I have for today. What organizational or decor ideas do you use for your classroom? Please share!
E
EDITED TO ADD (3/26/14): I’ve been using all these organizational methods in my classroom for six months now, and have REALLY liked them. In particular, the numbered books and group work stations/drawers are super useful and easy!!