If you’re anything like me, you are totally in SURVIVAL MODE right now. Standardized tests are done, most assignments are complete, and you (and your students) are just biding your time until that glorious bell on the last day of school. (Your house is also a total wreck, and you’ve let everything go until you “get through these last two weeks” – but that’s neither here nor there.) Part of the challenge of these final days is keeping your students busy and being proactive with your work days, etc. One of my favorite ways to do that is by putting my students to work getting my classroom organized for the fall.
In my end-of-the-year checklist post a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I number all the books in my classroom – this includes textbooks, trade novels, etc. I got a few questions about that and, since the end of the year is a great time to put your students to work getting organized for next year, I thought I’d explain it a little today… The idea really isn’t very novel (Ha! Pun intended. I crack myself up!), but it works well and is super easy to implement. Here’s the gist:
Every single book on my shelves has a neon label stuck to it with a number on it. (I actually had my students do this for me at the end of last school year, but I wrote out all the numbers myself. It works best if it is something – a handwriting style, ink color, etc. – that is not easy to replicate.) In addition, my students are all assigned a number at the beginning of the year – I just go down the list and number them alphabetically. That number is THEIR book number. Then, throughout the year, whenever we use textbooks (I just keep a classroom set in the room because we use them so infrequently) or start a new novel, they simply grab their book off the shelf. This system makes it really easy to keep up with lost books and saves me the time of having to have kids sign out books for every new unit etc. My students really like it too because they can easily find their books on the shelf (or when they are strewn all over the school) etc.
For bookkeeping purposes, I keep a document saved on my computer that inventories all the books – which ones I have and how many of each. Then, towards the end of the year, I print out the list and write down what numbers I’m missing from each stock. The students know that if their number is missing, they need to make a trip to Barnes & Noble and buy me a new one before the last day. Honestly, it is one of the best things I’ve done in terms of organization and simplicity in the classroom.
On a similar note, my classroom is set up in six rows of seats and each row has a drawer in the back of the room with basic materials – tape, markers, glue, scissors, highlighters, etc. The drawers are labeled based on the row number and so are all the materials inside. Then, whenever we do a group activity that requires these materials, the first person in the row knows to go grab their drawer (it is nice that they are removable) and everything they need is right there. Then, at the end of the block, all the materials go back in the numbered drawer and get put away. This is my first year doing this as well, and I am proud to report that I have not lost ANY materials. This makes my wallet (and my husband) so happy! 😉
Again, this requires a little bit of extra work up front (that’s what your students are for), but it saves you a lot of work later. Trust me, you will LOVE coming back to such a neat and organized classroom in August.
Do you use any systems like this? How do they work for you? What other ideas for organization do you have?
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I LOVE classroom organization! Anything that will make my life easier is a win! We are going to classroom sets next year, so I will have to try this! I have two systems that I love:
1- The file system: Each student (yes, each one!) has their own file. I just use two file boxes and the sticky post it file labels. When I pass out new papers or pass back graded papers, they go right in the students’ files. This way, if they are absent, they have all of the handouts & I don’t have to keep a stack of graded papers on my desk to return. I hate passing out papers.
2- For classwork, I number all of my assignments. I put the list of numbered assignments on the board. At the end of the unit, the students hand in ALL of the assignments from that unit. This saves me from having to grade classwork but once a unit (while they are taking the test), gives them all of their papers to study from, & gives them a bigger classwork grade.
I love the file system idea and have heard of lots of teachers using it successfully, but it has always kind-of intimidated me. Is it a mad rush to get to the files at the beginning of every class? Do students actually keep them organized and put them back in the right place when they are done? I’d love some more details about it… Thanks girl!!!
I just had my students hand in their math textbooks. I am all about the FREE student labor. When they hand in their book they remove the label that has their name on it and the place a blank label on the cover, this way in September when I had out books the child just writes their name. I use the Avery removable labels.
Love this! Thanks for sharing!
This is a great idea! I’m totally making a note and re-vamping my textbook system when I get back in the fall (we’ve been out for almost 2 weeks already). I teach electives in a school with a rather transient population. I have students added and dropped from my classes all the time. Do you have any suggestions for students who leave or come in later in the year? Getting out of alphabetical/numerical order would not jive well with my OCD tendencies, but I may have to just get over it!
Hmm… I have to be honest, because I teach in a specialty center where the kids apply in ninth grade and stay through 11th, I have VERY little add/drop throughout. I think it would make my OCD flare up too, but I guess I would just add new students to the end of the list. ??? Sorry I’m not more help! Let me know if you ever come up with a solution – I’d love to hear it! 😉
I just add the kid to the end of the list-even though it makes me cringe a little bit. It is easier to tell Sarah Brown that she is number 21 even though she should be 4 than it is to redo all of the other folders and have kids relearn new numbers.
I love this! One of my least favorite things is taking book inventory. Next year I will teach 6th graders and so I realllllllly love the idea of the supply drawers for each row…or maybe station or however my little students will be arranged 😉 And those plastic drawer units are always cheap on Craigslist around my area.
I already use numbers to organize my books, but I love the colored stickers on the outside. I DO have a question for you–do you have a classroom library where the books are your personal property? I NEVER have a good way to organize that. I have lost a few books because my organization is falling short. Help?
Thanks! I love your blog….but have never left a comment!
Brilliant! Just starting to get set up for the fall, and this system will work wonders for me. For supplies, I have different colored buckets with supplies and each group of four is assigned a different color, so a similar idea. Then I can also use those same color designations for assigning other group activities. I also let each group give themselves a group name, which helps with a little team building and is fun, too.