6 Tried and Tested Classroom Organisation Tips.
Classroom organisation can be tricky at the best of times but with the current situation I’m beginning to think about what school will look like in September and how different will it be. Here’s 6 tips and tricks that I currently use (or am planning on setting up for September) which will hopefully make life a little easier!
1. Give each table a colour and sort books by table.
Currently in my classroom I have four tables - dearg, gorm, glas and buí. As each table is the name of a colour I bought storage boxes in each of the four colours for the children to store their books. Each table has 4 boxes, one for English books, one for Irish books, one for Maths books and finally one for their copies.
Here is what I use. This can be found by clicking here however if you already have a bookshelf in your classroom you could simply just buy coloured boxes, like the ones found here. I also made labels to stick on each box so that books would be found easily!
2. Individualise writing equipment.
Currently I have pots in the middle of each table for shared writing equipment. One on each table for triangular pencils, one for twistable crayons and one for glue sticks however, come September I feel that this will need to be changed.
I saw this supply caddy idea on FlamingoFabulous and thought it would be a great way of dividing writing equipment so that each child has their own stock.
3. Jigsaws.
We use jigsaws regularly in infants to work on hand-eye coordination, matching, fine motor skills, social skills etc. However the boxes take up so much room! I love this idea from TheNavyStripe to enable you to keep all the pieces together, without taking up the whole cupboard! You could even use zip lock bags .
4. Velcro!
I love Velcro! It makes changing displays effortless. Every morning we discuss the days of the week, the month, the season, the weather (and if it’s average for that season) and the date. This display board comes in so useful. I use it for the Aistear rota also, it makes the rotation so easy (without those pesky blue tack smears on the walls or holes from thumb tacks). I also love adding different pictures to the calendar to show that something important is coming up. I put crowns on the number to show it's a birthday.
5. Permanent project files on the display board.
Every year I find the display board time consuming. I love to change it as regularly as possible but fiddling with thumb tacks or blue tack isn’t my idea of fun. Last year was the first year that I mounted these to the display board (with staples) and it has made life a whole lot easier! Each child gets assigned a file and throughout the year all I need to do is punch holes in their work and slide it onto the mounted project file. It saves time throughout the year and when the class is moving on you just slide the sheets off and they’re already organised to go home, you can thank me later…
6. The Sub Tub
I do have a variation of this one in my classroom but I love how well WifeTeacherMommy designed theirs. I have my tub split into 6 categories. The first is ‘Classroom Info’. I always assume that the sub has never subbed in our school before and break all the information down to suit our timetable, this way it’s as easy to follow as possible. I include a class list, a detailed timetable, a breakdown of which children attend support (and at what time), any necessary health information about the pupils (who needs inhalers/ epipens etc.), behavioural management recommendations and login information for the computer/ iPads and so on. It’s basically the runnings of the class in a booklet. I then have five categories, one for each day of the week. I slide the plans for each day into each section along with any worksheets required.
Are there organisation tips that your classroom couldn't function without? We'd love to hear about them on Instagram or Facebook.
