Classroom Must Haves: 7 Things I can’t live without
If you’re anything like me, a tidy and organised classroom absolutely fills your soul. I have to admit, I can be a little bit OTT with the labelling and organisation BUT I really don’t think thats a bad thing 😂. I take pride in the systems and organisation of my classroom, as the fabulous James Clear says “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” and I am a firm believer that even the 5 year olds should be all over the systems of the classroom! I take time at the beginning of each year to explicitly teach my students about the organisation and systems within our classroom. I find this is an effective way to get students to respect the space and holds them accountable for the way our room is kept. Even if that does mean that you get handed a staple of the floor once a day……………..
Anyway! Lets get into the 7 things that I absolutely can’t live without that make me feel calm and organised in my classroom every day!
Magnetic and Acrylic Shelving
OK! So my magnetic shelf is actually a spice rack… but we make it work! I simply stick up on the whiteboard, it holds my teacher tools and the kiddies know that it is a no go zone for students. It holds my whiteboard markers, my punctuation magnets (these are awesome during writing time) and also my doorbell. The magnetic shelf can be purchased from Amazon.
Side note: the doorbell was not one of my 7 things… but it should have been 🤪 The doorbell is from Bunnings and I use it as an attention grabber – my kids are so well trained they will literally stop EVERYTHING they are doing to look at me when they hear the chime.
The Acrylic shelves are aesthetically pleasing but to be honest… a bit of a pain in the butt, I’m not going to lie! This is only because putting them together is a bit of a challenge. I bought the Acrylic shelves from Amazon but then grabbed the magnets from Bunnings. I simply (and very roughly) hot glue gunned the magnets to the acrylic shelves and ‘voila’!
Tidy Tubs
I got this idea from someone on instagram and it has been a game changer for my kindergarten classroom (to be honest it would probably be a game changer in any year level!). I bought these tubs from my local $2 and used my Cricut to label them. The kids use these for their paper scraps when completing a cutting and pasting task rather than getting up and down from their seat to go to the classroom paper bin repeatedly. Another great thing about this system is that you can then have a Tidy Tub Manager in your class who empties them into the paper bin when they are full, once again giving the kids ownership over the space and promoting respect and responsibility!
Magnetic Tape
I got this from @mrslearningbee (instagram) a few years ago & loved it! Magnetic Tape comes in a normal sticky tape dispenser and is great for the little things that you magnet to your whiteboard from day to day. One of the ways I have used magnetic tape is on number lines so that my kids can stick their number line to the top of their own mini whiteboards and it doesn’t slide around whilst they are trying to use it! I also use it for Heart Words and the stages of a recount, we have the cards “who, what, when and where” on magnetic tape and when I am modelling writing, we stick the cards onto the whiteboard once I have added that detail!
Ikea Spinner
Now this one was an awesome find at Ikea however I am shattered as I bought mine for $10AUD and they are now $40!!!! But… totally worth it. So, I am a fan of the whole ‘no hands up’ lesson… controversial I know. However, it can be a great way to get ALL of the kids thinking rather than just the ones who LOVE to put their hand up and get the answer out ASAP! I might need to write a whole other blog post on this topic! 🤪 Anyway, sometimes I will tell the students that today’s lesson is a “no hands up lesson” and we use the spinner to call upon different people to answer questions. The got the spinner labels from Mrs Learning Bee & temporarily stuck them on so that I can change them from year to year. The kids absolutely love using the spinner and are so excited when their name is called! If you are prepared to spend the $40, your guaranteed to get good use out of this one! Click the picture to go to the Ikea website!
Sharp & Blunt System
The sharp and blunt buckets are the easiest system to implement and make things smooth in the classroom. Basically, they speak for themselves! If the grey lead pencils are sharp and ready to use they go in the Sharp bucket. If the students notice that they are blunt, the pop them into the blunt bucket and then I know at the end of the day that they need to be sharpened ready for the next day! I have an electric sharpener in my room which is great however super noisy and annoying to use when the kids are in their trying to work. So this way, I save it until they have gone home and we aren’t caught needing to sharpen 20 pencils in the middle of class. The buckets were a one off find at Kmart and I used my Cricut to label them.
Kmart Storage Boxes
These Kmart Scrap Booking Boxes are the “bomb dot com”! They have also had a price increase… of a whole $1 making them $7 a box but they are totally worth it! I use the boxes to store all of my resources for each curriculum area, whether the resource is printed, a wall display, game or sort, they are stored in these boxes. That way, when I am ready to teach that particular curriculum area, I just grab that box and I am ready to go. This saves time and is also sustainable as I am able to reuse resources from previous years. I have boxes separated into subject and skill. For example, I have separate boxes for phonological skills like Rhyme, Syllables, Onset & Rime etc. I label them using my Organised Teacher Labels & colour code them too!
Label Everything!
Speaking of my labels from the Organised Teacher, I label literally everything… I have labels from Top Teacher that also love. Everything in my classroom as a label and a home. That way my class know exactly where everything lives and they are is organisation to the madness that is the Prep Classroom! I personally like my labels to be colour coded, not just because they look pretty but also because I am a super visual person and find that I am able to locate things quickly because they are in a colour coded system! If colour isn’t a bother for you, you could simply use a label maker to give everything a label!
Check out my youtube video to see these things in action!
A calm and organised classroom makes for a calm and organised teacher! I hope this has given you some ideas and tips to help make your classroom organised and productive for you. I would love to hear the ways you keep your space organised, comment below or tag me in your organisation hacks on insta @teachwithmeinprepg.
Happy Teaching x