Organization, the “o” word we all claim to be the masters of at the beginning of the school year. No matter how phenomenal your organizational system is at the beginning of the year, it tends to fall apart as the year progresses. Why? Well, one we don’t have as much time as we did at the beginning of the year; two, organizing your classroom is tough. Everything gets busier at school and at home once the summer comes to a close. It gets harder to keep your organizational practices in place. If you’re looking for new, inexpensive, ways to stay organized in the new year, check out these tips to organize your classroom using items from the dollar store.
#1 Crate Creativity
Often times the most taxing part of teaching can be avoiding the paper storm that tends to hit after you hand out worksheets. If you’re anything like me, you always print off an extra copy or two. That extra copy or two ends up somewhere in my room underneath of something until it is unearthed and tossed in the trash. Instead of laying your papers around, simply put file folders in a crate from the dollar store with the date on it. Once you have passed out all of the papers, you can put the rest right into the crate immediately. This will help you stay organized. You can also do this with a binder for each unit but it can be more of a “hassle” to have to three-hole punch excess papers several times a day.
#2 Plate It
Another fun way to use dollar store items is to purchase as many plates as you have lessons for the day and some expo marker supplies. To help you keep track of what you are doing and not going over on time, you can draw a clock on a plate and write the subject you will be teaching on it as well. Not only can this help you with time management, but it can also help your students learn how to read an analog clock, bonus!
#3 Shoe Box Centers
Centers can be hard to get and keep organized in your classroom. One way to get your centers organized and to keep them organized is by using shoe boxes from the dollar store. In each box, put the pieces needed for that center and rubber band them together if necessary. You can label each shoebox what center is in and when you typically pull that center out. This will not only keep your centers organized, but it can also save you time next year when you are trying to figure out which center you are going to do next.
#4 Book your Baskets
One area of the classroom that always seems to need a little, or a lot, of help with organization is the library. When you are creating your classroom library, you can use baskets from the dollar store to separate your books into genres. You can even go as far as color coordinating them by putting matching sticker colors on the books and the baskets. For example, if you have a blue basket, you can put a blue sticker on the binding of all the books that go into that basket.
#5 Supply “Tubes”
I’m not sure how your classroom is with supplies, but I’m pretty sure my students eat pencils, erasers, glue, and more. One way to keep all your students’ stuff together is by using toothbrush holders. These cylinders can fit a pencil, an extra eraser, and a pen or highlighter. You can put the name of each student on the toothbrush holders. For extra fun, give your students points for staying organized and keeping their supplies all together! Not only is this inexpensive, but it can also help keep your classroom floor supplies free.
#6 Art Caddie
Beyond everyday supplies destroying your perfectly organized classroom, art can also be an issue. One of the best deals the dollar store has is supply caddies. By purchasing and stocking an art caddie for groups in your classroom can make art time so much more enjoyable! We all know art in the classroom can turn into chaos fast as students start to look for supplies. With an art caddie, you can stay incredibly organized. If you have leaders in your room, make one leadership role the art caddie counter. Have an inventory list of all the supplies that should be there. Before the art caddies get put away, have the caddie counter make sure everything is there that is needed. You can even have them take inventory and write down if something needs to be replaced.
BONUS! DIY
If you’re looking for something to just keep you organized, you can always make your own day planner! We all know it can be had to find the “just right” planner. Making your own lets you personalize your planner for your needs. No time to format planner pages? Use these to start! You can even make your own post-it notes!
Organization is a huge part and one of the hardest parts of being in education. Not only is it mentally and physically hard, it can be financially a struggle as well. That’s why you want to befriend your local dollar store and get creative with your organization in your classroom. Teachers have so much to do and remember. Having your classroom nice and neat can help lower your stress levels.
