Organization Ideas

Today I was looking through the pictures on my phone trying to decide what to post about today. I finally decided just to do a hodgepodge of ideas.

This is an idea I got from pinterest. I put an empty toilet paper roll inside a plastic cup for my popsicle sticks with student names. The popsicle sticks stay inside the roll until after I call on the student. Once I've selected a student I put it there popsicle stick outside the roll, unless I may want to call on them again.

Because I've now spent four years teaching science, and have never actually taught reading, most of my classroom books are about science. Just like I have my other books split up by genre, I split my science books based on topic.

I got this organizer from Dollar Tree. It is perfect for happy notes, nurse passes, change in transportation forms, missing work notices, and other small items.

I bought a bunch of used games and puzzles from thrift stores for indoor recess. I am storing them on a shelf hidden behind a grass skirt, also from the dollar store, that goes along with my Safari theme. Goodwill has a lot of good games and toys for decent prices. I even got a huge tub of Legos.

I do not have a closet in my portable for students to put their backpacks. I do, however, have a coat rack. To store their backpacks, I bought sturdy hangers to make use of the coat rack. Students hook their handle handle around the hanger.

So I don't have to pass everything out separately, I keep whiteboards, dry erase markers, and wash cloths in baggies. The baggies currently being used are gallon sized, which doesn't work as well. My favorite was the 2 gallon bags because the whiteboards could go in sideways and the bag could fold over. This makes it so much easier when every student is using a whiteboard.

Weekly Challenge

A few weeks ago I started a "Weekly Challenge" in my room. A little late in the year, sure, but oh well.

Each Monday, I post a new challenge, usually math related, and students have until Friday morning to take a guess. I make extra copies of worksheets so students can work at their desk (unless it's an estimation problem). I cut index cards into thirds, and that's where I have them write their name and answer. Once they have a guess, they put their answer in an old tissue box.

Some of the challenges I make myself, some I've found online, and some are just logic worksheets.

On Friday, I take out all the wrong answers and draw one winner from among the right answers. If it was estimation, I choose the closest answer. The winner gets something small as a prize, such as a mechanical pencil, eraser, homework pass, or small toy (play-dough, mini-slinky). When I did the goldfish estimation, the prize was the goldfish.

I put together some of my challenges into a PDF, as it's listed for free at Teachers Pay Teachers. You can download it by clicking here and going to the website.

Memory Lane: My First Classroom

Yesterday I was looking through my old portfolio where I had pictures of my very first classroom (a whole 3 years ago, lol). My first year, I taught 6th grade science, and two 8th grade science intervention classes, in an inner city middle school. Our building was previously a high school, so my room was an actual science lab - not just a regular classroom. As ghetto as it was, I loved having the huge space, and having sinks in my room. Here are some pictures of my first year teaching in 2008-2009. Nothing fancy - I was still learning.

Beginning of the year bulletin board, and our daily warm up on the chalk board.

The front chalkboard. Heading, frayer model, daily objective.

The entrance, front chalk board, and beginning of the year bulletin board.

"Never leave your numbers naked." Great way to remind students to put a unit with their answers. They thought it was funny. :)

The entrance to my room.

Word wall, pencil sharpener, school info, etc. Basically our information center right inside the door.

The information center again next to the fume hood. Since we didn't use fume hoods in middle school, I used mine for storage and to post posters. :)

Bookshelf, aquarium, student work about properties of matter.

Bookshelf, globe, fire blanket, elephant pelvis. The teacher who had this room before me just left this bone there. Looks like an elephant pelvis to me, so that's what I tell the kids.

Students who did all their homework the entire 6 weeks got their names put on the Homework Heroes board for the next 6 weeks.

The back shelf was set up for a tools performance test. After that, I kept their science journals there, separated by class.

The exit (I had 2 doors to my room), and my filing cabinets.

The side chalk board behind my desk. This is where I wrote the activities and homework for the week, our 5E's, and the bell schedule.

The weekly agenda. We had a block schedule which is why I have the same activities written two days in a row.

We were required to post the 5E's for every lesson we did. With science, one lesson usually took two classes (and classes were about an hour and a half each).

Bulletin board with students work of bar graphs. We graphed the colors of our jelly beans.

On my strategies bulletin board, I posted winners of the science fair that were in my classes.

Students wrote a story from the perspective of a snowman for our water cycle unit.