Five Favorite Classroom Organization Tips + A Freebie

I am always looking for new organizational tips and tricks for the classroom.  Pinterest has a wealth of great ideas and I am constantly finding new things to try.  However, my tried and true top 5 tips & tricks have been around long before Pinterest. As you sail into summer consider using some of these tips to help start next year off right.  A few of them can be easily prepped in the summer months.

#5 Construction Paper Folder

Use this simple trick to make pocket folders in a jiffy.  You just need a couple of sheets of construction paper and a stapler.

1. Fold one piece of construction paper vertically.
2. Fold a second piece horizontally.
3. Open the horizontal folded piece and slide it into the the vertically folded piece.
4. Fold them both together to create a folder with 4 pockets.
5. Important: Staple very close to the edges to insure that papers will fit into the pockets.

#4 Unfinished Work Folders

You can never have too many folders.  Every year I make an unfinished work folder for students to keep in their desks.  Anytime they have unfinished work it goes in this folder.  This helps all of us to stay organized. Students know if they have a few minutes they need to get this folder out and finish up the incomplete work.

#3 Absent Work Folder

This makes life so much simpler when students miss school.  I have 4 or 5 of these ready and whenever a student is out I place one on their desk. I enlist the help of the students and whenever any paperwork is passed out that day they simply put in in the folder

#2 Colored Dots

This is by far the easiest and simplest of all tricks.  I buy the blank colored garage sale sticker dots.  If you have more than 4 students in a group you will need to buy a brand that has more than 4 colors, as you need one color for each student in the group.  I place these stickers in the corners of the desks.  I use the colors for all sorts of things. I simply call on a color and...

• Assign group roles
• Dismiss students
• Collect papers
• Pass out supplies
• Sort into new groups

I am sure you will come up with all sorts of other ideas for using this system also!

#1 Number Students

My all time #1 favorite trick is to number my students.  I know some think this reduces the students to being a number, but I never refer to students by number.  As a matter of fact, it doesn't take long to memorize student's numbers in the same way you learn their names.  So if I am pulling a numbered popsicle stick out of jar I know who that is and call them by name and not number.

What this trick does do is make finding missing papers & missing supplies so much simpler. I aslo number my student mailboxes so that filing time is reduced and students can easily and quickly help.

I teach my students from day one to include both their name and number on everything.  Every paper, every folder, pencil case... you name it. If we can number it, we do!

Click download free set of numbers

For additional tips be sure to check out my Classroom Organization Board on Pinterest.

Follow Mom2punkerdoo's board Classroom Organization Ideas on Pinterest.