Cleaning up-#sol17

My classroom looked like a tornado swept through it.  Books were everywhere, and while that’s a good thing, they were not organized or really easily accessible.  Books that I’d previously used for guided reading lessons were piled up, ready to be reshelved.  Papers were stacked so high, that they were ready to topple over with a puff of air.  Basically, my classroom was a mess.

This has not been my year for being organized and tidy, which is strange.  Last year, even when I was teaching and working on my dissertation, my classroom never looked the way it has in the past few months.  I mean, stuff seems to be everywhere!

This morning, our K-2 students went on a field trip, so I had some open blocks of time in my schedule.  I was determined to straighten up and get organized before the wave of state testing begins at the end of April.  I started with my desk.  The three-ring notebook that I use to store student work samples had a stack of papers on top, so I began to organize those papers.  That one action made such a huge difference!

Next, I started on purging papers that I no longer needed.  Why did I still have the lunch calendar from December on my desk? In the recycling bin went the calendar.  Then, I focused on the stack of catalogues that needed to join the lunch calendar.  Professional books were returned to their bookshelf behind my desk and binders were stacked.  I was on a roll!

I moved on to organizing my books and labeling new ones that I’d just purchased.  I like to set out books in addition to having them in baskets, so I took a few moments to switch out titles.  D is going to love the joke book and M is going to want to check out Inspector Flytrap.  By lunchtime, I was feeling super organized and prepared for the rest of the day.

Now, I’m sitting at my table, sipping tea and surveying the improvements.  I have a few moments before my fifth grade group starts, so I’m going to enjoy this feeling of accomplishment!