5 Easy Steps to Organizing Your Classroom Closets
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1. Clear Out! Clear out the clutter, that is. Before you can begin to re-organize the space, you must remove everything that is in it. Drag those boxes, bins, loose papers, and racks of what-nots out into the open. 2. Purge Get rid of the things that you no longer need. If they are still in good shape, put them in the teachers’ lounge as freebies. Old papers and dried out bottles of paint can be thrown away or recycled. The more you get rid of, the easier it will be to organize. 3. Sort Now that you know what you will be keeping, sort it into piles. You might want to sort by subject, by the time of year you use it, by color, or by size. There is no incorrect way as long as the way you organize it works for you. 4. Contain After everything is sorted, it is time to contain it. Clear containers with large labels work well for keeping track of what is in each box. Color-coding is also an option that works well for some teachers. Keep all of the math materials in blue boxes and all of the language arts supplies in red ones, for example. 5. Shelve It With everything sorted and contained, it is time to put it back in the closet. The key is to make sure that everything is easily accessible. Try to limit what you stack on top of containers, as it makes it more difficult to keep those areas organized when you have to remove the containers. Have a place for everything and label it. Now that your closet is organized and looks great, the only thing you have to do is maintain it. Take the time to put things back where they belong and you will find that at the end of the year, your closet will look just as clean. A clean closet makes it much easier to find what you need when you need it – all year long. |
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Commented On January 21st, 2012 11:29 am
I just finished cleaning out two boxes of things I “inherited”. Found some treasures, some things to give away, and some things to pitch. Feels good to organize!
Commented On January 21st, 2012 12:51 pm
Keeping my closets organized is always a challenge.
Commented On January 22nd, 2012 12:12 am
My motto is if I haven’t used it in a whole school year I chunk it!!
Commented On January 22nd, 2012 8:28 am
“Hello, my name is Karen and I”m a hoarder!” Yep, that is definitely the way to introduce myself in this topic! I do agree it feels good to be organized but I think I might need a professional to come help me! lol When I moved from a huge classroom with tons a space to one about 1/3 the size I did downsize but instead of pitching stuff I just stored it in my mom’s basement. I was organized for about 1/2 a year. Now 3 years later the piles are growing again! Sigh…. Congratulations to all those organizers out there!
Commented On January 22nd, 2012 9:53 am
I have a very small closet in my classroom (the one where one side is for your coat). But my teaching partner and I have a small room across the hall that we use as our closet. We each have 5 shelves and then two drawers in a large filing cabinet. That is also where we keep all of the art teachers supplies and three computer carts! Very crowded. My shelves are full of lit. study books. I use storage containers to keep all of the books seperated by title. Wish I had more storage in my room.
Commented On January 22nd, 2012 9:59 am
These plastic tubs are great for NOVEL SETS! It keeps them together and organized. Love em!
Commented On January 22nd, 2012 10:39 am
As a middle school teacher with ADHD, periodic purging is an absolute MUST. I work with clear containers. I prefer to keep materials accessible for students, and unfortunately seventh graders don’t always put things back in the completely correct location. My disinterest in details doesn’t work well to keep tidy. I have to take an evening every couple of months and just re-sort everything. By January, I am usually reminding myself how much small, frequent lessons about character and respecting our community and space go a long way. I’m looking forward to starting the new semester with a different mix of kids. It’s a bit like a “pseudo-do-over” time in the year. I will begin slowly by re-teaching the classroom routines that will help keep us all better organized.
Commented On March 13th, 2012 9:02 pm
When my daughter graduated college, she had several of those under-the -bed storage containers. I found out that they were the exact length and width of my collection of bulletin board trim…..a great way to recycle and keep materials organized.
Commented On March 14th, 2012 6:48 am
When I organize, I use clear tubs or baskets. It’s the best way to see or label what is in there and you can organize by theme.
Commented On March 15th, 2012 8:10 pm
I think this is a wonderful idea. I wish I had the motivation to start doing this! I really need to invest in lots of these tubs and start organizing my stuff this summer. The tubs are so expensive though…is there any good places that I can find good deals at?
Commented On March 15th, 2012 8:14 pm
I absolutely need to do this! My classroom is ALWAYS overrun with craziness by this time of year! The clear tubs are fantastic. I teach in a special needs classroom and would love to use this for the fridge as well! It’s just like another closet!!
Commented On March 15th, 2012 8:46 pm
We had a flood right before we returned from Christmas break at school. My carpets are being taken out this week and replaced with tile. I have moved into a temporary room with all my stuff and my students of course!!! I am realizing how much teacher stuff I have and how I need to organize and purge some things. I think this is the perfect time for me and those containers would be perfect.
Commented On March 15th, 2012 8:58 pm
I moved classrooms mid-year in order to get a larger closet… Call me crazy! The move was so quick I have not had time to organize my belongings- I just through them into the new room! This summer’s to do list- organize!
Commented On March 16th, 2012 12:13 am
I have those containers, bought them at Target (with my own money, of course, lol!). I use them for teacher supplies, and have labeled the end that faces out with my brother labeler. Everyone remarks on how organized they make my shelves look. This is my 5th year in this classroom, and I still haven’t finished decluttering from the previous teacher who retired, though!
Commented On April 22nd, 2012 1:05 pm
I spent a week this past summer organizing my cabinet. It has made such a difference this year. Every thing is sorted, boxed, and labeled. All the teachers on my hall are green with envy. A few of them have asked me to help them organize their closets when school is out in a few weeks.
Commented On May 8th, 2012 2:04 am
These are great for organizing! I am inheriting another teacher’s classroom next year and know these will come in handy.
Commented On May 11th, 2012 6:27 pm
Color coding the boxes according to subject is a great idea.
Commented On May 28th, 2012 4:21 pm
As the year is coming to an end of my first year teaching I seem to have gathered quite a bit of useful items this year. However, organizing the items to be used efficiently is definitely a task of its own. With 30 4th grade students who always want to get into everything keeping things neat and orderly has been a great task this year. So, these wonderful ideas on organizing will come in very handy as I am cleaning the classroom (and probably switching classrooms) at the end of the year.