Strategic end of the year classroom clean-up can make set-up at the beginning of the next school year a breeze. Figuring out what to do and where to put everything can be a hassle though, especially if there is a serious case of summer fever raging. “Neat and organized” can turn into “toss it in any available bin and quick close the lid” in no time flat. Not to worry; we have some simple strategies that will make classroom clean-up quick, painless and organized.
Classroom Clean-Up Ideas for the End of the School Year
Classroom Clean-Up: Poster Pockets
No matter how big your home or storage area may be, it always seems like space is limited. One great way to keep your posters organized and wrinkle free is to store them in poster storage pockets. They keep your posters together and allow you to store them out of the way. When placing posters in the pocket, organize them by when they will be used during the next school year. For example, Welcome Back posters would be stored at the front, while end of the year posters would be stored at the back of the pocket. When the posters are changed throughout the year, place them at the back so that they stay organized. There are bulletin board storage bags, as well as, large bulletin board boxes that hold even the largest of posters.
Classroom Clean-Up: Sentence Strip Organization
As with posters, storing sentence strips in the order in which they are used will make it much easier next year to find the strip you need when you need it. If you have not been keeping your sentence strips organized, take the time at the end of the year to put them in order. Store them in a box that is long enough to accommodate their length, while also being wide enough to hold quite a few of them. A specially designed sentence strip box is ideal for storage.
Classroom Clean-Up: Box Up Your Zones
As teachers, we collect a variety of things for the different zones in the classroom. The reading zone may have small lamps, the art zone may have a myriad of paint brush containers and the science zone may have everything from magnifying glasses to a microscope. When packing up the classroom at the end of the year, pack each zone in a separate box that is clearly labeled with the zone’s name. It will make it much easier to put together the classroom at the beginning of the next school year, because you can work section by section until the room is completed.
Taking the time to organize the classroom as it is being packed up for the summer, will make it easier to unpack it in the fall. What do you do at the end of the year to pack up your classroom to make unpacking easier at the beginning of the school year? Are there any tricks or tips that you have learned along the way? Share with us!
Sarah C says
The sentence strip storage boxes are awesome! I’m going to start writing all the state standards on a bunch of sentence strips and use them to put on the board when we are covering the lesson for that standard. I want the students to be able to easily see what the “goal” for the day is, and using the sentence strips will help accomplish this. These storage boxes are great because there is enough sections within the boxes to have a section for each subject and then the strips can be stored in order of the standard they correspond with! Awesome!