Thursday, November 24, 2011

Classroom Organization

I am known for being extremely organized.  So I have decided to share some of my organizational ideas for the classroom:
I store my lesson plans in a 1 inch binder and stand it up on a stand.  That way it keeps things from laying all over my desk.

This is how I organize my worksheets, lessons, etc. that I am using for that week. I purchased this at Lakeshore.

I always like to stay planned ahead.  So this is how I store my copies for the weeks to come.  I bought these bins at Wal-mart.  Each bin is labeled math, morning work, centers, etc.

I put all the worksheets, activities, etc. I had for each unit in a 1 inch binder.  It makes looking for things so much easier!  It is also easy to store.  You don't have to worry about all the file cabinet space.

This is how I store my construction paper, writing paper, fancy paper, etc.

This is how I organize all my files.  I have a folder for each specific skill.

 

I have these big drawers in my classroom.  In order to keep little things organized I used plastic storage bins as separators.  I actually used the bins that our math manipulatives came in.


Here is a sneak peek into some of my desk drawers!

I store each month's bulletin board items, unit activities, etc. in one of these big plastic bags.  I took the shelf out of my cabinet in order to store them all standing up.
I have these book holders for each of my units.  They store the read aloud books or any student books that will be used during that unit.  I got these book holders at Mardels.

I have a bin for each of my math manipulative items.  I purchased these bins at Mardels.

I had my husband make these shelves to fit perfectly under my board.  They store my student books and supplies.

Here is a close up of the book bins and the supply bins.  I got these bins at Lakeshore and they came four in a package.

Here is a close up of the book bin leveling system that I use.  All my student books are Accelerated Reader books.  They are divided into the different tubs by their book level.  I use a sticker and number system so the students know which bin to put their book back into.

This is another shelf that I had my husband make.  This holds different manipulatives, games, activities, etc. for different skills.  This makes changing out center games so easy!

Hope you enjoyed looking at how I keep some things organized.  If you have any questions on how I organize something, even if it wasn't something that I posed, please let me know!  I'll keep adding more ideas!

112 comments:

  1. I love it! An organized classroom makes me smile.

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  2. Wow! I thought I was real organized until I saw all of this! I love it! Great job!

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  3. Okay I'm officially obsessed with you!!!!!

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    1. love these organization ideas

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    2. I love it. Love to see more. Love seeing your website and classroom tour. I would to be like you. It would really save me some time

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    3. Makes me want to be organized.

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    4. The most beautiful class. I would your help to organize my classroom.

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    5. The most beautiful class. I would your help to organize my classroom.

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    6. Makes me want to be organized.

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  4. Your organization makes me want to go through all of my things pronto and reorganize them! I don't have a classroom yet, (economy), but I do know that someday I aspire to have a room like this one!!

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  5. Just found your blog and wow! I might be stealing some of your organizational tips! My favorite is the stand you have for your plan book. Where did you get it?

    Sara :)

    Smiling In Second Grade

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  6. Thank you! I always try to stay organized to save time. :) I think I got my lesson plan stand at Hobby Lobby.

    :) Amanda

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  7. Love the binder storage! Just ordered 24 binders to get me started! I struggle with file folders. Can't wait to slowly get them organized!!

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  8. OH. MY. GOSH. I think I might be in love. You have theee most beautifully organized classroom I've ever seen! :)

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  9. This is one of my new favorite blogs! Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us!
    www.Mrs-Robbins.com

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  10. Where did you ever find the Charlie Brown Stamps? They are so cute! My room is Charlie Brown themed...great blog...thanks for sharing. You are an inspiration!

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  11. I LOVOOOOOOOOOVE your classroom and I will definitely be following you from now on! I like to think of myself as organized but you put me to shame. shame. shame. girl!
    Stacy

    2nd Grade Paradise

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  12. WOW! I have never seen anyone's room so organized. It is awesome! I found you through pinterest. I will be following you!

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  13. This is such a beautiful learning place for kids! I am curious how it works with the low bookcase and the kids reaching the smartboard. Any problems? Need to get my DH building! :))))

    Rhonda

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    1. The bookcases aren’t very deep, so the kids really don’t have any trouble reaching the Smartboard. Having those bookcases there is also nice to put your lesson supplies on while you are teaching. :)

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  14. Hi, I cant believe you have spent so much of your own money on all of your storage items. I have spent a great deal of money for the beginning of our new school year (Australia) and there is now way I would have a husband if I spent the amount of money you clearly have. How does your school feel about it? I guess you take it with you if/when you change schools? Also, you must also have huge classrooms to fit all he organisation in?!

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    1. LOL Yea, when I first started teaching I wasn’t married yet. Oh yea, when I leave everything is coming with me. I have a picture of what my classroom looked like when I first moved into it - it was completely bare. I will have to post a before and after picture.
      Thanks!
      :) Amanda

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  15. WOW WOW WOW!!! I Love it!!! Thank you so much for sharing your room! I need to get busy!

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  16. I am a teacher fresh out of college with no job yet :( but pinterest is keeping me busy with ideas of what to put in my new classroom!!! I have this perfect vision in my head of what my classroom will look like and it is exactly like this!!! I especially love the small binders for each unit. I use the page protecters in mine. It is so easy to slip pages/supplementals in there with each lesson and it makes it so much easier when planning for the following year! LOVE this blog!!!

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  17. So jealous! you just made me twitch with the desire to get my space even more clutter free!!!

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  18. Oh, how I WISH I had your organizational skills! I'd pay you a million dollars (IF I had it!) to come organize my classroom!

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  19. can i be you? i am obsessed with your classroom. i hope i am looking at a preview of my future classroom!

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  20. First of all, your classroom is amazing! Love how everything is so organized. I have a questions. What is the difference between the files in the file cabinet and the files in the binders?

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    1. Thanks! The files in my binders are all my unit activities, worksheets, etc. I use my file cabinet to store my math and language worksheets and activities. They are separated into different file folders depending on what skill is being taught. Great question!

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  21. You are an inspiration Amanda! I have been teaching for 9 years and I have tried in vain to really organize myself, but I gave up! LOL! You have given me the drive all over again to get it together!!! Thank you for sharing. Keep up the amazing work! :)
    Vanessa

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  22. LOVE LOVE LOVE this! Where do you get the big plastic bags that you use to store each month's bulletin board items, unit activities, etc.?

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  23. I consider myself an organizational groupie. I love to organize and glean from others. However, I must say ...you are my new HERO!!! Tomorrow is Monday and now I REALLY have SPRING CLEANING FEVER!!! OUr Spring Break starts on Friday and I am not traveling this year. I amy have to pop into my room one day and do an overhaul. Change is always good to get the kids motivated to finish the rest of the school year strong! Thank you sooooo much for sharing!

    God Bless!

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  24. I love how your organized all of your bulletin board/classroom decor stuff! We have those long skinny draws in our rooms too! Thanks for the awesome idea!

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  25. Hello, love your lesson plan format. Do you use it as an overview, and then have your more detailed lessons (with Common Core standards, assessments, etc) in the unit notebooks? Also, if I purchased the lesson plan format from your shop, is it adjustable in terms of the order of activities and width of columns? Thanks!

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    1. Hello!
      Yea, my lesson plans are an overview of that week’s lessons and activities.
      My lesson plan format can be easily formatted to fit whatever your classroom needs are. The format is many different text boxes. So they can be expanded, dragged, deleted, etc. to fit your needs.
      Thanks! :)
      Amanda

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  26. WOW! I love your organization. Where did you get the stand to hold your lesson plan binder?
    -Lovely Nina

    Lovely Little Learners

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    1. Thank you! I think I purchased my lesson plan stand at Hobby Lobby. :)

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    2. What about the 5 color tubs that you have for each day of the week? I know you said you got it at Lakeshore, but do you happen to remember what it is called? I definitely want to look online for that!!!

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    3. It's called the All-Purpose Teacher's Organizer. Here is the link for it at Lakeshore.
      http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/seo/ca%7CproductSubCat~~p%7CTT927~~f%7C/Assortments/Lakeshore/ShopByCategory/teacherresources/classroomorganization.jsp

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  27. You are awesome! I love it! I also keep my plans in a binder, I never thought of standing them up though really neat idea!

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  28. New to your blog. I'm a first year teacher (a grade 3/4 split class) and I love how you have organized things. I really nead to learn to organize my own classroom better and think I might try some of yours for next year!

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  29. Just found your site. I would love directions on how to make the cabinet with shelves (the one with doors). :)

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  30. Wow! This is serious organisation! Love it :)

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  31. Brand new follower to your blog. And MAN, am I drooling over your organization!! I wish I was HALF as organized as you are- what an inspiration you must be to your coworkers!
    Thanks for sharing.

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  32. How much would you charge to come and do my room for me!?! Thanks for sharing. I may have to work all Summer long to set my room up like this!

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  33. Wow! Now I know what I can plan to work on during summer break. I can only hope my room turns out half as organized.

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  34. This is so awesome! I'm getting my first grade class ready this summer and I'm starting from scratch - this is going to be the biggest help ever!!!

    Connie

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  35. Just found your blog through Pinterest. And I have to say that I "thought" I was organized but after seeing this post, I realize I have a long way to go. Thanks for sharing!
    First Grade Shenanigans

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  36. Love the binder idea and already started organizing my theme units for my reading series... do you have a file with the binder covers and spines you created?

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    1. Yes, click the link to visit my TpT store with the file. :)

      http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Binder-Covers-and-Spines

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  37. Wow! I am a substitute teacher and it looks like your class would be an amazing class to go into :)

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  38. Hi, I love how organized you are. Do you happen to have your file folder cover pages available for download? I just need something to get me started. :)

    Thanks

    Tiffany

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  39. Oh my word!! I love it. I am not even close to being done with college, and I want to be just like you when I grow up LOL. Love, love, love it!!!

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  40. OH MY WORD! I am so in love with all of your organization! My goal for next year is to have an organized classroom and you just inspired me even more. I don't know what grade I will be teaching yet but I know I will do my best to be as organized as yours. This year my classroom has gotten the best of me and I will NOT let it happen again. Thanks for the inspiration! I am especially loving the binder idea.

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  41. Love the organization! I decided to get rid of one of the 2 4-drawer file cabinets I had and start using the binder system. However, I am using my own money for this, so my question is the items in the binders are they all in page protectors or did you just hole punch the pages? Over the years I have collected several binders and our librarian donated binders that she was no longer using to me which has saved me some money, but the cost of the page protectors is ever growing.

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    1. Yes, my unit binders have page protectors for the pages. Yea, it can get expensive. I did a little at a time when I first started and I bought the cheapest page protectors I could find. :) Good Luck!

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  42. I heart your ideas! Thank you for sharing! P.S. I am a fellow blogger and I just became your newest follower!

    Sylvia

    I Heart My Kinder Kids

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  43. A woman after my own heart :) My classroom really went downhill this year in regards to organization b/c I was pregnant and didn't have the energy to keep it up!! Now that I'm thinking ahead to next year, I may be dragging my little man with me up to school a few days to get my room back in shape! Thanks for the inspiration!

    ~Laura
    www.firstgradeFUNdamentals.blogspot.com

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  44. Love Love Love your classroom. I was thinking about organizing my units in the one inch binders like you. Do you have the cover pages for you themes available for download or on TPT? They are great and I do most of the units in you picture!
    Thanks!
    Dedi
    Kel3coleman@yahoo.com

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  45. Thank you for so many wonderful ideas on organization and room set-up. I will be a first year teacher for Special Ed. K-2 and I know it will be necessary to be organized to make my first year flow as smoothly as possible so that I can spend my time and energy on my students. I look forward to continue to follow you for great tips.

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  46. Wow! Everything is so neat and tidy - I love it.

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  47. Hi Amanda,

    I just wanted you to know that I LOVE your Memory Book idea. I just blogged about it @ http://whoooloveskindergarten.blogspot.com and linked it back to your page. I would love for you to check out my blog when you have time.

    :) Amy

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  48. You are RIDICULOUSLY organized and I LOVE IT! :) This is quite inspiring but I am sure it did not happen overnight. I imagine with lots of planning and preparation it came together. Congrats on an awesome classroom! :)
    AlwaysALesson

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  49. This is an absolutely amazing blog

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  50. I just found your site on Pinterest and want to remind you that your post, though older, is still inspiring people...expecially cluttered and disorganised ones. I just wish I knew where to start! :P
    Liam
    Ⓣwist ⓞf Ⓛiam

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  51. OBSESSED WITH THIS!! You just made my to-do list get a lot longer. I went on and on about it in my blog post today...check it out :)
    http://caffeinatedkindergarten.blogspot.com/
    Have a great year!

    -Monica

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  52. I wish I could be as organized as you :)

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  53. Amazing! Thanks for sharing your genius. I love it.

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  54. I LOVE all of your wonderful ideas! :)

    Where did you find that cute little stand for your lesson plan binder?

    Ashley @ Fierce in Fourth

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  55. Wow! You are amazing. I think to be that organized is a gift. I am going to try to do it too in my small cramped classroom. Thank you so much for sharing.

    I hope you have a great year!

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  56. This is amazing! You deserve some sort of cape! With an emblem! THAT'S how super this organization is. Thank you so much for sharing :)

    ~Steph

    The Quirky Apple

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  57. Would there be any chance you would upload or sale your file folder labels? I.E. for the addition, subtraction, shape folders? Those would be great to have! First year teaching first grade and trying to stay as organized as possible! I bought the binder covers and they are great!

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    1. I will be posting them soon on my TpT store. :)

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    2. I have posted them on my TpT store. :)

      Thanks!!

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    3. Awesome! Thanks so much!

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  58. Love, love, the classroom! You and your skills are the bomb! I will be like you very soon :-) One question-where did I get the bags to put your bulletin board items in? I need about 75 of them right now :-(

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    1. You can find them at different teacher stores like Lakeshore or Mardels. I bought mine online because they were a little cheaper than the price at the stores.

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    2. Thank You for the reply/info. I'm new to all of tge neat things used for organizing classrooms and materials! With that being said, when look this up online do you remember what they are called? Lastly, thank you for the zip tie idea- they will not move another desk around :-)

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    3. I just googled Bulletin Board Bags. I found an office supply store online that sold them cheaper than what you can buy them in the store. :)

      Thanks!

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  59. I have already began to organize my worksheets for different units. I am collecting binders from around my school. They throw out so many. Nothing that a good scrubbing cant fix. Also they have those giant size ziploc bags at the dollar tree. Its two in a box. Im using those to store border and letters. I just hang them on a hanger and put in my closet

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  60. Good word! This is one of the most organized classrooms I've ever seen. I've been cleaning out years of clutter and trying to get things in order. Seeing your pictures makes me want to throw it all out and start over! LOL!

    ❀Lisa
    Effective Teaching Articles Blog

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  61. Just stumbled upon your blog and I am glad that I did. An organized classroom is something that always makes me smile. Thanks for sharing.

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  62. Awesome!!!I love how organized you are!!

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  63. I'd love to download your binder labels! Can you make that available as well, please?

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    1. No problem! You can download them by clicking on the following link:

      http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Binder-Covers-and-Spines

      Thanks!!

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  64. Great ideas! I am obsessed with organizing too! I am going to try standing up my lesson plan binder. I am your newest follower! Thanks for sharing! ~Tava
    teachingtinytreasuresbyt.blogspot.com

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  65. This looks great! I have a quick question for you: When you have a resource (worksheet, center activity, etc.) that falls into a specific theme and skill, where do you store it, in your theme binder or filing cabinet? Do you keep 2 copies?

    I am organizing all of my files and resources in hope that I find a teaching job this fall and I could really use your advice on a great start to organizing all of my resources!

    Thanks so much!

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    1. Thank you! I store the worksheets and activities that match my units in my theme binders. If I have a worksheet that doesn’t match one of my themes then I file it under the specific skill it covers. I only keep one copy of everything I have. I don’t have the room to keep more than one. :) 

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  66. Hey! I have been looking at your blog for a while, and I just realized you were from Moore. I just wanted to let you know that we are praying for y'all, and hope you are okay.

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  67. Wow!!! I'm not even a teacher and this just amazes me! I am however super neat and organized and this gave me awesome ideas just for around my house. Thanks for sharing!

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  68. This is awesome! There is no way I could keep this up!
    Love your organization though!

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  69. Ah man, this makes me want to stay in the same classroom! I think I'd get fed up teaching the same year for so long, but it would be worth it for the beautiful classroom ;-)

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  70. I came across your page on Pinterest. I am in shock and disbelief! I can't imagine how many hours you have spent - you must be the most dedicated, ambitious, and loving educator ever! I really thought you seemed too good to be true....until I saw where you went to college! Boomer Sooner! You go girl!
    Love,
    Fellow Alumna, Class of'92
    (now 3rd grade teacher in Kansas City)

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  71. WOW I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS TYPE OF CLEAN CLASSROOM
    CHILDRENS MAKE IT DIRTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    :)

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  72. I would like to know, if you want to share of course... How do you organize your kids homework? Do you use binders or folders, where they leave them each day and where they file their daily work or activities that they make in classroom.

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  73. You make me sick. :)

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  74. What program do you use to type your lesson plans?

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  75. Girl.....u are the bomb dot com!!!!! When I grow up I want 2 be just like u

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  76. Great post! Been reading a lot about setting up a classroom. Thanks for the info here!

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  77. Would your husband mind sharing how he made the bookshelves? That would be a HUGE solution in my organization. Thanks so much for sharing. You inspire me to get organized.
    csessions@enterpriseschools.net

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  78. From one organizer to another--well done! I love all of your fabulous ideas and I am a bit jealous of your space to do so. :) I was curious about one thing--your binders. I would love to organize my units this way, but copying 3-hole punched papers drives me a little crazy. Do you find this a problem or do you have a solution to this issue? Thanks again for sharing your classroom with the rest of us.

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    1. Thanks!!! All the pages in my binders are in page protectors that way I don't have to hole punch all my masters. :)

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  79. You are totally amazing. AMAZING. A M A Z I N G !

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  80. thank you for sharing! I got my first grade assignment a few days before school started and I feel like I have been chasing my tail ever since with organization (among other things). I keep saying next year will be better!

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  81. I am teaching a reception class (4-5 year olds) via Zoom and Padlet during lockdown in London. These are brilliant ideas! Thank you so much!

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