It’s that time of year again… back to school! I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure we JUST got out of school. However, the stores are full of school supplies and I can’t go anywhere without drooling over markers and binders again. The season is upon us, for sure. Sooooo… some of my intermediate blogging friends decided to get together and help you sail straight into the new year with ease. We’re bringing you lots of simple tips and a big giveaway too, so be sure to stick around all the way to the end. 😉
For my back to school tip, I actually want to talk about something you can put in place now that will help you all year long. If you know me at all, you know I’m all about organization. Coloring coding, cute labels, and matching bins make my heart happy. So here’s my labor of love project, which I started in the spring a few years ago.
Did you just swoon a little bit, or was it just me? I love using centers, task cards, and all kinds of TpT goodness from other teachers. But, I quickly realized that I was having paper overload. Files were coming out of my ears. Should I file them by skill? By theme? By type of product? Task cards here, centers there? What about teacher materials? I had lots of great stuff, but couldn’t find it when I needed it because my filing cabinet was overflowing.
So I took drastic measures and carted EVERYTHING home. All of my teacher materials. All of my printables. My centers. My mentor texts. My guided reading books. Everything. And then it started going into piles.
I made piles by month. I looked at my curriculum map and tossed the centers that weren’t obviously seasonal into piles by when I taught those skills. It was awesome because I was able to easily see where my “holes” were in my resources. If I needed more inference activities, it was blatantly obvious when they all went into the same pile. I was able to see what I needed to go back to TpT and search for to fill out my year.
Here’s the end result. I keep the month I’m currently using (in this case March) on top so it’s easy to get in and out of the box as needed.Things like dice, spinners, player markers, etc. that get used over and over have their own “game piece” tub.
Now that the tubs have been created, I can quickly print and toss new items I find throughout the year where they go. So easy!
Finally, here’s a bonus tip for you. I double file my resources on my computer. I keep them in folders by type (fractions, cause/effect, economics, etc.) but I also keep my files on my computer organized like my monthly totes– by month as well as by story in our textbook. I literally spend seconds finding my resources now. Love that!
Hopefully these tips will get you thinking ahead to how you’re going to stay organized this year. I hate having to go through and do that mid-year. If you can take advantage of these last few days of summer to get yourself set for the year, it will be so much easier. I promise! I’m always planned out well in advance this way and it makes preparing my weekly centers a snap.
In all that organizational goodness, did you forget there was a giveaway too?! I will personally be giving away two $25 gift cards to TpT so you can stock up on your units for back to school and the whole year through. On top of my giveaway, you can also visit all of my favorite intermediate bloggers using the links below to enter THEIR giveaways too. Each blogger is giving away $50 in gift cards that will be perfect for back to school. That’s $1,000 in gift card y’all!
But wait, there’s more! {I’ve always wanted to say that} We have all contributed some of our best selling seasonal products to a GRAND PRIZE PACKAGE that’s worth nearly $300. What?! I’m helping you set up all those unit tubs I showed you by giving away my Fall Bundle of Big Kid Units.
Here’s a preview of the entire pack one lucky winner will grab. You can click on each item to see more details!
When you enter to win the gift cards on everyone’s blog, you are also entering to win our Grand Prize Package. How cool is that?
Giveaway rules:
- This giveaway is open to any elementary classroom teacher.
- Three names will be drawn at Ms. Fultz’s Corner: Two winners will each with a $25 TeachersPayTeachers gift card and the third will be entered in the drawing to win the Grand Prize Package of products.
- This giveaway ends on August 2, 2014.
- Winners will be announced on the blogs and notified by email.
Be sure to visit all of these blog so you can enter to win THEIR gift cards and earn more entries into the Grand Prize Package too.
What a wonderful idea. I am already in the process of creating monthly binders for plans, notes, worksheets, ideas, etc. Now I am going to adopt this idea as well. I have task cards and games EVERYWHERE!!!!
Dare to be Different-Teach!
Thank you for the great idea and generous giveaway. 🙂
I've been filing my stuff by month for years! Last summer, I also sorted most my books by month!
Sally from Elementary Matters
I love the DOUBLE files! I file by topic, but that would keep things SO close to help with preparing lessons!
I like that idea too! I may even color code the folders on my desktop–academic subjects, INB, management, journals, etc. Some things I save in two places, some I have just saved in one but could in another. So many ideas!! Brain. Buzzing.
I love the file boxes. Seems like it would be so much easier to get everything put away when you were finished. that's a great idea for the double files…I think that is an issue for every teacher. Thanks for sharing!
Kelly
I'm Not Your Grandpa, I'm Your Teacher
Hello, I wonder if you could help me to select a song for Teacher's day to be sang by ESL students of second grade (primary school). I am looking for something not too difficult and nice to hear. Many thanks.
I've been needing a tip like this! I brought all my stuff home and haven't quite reached the organizing stage. Looking forward to trying this method. thank you