Wouldn’t it be nice to have the opportunity to work from a blank slate? This may surprise some of you who feel you’re destined to live out your teaching careers doing important work in a cluttered, messy, disorganized classroom, but every teacher can be organized. Let me say that again… Every teacher can be efficient, happy, and enjoy teaching in a beautiful, clutter-free, organized classroom. It just takes planning and an investment of time that I promise you’ll find to be worth it. I’ve been running workshops, presenting at conferences and consulting with teachers 1:1 for over a decade on the topics of classroom organization and management. When I’ve worked with teachers to declutter and organize their classrooms, I always advised them to work through the 10 systematic steps listed below for how to organize your classroom. Learn what these steps are below!
What is the Clutter-Free Classroom Organization Bundle?
The Clutter-Free Classroom Organization Bundle is a tool that helps you become an organized teacher and have your room looking and functioning better than ever. It includes a detailed, full-color guide filled with photos, tips and ideas, a companion workbook to help you systematically declutter, organize and set-up your room for success, and a bundle that includes 12 printable resources to complement the ideas in the eBook.
What Does the Organization Bundle Include?
The Classroom Organization Bundle contains a generous collection of tools and resources to help make you a highly-effective teacher! You will find the following included:
Clutter-Free Classroom Guide: Organization Made Easy
This includes 60 pages of tips and ideas based on tried and true methods that have been used by real teachers in real classrooms. It will explain in great detail and with color photos how to declutter a messy classroom, organize the things in your classroom, decide which storage containers work best, set up a classroom, create areas within the classroom with purpose, organize student work and supplies, organize every kind of paper in your classroom, and maintain an organized space and save yourself time throughout the year.
Classroom Organization Teacher Workbook
This 20 page workbook is a companion guide to the eBook. It was designed to help you work through the systems in the book for organizing your classroom in a well-planned manner that will make success easier for you.
Rules for Decluttering List
This printable will simplify the decision-making process and enable you to declutter your classroom faster and more thoroughly. There is a second version included in the workbook that allows you to make your own rules for decluttering.
Classroom Genre Library Labels
These printable resources are great for labeling bins or bookshelves.
Classroom Leveled Library Labels
These printable resources are great for labeling bins or bookshelves. There are two options: Letters A-Z for labeling leveled book baskets and numbers 1-18 for a numbered labeling system.
Classroom Supply Labels
These printable resources are great for labeling school supplies in your classroom.
Math Manipulatives Labels
These printable resources are great for labeling bins, drawers, or other containers holding math tools.
School Subject Labels
These printable resources are great for organizing copies, collecting assignments, or storing extra papers. They fit well on plastic drawers, dishpans, magazine boxes and many other containers.
Days of the Week Labels
These printable resources are great for organizing copies or storing daily work. They fit well on plastic drawers, dishpans, magazine boxes and many other containers. Each sheet contains 5 labels for each of the weekdays and features clipart.
Work in Progress Folder Labels
These printable resources are great for managing student work. The following resources are included: Work in progress folder labels, name labels, numbered name labels, and pocket labels.
Weekly Communication Folder Labels
These printable resources are great for managing parent communication. The following resources are included: Weekly folder labels, name labels, numbered name labels, pocket labels (Leave at Home & Return to School), home to school and back communication pages, and an explanation note for parents.
Find It and Fix It Printables
These printable resources will help you implement the best strategy for keeping your classroom organized every day. The following resources are included: Certificates, winner checklists, and rules poster.
How to Know if You Need the Organization Bundle
Reflect on the questions below to determine if you need the organization bundle.
- Do you often stay later than you would like each day?
- Are you walking into school and instantly feel defeated by the site of your disorganized classroom?
- Do you feel frustrated or embarrassed by the condition of your classroom?
- Are you not enjoying the time with your students as much as you should?
- Does starting fresh with less clutter sound appealing?
- Would you like to save time and be more efficient in the classroom?
- Do you want to enjoy your nights and weekends doing what interests you?
If you answered yes to any (or all) of these questions, you certainly are not alone. Teachers continuously tell me they are feeling overwhelmed more than ever before. Changes in policy and increased demands certainly are factors but frequently a cluttered classroom is also contributing to stressful days.
10 Steps for How to Organize Your Classroom
Below are the 10 steps for how to systematically and efficiently organize your classroom. I’m excited to share that each of those steps are explained in lots of detail and with photos, examples, and printable tools to make the process super simple in my eBook, A Clutter-Free Guide to Classroom Organization. The guide includes lots of printables to help you get and stay organized.
- Take before pictures.
- Create an action plan.
- Enlist the help of others.
- Know where your clutter will go.
- Gather supplies.
- Make a clean sweep.
- Schedule time to work on the space.
- Work through the decluttering process.
- Organize the items that remain.
- Create systems to maintain your new clutter-free classroom.
In closing, I hope you found this post about how to organize your classroom helpful! If you did, I recommend scooping up my classroom organization bundle and reading these blog posts:
