The Almost Organized Teacher: My Basic Organization Rules

One of my big goals for this year is to work on my organization skills. I am notorious for piling papers on various surfaces until I am no longer sure what still needs to be marked, what needs to be put away, what needs to be sent for printing, and what can be put in the recycle bin. This year I would like to improve on this and keep my desk and papers organized. In my few years of experience I have discovered what works and doesn't work for me and I would like to share a few basic rules I have discovered when it comes to staying organized and creating a system that works.

Organization Rule #1: Organization takes time and consistency.
No matter what system you may use to keep yourself organized it only works if you take the time to use it. For myself I am still trying to develop the habit of clearing off surfaces on a daily basis. In other words I need to take a few minutes every day and put everything away, whether it is supplies we used in Science, a homework assignment the students handed in today, or extra copies left over from the day's lessons. The big thing to remember is that moving clutter from a table to a teacher's desk doesn't count. This is a big thing for me to keep in mind as I am still working on defeating my tendency to simply pile stuff on my desk so I can ignore get to it later. So far I haven't managed to accomplish this completely every day and that is fine... creating new habits takes time. If I don't get to it every day I definitely make sure I take time on Friday afternoon to catch up and make sure everything is clear and ready to go for a new week.

This week was no exception. Here is a picture of my small group working table from Friday after school. Don't worry this pile wasn't there during the school day... I moved it off of my desk so I could get some work done.

 Before I left today I made sure to put everything back in its place and now both my desk and my small group table are ready for the students again on Monday. I am still working at making sure I devote the time and consistency needed to keep things organized but I can already see improvement from last year :)

Organization Rule #2: Put your spin on whatever system you decide to use.
I have spent a lot of time looking at other teacher's classrooms and marveling over their systems for staying organized. I'm the type of person who tends to find an idea and jump in with both feet before I really think things through. (Don't worry, I'm getting better at that too!) The result is I have tried a variety of different organization techniques in the past two years and they have all taught me one thing... just because it works for someone else doesn't mean it will work for me. Of course I encourage you to still look at what other teachers have done as there is no reason to re-invent the wheel and there are a lot of fantastic teachers out there who have been doing this a lot longer than I have. However you need to look at their systems and decide what parts of it may or may not work for you and make a system that works for you and your organizational needs. There is also some trial and error involved... at least that is the case for me.

Organization Rule #3: Be ready to change your system if needed.
As I said earlier, I have tried a few different systems for keeping myself organized. While I don't necessarily recommend changing your system completely, especially in the middle of the year (been there, done that, it doesn't work very well) you need to be ready to try different things if your system doesn't seem to be working. It takes a while to come up with a system for things that suits you and works within the demands of the job. Remember that you will get there! I'm pretty sure I have... I guess we'll have to wait and see.

In a future post I will go over some of the systems I am using for keeping myself organized this year. Don't expect them to be revolutionary, in fact most of them you will probably have seen before. Just in case you haven't though... stay tuned.

Oh Yeah, I Forgot... Teaching Isn't Easy

It has definitely been an interesting start to my school year. My first two years of teaching I had the same group of students- with a few minor changes of course - since I moved from teaching grade 2 to grade 3. I was extremely fortunate because they were such a wonderful group to start out with.Of course every group has its quirks, difficulties, and is amazing in their own way but with this particular group of students I really clicked. We got along great which made classroom management much simpler. They were all happy to work with each other which was awesome when it came to seating arrangements and group work, and they generally were a very positive group of kids. Now I realize I may be remembering things going much smoother than they actually did but that's not the point. The point is that after two years with them I figured I was on my way with teaching. I knew what I was about, how to manage and organize my classroom, and how to deal with problems and difficulties along the way.

SCREECH... That is the sound of my ego coming to a grinding halt. After four weeks with a new group of students I have been reminded and am very aware that each group of students is different and requires different approaches to teaching. While my first class had some pretty big academic needs my new group of kiddos requires much more social, emotional, and behavioural support. Definitely not what I am used to. Needless to say I have not been the super-confident teacher I thought I was going to be this year. Now please don't get me wrong, I am not bashing my abilities as a teacher or saying I don't think I can do it. I am simply saying this first month of school has been a humbling reminder of how different every group of students is and how previous years are not necessarily indicators of what will happen this year. I need to be ready to change and adapt fro year to year.

All that being said, I am excited to push forward through the next few weeks and continue my search for what works and doesn't work for this particular group of kids. Looking through all these other teacher blogs I am encouraged and humbled by the experiences of other teachers. We have an amazing job and I can't imagine doing anything else. I think my new group of students is an awesome reminder for me that teaching is not easy, that students bring challenges with them to the classroom, and they all deserve to be loved for the unique people they are. I have heard that you never forget your first class, and I know I will forever hold them close in my heart, but more than ever I am excited for the challenges and changes that come with new groups of students. Bring on the rest of the year! I am ready.... I think.

Budding Bloggers Linky Party

I am so glad I found this Linky Party over at I {heart} Recess! It is such a fantastic idea to connect new bloggers with each other and with other bloggers who have been doing this for a while longer. One of the things I am learning to love about blogging is the chance to connect to other people, and more specifically other teachers. I am really excited to check out the other blogs and see what they have to offer!

1. While stalking Pinterest for new classroom ideas I stumbled across the wonderful world of teacher blogs and fell in love. I have spent hours (just ask my husband) pouring over these blogs, reading and discovering what other teachers do. I felt inspired by all the pictures of classroom, tips, freebies, and good ideas that I thought I would give it a try.I have only been at it for a couple months but so far it is a great way to share a piece of myself as a teacher and to learn from other teachers as well. I love being a teacher and am very passionate about what I do and I definitely enjoy having a way to celebrate and share it with others!

2. I don't think I have a favourite subject. (Yes, I was that kid in class.) If I had to pick one though it would probably be Science. I am of the opinion that getting your hands dirty is a key part of childhood and I love giving students that chance in my classroom. I enjoy seeing kids excited about what they are learning and I find that Science lends itself to a hands-on approach so well. Besides let's face it... experiments are a blast!

3. The foundation of my teaching style can be found in the book of Proverbs: "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it." I see each of my students as individuals who have been set apart for a purpose. It is my job to not only teach them the curriculum but to provide them with skills, attitudes, and habits that will allow them to be life-long learners. Doing this requires me to build relationships with the students, get to know their strengths and weaknesses, and do my best to differentiate their learning accordingly. I also think learning should be fun and enjoyable. I do my best to get students excited about what we are learning. As I mentioned before I love hands-on learning, moving around the classroom, and trying new things. And if we get a little messy in the process it's even better!

4. Three interesting facts about me:

My family lived and volunteered for a year at an orphanage in Mexico when I was 16. While we were there I had the chance to help teach English in the school. I guess it got me jump started on teaching!

I am slightly obsessed with elephants ever since I had the chance to ride one for 3 days at an Elephant Conservatory in Thailand.

I love to make music by singing, playing piano, and playing guitar!







5. I don't have a TPT store but am happy to share anything you may find on my blog that looks interesting or useful to you if you send me a message.

Blog Goals

One week done, 39 more to go! The beginning of the school year has come and gone and it is time to begin getting into the swing of things again. I am amazed to discover how much adjustment time is needed when welcoming a new class. My first two years of teaching I had the same group of students (I moved from gr.2 to gr. 3) so there was very little adjustment time at the beginning of last school year and my first year I was so overwhelmed at the beginning I'm lucky to remember anything at all. I have a smaller class this year but that does not mean it is without its challenges. I am excited to see where the year takes us, to build new relationships with this group of students, and to see how I grow as a teacher. With all this excitement and the craziness of a new year though I figured it would be a good idea to set out some basic blog goals for myself.

I can get a little one-tracked when I get stressed out or when something is really important to me which means that during the school year I can ignore almost anything. I don't want that to happen this year and as I already mentioned one of my personal goals is to actually spend time with people and have a social life this year. For my blog I have a list of 3 basic goals:

1. I hope to keep up on my blogging this year especially since I am still new at this. I don't want to become so focused on school that I completely forget about adding to my blog. I am really enjoying the opportunity to share and remember all the things that happen in my classroom and I hope to continue it as the year progresses.

2. I love the chance to link up with other bloggers on a common theme and share what has been happening in our individual classrooms. One of the things that drew me in to teacher's blogs was the opportunity to share and learn from each other and I think Linkys are a great way to do it!

3. I have found some great little tid-bits in my exploration of other blogs. One of my main goals for this blog is that it becomes a place where other teachers can discover some new information, gather some creative ideas, and have fun learning from each other.

I hope you can tag along for the journey!

Classroom Tour

It's finally ready!! After spending a few days couple weeks organizing, cleaning, and setting up, my classroom is finally ready to go. Good thing too since the kiddos are coming tomorrow! Where did summer go? I am linking up Swimming Into Second to Show Off My Space. 

First the before pictures:

And now... Welcome to my home away from home! I am absolutely loving my classroom this year. I definitely put a little more time and effort into getting it just right but hopefully that means I won't be rearranging everything come Christmas break. 

Here is the view of the room from the door. It seems like hardly any teachers I have seen use rows any more but I like the idea of starting the year with the kids in their own space as they get comfortable with the routines and expectations.

Here is the view from the front of the room. Ignore the cart in the corner by the teacher desk/computers. I am temporarily storing it for a colleague.

Remember those bulletin boards I put up this year? Here they are with borders and titles just waiting for anchor charts, unit questions, and other exciting information! I am loving how much cleaner the space looks with all the shelving covered up!

 Under the bulletin boards are shelves which hold our book boxes, textbooks, math manipulatives and math centers. So happy with the containers from Dollar Tree which totally fit the colour scheme.

Continuing around the classroom we come to the library complete with my homemade Cat in the Hat hat and our CAFE board. The books are leveled according Fountas and Pinnell reading levels. The red bins are for fiction picture books and the white bins hold the non-fiction books.

Next to the library is the writing center with all our stationary supplies and our writing bulletin board.

Beside the writing center are our class computers and bookshelves used for teacher resources.

 Here is the view of the classroom from my desk. I pushed it up against the wall this year to try and eliminate as much "teacher" space as possible. It has completely opened the room up. You can just see the small group table in the bottom corner of the picture.

Along the other wall of the classroom are more cupboards and counter space. I am so thankful for all the storage in this room!

You may be wondering what is living in the giant aquarium. My classroom would no longer be complete without this little guy.

Finally we get to the front of the room. I don't have a Promethean board yet but I do have two huge whiteboards and a projector. Between the whiteboards is a small bulletin board which holds our calendar and some reminders for students about classroom signals and routines.

Beside the board are the mailboxes and job chart. 

 Thanks for visiting and checking out my finished space. I can't wait to share more classroom adventures with you as the year unfolds!