Spring Cleaning and Organizing My Classroom!

Spring is here!  I don't know about you, but my classroom is in need of some major Spring cleaning and organizing my piles of paperwork and supplemental materials.  To help with that, I thought I'd share a quick and easy tip for organizing all of those supplemental materials that go along with teaching.  I used to *try* to keep everything organized in file folders, but things always ended up getting mixed up somehow, or folders would seem to disappear into thin air, especially when I needed it most!

Then I found this great organization tip from a colleague of mine.  It's so simple, but yet it was something I had never thought of before!  All you need is a few of these file folder pocket charts from Lakeshore (about $14.99 each), and then hang them on the wall.  In my classroom, I organize all of my oral vocabulary story cards, vocabulary word and definition cards, and vocabulary pictures by unit and then story (or week), top to bottom.  Example:  Unit 1, week 1 is at the top, followed by Unit 1, week 2, etc.  They are hung right next to my focus wall for Language Arts, so the materials are right there at my fingertips when I need them, and they slip right back in when I'm done.  Quick and easy and no need to re-file anything or (misplace a folder and have to dig it out again for next year!)