I Am What I Teach: Organizing Supplies

Managing supplies for groups with shared items can be tricky and I have tried so many things! This is what I did this year...

Mini Divided Holders - 6 Colors

All items in the holder are either washi taped to match or sharpie labeled with the color.

Teams are responsible for keeping all materials in their holder and putting it in a desk when they switch classes for reading. All items lost or broken must be replaced by purchasing new ones with "tokens" (classroom money earned for participation behavior)

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Another great storage solution...cube shelves! I bought this one at Ikea and had a friend's excellent contractor mount it on the wall with brackets (4 just to be safe).

BEFORE

Messy on the counter with supplies brought in the first day...limited storage.

AFTER

Beautifully attached to the wall for storage inside, under and on top!

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My newest organization trick for all of my centers bins!

Studio 3B™ 6-Tier Fabric Storage Shoe Rack

From this To THIS!

My new classroom was short on storage so we built our own shelves! My mom is an excellent handy-woman :) All of the materials were from the hardware store, and make sure to use a leveler so your shelves are balanced. The best part about this kind of shelving is that I can add more levels or make them longer later on if I need too!

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After 6 years with the same calendar, I finally bought a new one! I was inspired by a sale and noticing pieces were missing...I guess it was time. BUT what I really want to share is how to keep all of those little date pieces in a safe place, so you won't lose them overtime like I did. I got my idea from Pinterest as my ziplocks for each month were just not doing the job.

I laminated all the parts at my local teacher store, thanks Jonathan's for your spectacular services! I've only cut out 6 months so far, and I love how they fit in the box. My year starts in August, so I am putting August in the front and I will rotate it to the back once August is over, so the next month is in the front. Since we don't go to school in June and July I will probably leave them out of the box, but keep them safe in case I teacher summer school in the future :)

To put up my pieces on my calendar I love to use wall putty, maybe because the kids think it's gum, or maybe because it is the easiest and cleanest to put up and take down 10 times! The putty will sit on the top of the box so my students can take little pieces off and put of the dates each morning (it's a classroom job).

To divide the months I used sticky note 3x5 cards and cut them to make them the right size. I will use the extra part as a back to the month so I can see the divisions from both sides.