Preparing your classroom for the year ahead can be an overwhelming task. This blog focuses on creative ways to store, organize, and sort classroom items.
Top 10 Classroom Organization Ideas
Some of our favorite do-it-yourself classroom organization ideas can be created from everyday items found at home or inexpensive finds at the dollar store or hardware store.
- Hang a shoe organizer to hold paperback books or center supplies. A hanging sweater organizer works well to sort construction paper.
- Use a large beverage tub or laundry basket to hold and transport students’ lunches and PE equipment, to collect library books, or to file student portfolios. If you buy several laundry baskets of the same type, the baskets can be stacked easily when not in use.
- Wash round food containers and then cover them with contact paper or printed duct tape to hold markers, pens, and scissors. Or, secure large round food containers together to file student papers, classroom passes, art supplies, etc.
- Glue a magnet to repurposed containers that can be attached to magnetized whiteboards to hold dry erase markers.
- Keep art supplies accessible by placing scissors, glue, markers, etc., in plastic cups placed in a muffin tray or by gluing small tins or containers to a Lazy Susan.
- Create a centralized supply table to hold items needed every day using baskets, cleaning supply caddies, or small crates to organize supplies.
- Sort center activities and art projects in zip-lock bags. For easy access, bags can be stored upright in a plastic bin.
- Customize large binder clips to organize stacks of paper. Use Mod Podge or glue to attach small labels to the clips. (ex: “To be graded,” “Return,” and “Misc.”)
- Use large magnetic clips to clip notes or papers to the front of student desks (or use clothespins with pieces of self-sticking velcro).
- Hang a pegboard on a wall, add hooks, and hang small tin pails or buckets to hold classroom supplies.
What’s your favorite way to organize classroom supplies? Please share your ideas.
Contributing Writer
Theresa Wooler has more than 10 years’ experience in K–6 classrooms as a parent volunteer, has taught high school English, and is currently involved in education through Evan-Moor’s marketing communications team.
Myth #1: Everything is changing!
Dr. Katie McKnight is an educator, author, and consultant. Her career in education began as a high school English teacher in the Chicago Public School system more than 20 years ago. She received her B.A. degree from George Washington University, her M.Ed. from Northeastern Illinois University, and her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Today, she serves as a Distinguished Professor of Research at National Louis University.
Alice Evans is a forty-year veteran National Board Certified elementary classroom teacher and is a published author. She recently retired from the San Diego Unified School District.
How do you cope with anxiety at the start of the school year? Believe it or not, making dietary changes can often ease the symptoms of anxiety. While diet alone cannot cure anxiety, healthy eating is one of the simplest ways to begin controlling anxiety to improve your mood, both inside and outside the classroom.
Avocados – Avocados are also rich in stress-relieving B vitamins and high in monounsaturated fat and potassium, which help to lower blood pressure.
Examples of gluten-free whole grains include oats, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, and kasha. If you have a gluten sensitivity, read the labels to ensure the grains are milled in a factory that is gluten-free in order to avoid cross-contamination.
Leslie Edsall loves to work with people to simplify the noise and develop healthier habits through nutrition, yoga and self care. She is a Certified Health Coach, Health Education Specialist and Registered Yoga Teacher. Leslie offers a variety of online and in-person health coaching programs, teaches yoga, runs workshops in the DC area and leads wellness retreats. To learn more about Leslie visit: 
So, how can you as a teacher put your best foot forward? Here is a sample checklist of what to include in your students’ folders. Also included are some ideas for behavior management and a first week’s homework assignment to ease your students into the best school year ever.
School Office Forms That Need to be Returned
At the start of my teaching career, I was fortunate to have a perceptive principal who loaned me a book. I don’t remember the title of that book, but the essence was about keeping a balance in your life as a teacher.
Marti Beeck started her career in education as a parent volunteer in her three children’s classrooms. Her teaching experience, including adult school, intervention, and the primary classroom, was inspired by her background in psychology and interest in brain-based learning. Marti currently works in the field of educational publishing as an editor.
Due to a cross-country move away from my family and friends, I have been traveling with my children since they were babies. Even at their current young ages of 5 and 6, they have logged thousands of miles in long car rides and cross-country flights with me. Since day one, I have listened to candid advice from experts (other parents) and have the following tips to share with you.
Trisha Thomas is the mother of two and serves on the board of directors at a co-op preschool. She has also been a marketer of educational materials for grades PreK–8 for more than 15 years.
Whether you’re looking for a quality lesson to fill a gap in your lesson plan or an educational activity to keep your child learning over the summer, use this “lesson roundup”! This post features downloadable activities and resources from a collection of Joy of Teaching articles:
Take Photographs: Once you take photographs of the artwork, you can scan and store the artwork digitally, and create a photo book, calendar, or note cards. These make excellent gifts for special holidays including Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Christmas. Here are some suggestions from Snapfish on 
When I was studying to become a teacher, one thing that impressed me most about my mentors was how these teachers purposefully used bits and pieces of time for effective learning. I am talking about those precious minutes ranging from 5 to 20 minutes that happen “just because.” They may happen daily, weekly, or unexpectedly. I found myself thinking how the value of quality time fillers adds up over a period of time. It became one of my goals to use effectively these precious bits of time during a school day.