Organizing My Classroom

One of my goals for this next year is to organize and maintain my classroom. There are two major problem spots for me now. The first is my giant teacher desk. I have had this gigantic wood desk that the previous teacher left for me (with my permission). But...it turns out that for me it is just a clutter collector. I rarely sit at my desk and it's always full so I inevitably end up working on a student's desk anyways. In other words, this desk was pretty much just a drop zone for all of my stuff through the week. This is the best photo that I could find as I never really photographed my messy desk. Haha!

As you can see, my papers were piled everywhere. So I've decided that I am getting rid of my teacher desk! I have a kidney table that I use for small groups and that is now my desk. I have two short shelves where I am organizing everything that I need that used to be on this desk. Here are a few progress photos as I begin to organize that space.

I plan to add do a few more things before this space is ready. I'm updating labels to be brights to match the rest of the room. And I'm adding a teacher toolbox! I even went over to my coworker's house to talk through my dilemma of ditching my teacher table. And she and I planned out the remainder of my shelf space. The most efficient way to store all of those little things you need is a teacher toolbox (or two!) I purchased this nine drawer toolbox to store my larger items like note cards and thank you notes. But I'm still trying to track down this 30 drawer toolbox for all of my small stuff. I am actually contemplating ordering it to a Lowe's in Michigan while I'm on vacation! Teachers are a dedicated breed! I want my room to be inspire envy and be Pinterest perfect, but I'm also a realist. It's never going to be perfect. But if it makes me happy to be in every day, I consider the expense and effort worth it! I'll do an update when I am done organizing my room before school starts!