Classroom Organization...I Think I'm Almost Ready!!

Whew!  It has been a L-O-N-G three days in my classroom.  I have spent them checking in new curriculum, purging, organizing and rearranging.  I am proud of all the work I have done!  Totally not understanding the new curriculum aside, if I had to start the year with students tomorrow I would be ready.

That feels AMAZING!  I finally feel like I can rock out from the get-go.  The first year I got a classroom I had no idea what in the world I would need, so I held on to E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.  And I mean everything.  My cupboard situation was stick something on any shelf that had space, shut the door quickly and pray that it didn't all come tumbling out the next time I opened the door.

(On a side note, that is what my bedroom looked like until I got married and my mother forced me to throw stuff away...I'm wasn't quite "Buried Alive: Hoarders" but it was close.)

I have slowly become more and more organized as I have grown into myself and space personally and professionally.  There is a place for everything and everything in it's place.  Here are some pictures of the work that I have done this week:

My corner all put together.

Standing in the doorway looking in.  You can't see them very well, but my mailboxes are at the bottom of that middle post.

From the back corner.

I am using smaller, less fussy name tags this year.  The past two years I have used large name tags with different resources on them (100s chart, money, shape and color words, etc.) and most of my students peeled them off.  These will only be their name and number, can easily be removed if they become a distraction and make rearranging the seating chart amazingly easy.  I simply move the name tags instead of the desks...I'm planting a palm on my forehead as I type this because it only took 2 years!!!!!!!

My corner with my freshly painted wall and border.

Above the sink.  I'm not sure what else is going to go here yet.

The classroom library is on the middle few shelves.  The books are organized by Fountas and Pinnell (F & P) levels.  Our science curriculum books are on the top shelf and the students' book boxes on the bottom few.  They were a bit unruly in desks last year so they are starting here and may be relocated at some point.

Supply storage, crafty things, and Quizmo/Bingo games on the top three shelves.  ONE section of books in my room.  (They are hidden E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E. in the room (filing cabinet, plus 2 (TWO!) other cupboards that are hard to get to) since I don't need all of them at once.

Randomness.  Note to self; see the books on the bottom shelf????  DON'T put them on anything but a bottom shelf.  If you put them on a middle shelf (such as the one here) they will collapse the shelf, scaring the living daylights out of you and the janitor across the hall who thought that you had hurt yourself when he heard your scream!  Not that I did that or anything. :)

Math manipulatives, clipboards, random math thingys and desk offices.

The language arts cupboard that I have kinda-sorta-not-really tackled yet.

UGH!  I attempted to understand and organize our new language arts curriculum today.  I gave up.  This is what it looked like when I left today.  It'll get better...I know that.  It's just daunting when I know that we start using this on the second day of school!

Now, I just have to remind myself that it may take a little more time to put things away right when I'm done with them this year, but it will save me in the long run.  Let's see how that works!

T-minus two weeks until school starts!