Let's Get Organized

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Everything has a place. It's in my blood.  I just can't help it.  It's my mom's fault.  Color coding is therapeutic.  I'm not ashamed!  After 8 years of being in the classroom and my obsession healthy relationship with TPT, I've accumulated quite the collection of teaching materials.  Have I ever mentioned the Air Force moves us every 2-3 years? See, I have to be organized!  Oh, and I've been hired TWICE on the morning of Meet the Teacher, mere days before school starts.  Again, I have to be organized!  It makes packing & unpacking way less stressful AND it helps me use all of the great stuff I have.  

Storing all of this in an organized way was soooo necessary for me.  In years past, I've realized after a unit or holiday that I had THE PERFECT LESSON already on hand, but had forgotten about it. Does that ever happen to you? You know how the saying goes, "Out of sight, out of mind."  I've tried filing cabinets, tubs, binders, digital, etc. and I finally decided on a combo.  I use tubs to store my stuff.  For example, I had a fraction tub. Within each tub, I had a binder or two full of all of my printables, formatives, and centers in page protectors in order.   I keep all of my manipulatives, games, books, etc. for that concept in the tub.  

With the introduction of CCSS, I needed to do a little re-arranging so I decided to bite the bullet and make a coordinating AND adorable chevron set of binder & tub labels that used CCSS lingo.  I tackled math first.  Also, I don't have all of the CCSS memorized, so I wanted quick reference sheets that would be handy & stored with each tub.  Remember that whole "I move every 2-3 years" thing? I figured I won't always be teaching the same grade level, so in addition to 2nd and 3rd grade CCSS labels, I made labels for every possible math concept I might ever teach at the elementary level….yeah, SEVENTY-ONE additional labels.

Maybe it's time for a picture or two!

Adorable, easy to stack, see through, and roomy! 

Binder on bottom, books, manipulatives, stuff, and CCSS reference sheet on top.

These sit inside the tub at the very top.  It's the EXACT CCSS language.

The front of the binder has an OVERVIEW of that CCSS.

I wanted this to work for other teachers as well, so I made skinny spines, fatter spines, full pages, half pages, editable pages, etc.  Interested in my 2nd & 3rd Grade Math CCSS Organization set?  Don't forget there are full pages, half pages, and spines for the 71 other math topics too!  Here's a good look at what you get!  

I might have had a *few* cups of coffee in order to accomplish this!

Happy organizing!