It's official. School is over and it's summer. I always get a little sad walking out of my classroom on that last workday. As elementary teachers, we spend soo much of our time in our classrooms; they are like our second homes! Seeing my room all stripped down makes me sad!
I also have a hard time slowing down in the summer. I go, go, go solid for 10 months a year, working at least 2 hours a night, every night, at home on school work. Not to mention all the TpT stuff! Just this morning (day 2 of summer break), I spent 3 hours on school stuff! Yikes!
On the last day of school, we made ice-cream sundaes, watched Magic School Bus, and played lots of games from my summer shenanigans pack. The kids especially liked "Race to Summer," a fun board game that's included in my pack. Let's not mention the fact that I left my teacher bag at home and was without my camera and phone all morning (tear...) so I have no proof to show you what we did!
One of the last things I did was pass out Gladys' end of the year awards. I love many things about these awards: they are in black and white (I printed mine on color copy paper), hence no colored ink usage, there is a boy/girl page for each award so you can give both a boy and a girl the same award, there are a variety of awards...one for everyone, and they don't require buying anything extra...lord knows I spend enough throughout the year on the kids! I rolled out the red carpet (aka red bulletin board paper) and announced the kids on the mic (dang...I really missed my camera for this today)!
I also gave out my "Summer to Second Grade" packs! This is a phenomenal resource to send home with your students for summer! Give the gift of learning with these printables! Math and ELA skill books, reading and writing logs, graphic organizers, and more! Check it out!
The kids left at 11:45 on Thursday and I stayed at school until 8pm. Geeze! I was so sick a few weeks ago and lost precious time organizing and cleaning before and after school! Plus, this year I committed to not staying late every night. I enjoyed working on school things at home. I knew I'd pay for it down the road but my sanity throughout the year was worth the extra hours on workdays! I also worked a 12-hour day on Friday.
I purchased file boxes from Office Depot throughout the year. I believe they were around $10-15 each. I also purchased the FasTab hanging file folders. I don't know about you but I can't stand the file folders with the little plastic tabs you have to hook in and then the mouse-sized strips of white paper you have to write on with teeny tiny letters! These FasTab's were well worth the money! I believe they are around $15 a box and I used 3 boxes.
What's inside my boxes: I have a general holiday file for each holiday/special day inside the boxes. Inside of those are worksheets and center games (all center game recording sheets and pieces are in a ziplock gallon bag inside the file so I can grab it and put it out). All craft projects have their own file so I can quickly see what crafts I have for each holiday. Plus, the bulkiness of the craft baggies would be too much for the holiday files. I do not keep anything bulky in these boxes. My holiday picture books on are my personal library bookshelf near my desk for easy access.
Once everything was sorted, labeled, and ready for the lid, I attached the monthly labels, which are free in my TpT store!
This was a HUGE undertaking but I did a lot of much-needed purging. Out with the old and in with the new! This also showed me which months I have hardly any materials for!!! Those of you that know me, let's just say December isn't a problem! I will be so thrilled in the fall when I can just pull out the box I need!
So how do you stay organized?
xo
Megan
I also have a hard time slowing down in the summer. I go, go, go solid for 10 months a year, working at least 2 hours a night, every night, at home on school work. Not to mention all the TpT stuff! Just this morning (day 2 of summer break), I spent 3 hours on school stuff! Yikes!
On the last day of school, we made ice-cream sundaes, watched Magic School Bus, and played lots of games from my summer shenanigans pack. The kids especially liked "Race to Summer," a fun board game that's included in my pack. Let's not mention the fact that I left my teacher bag at home and was without my camera and phone all morning (tear...) so I have no proof to show you what we did!
One of the last things I did was pass out Gladys' end of the year awards. I love many things about these awards: they are in black and white (I printed mine on color copy paper), hence no colored ink usage, there is a boy/girl page for each award so you can give both a boy and a girl the same award, there are a variety of awards...one for everyone, and they don't require buying anything extra...lord knows I spend enough throughout the year on the kids! I rolled out the red carpet (aka red bulletin board paper) and announced the kids on the mic (dang...I really missed my camera for this today)!
I also gave out my "Summer to Second Grade" packs! This is a phenomenal resource to send home with your students for summer! Give the gift of learning with these printables! Math and ELA skill books, reading and writing logs, graphic organizers, and more! Check it out!
The kids left at 11:45 on Thursday and I stayed at school until 8pm. Geeze! I was so sick a few weeks ago and lost precious time organizing and cleaning before and after school! Plus, this year I committed to not staying late every night. I enjoyed working on school things at home. I knew I'd pay for it down the road but my sanity throughout the year was worth the extra hours on workdays! I also worked a 12-hour day on Friday.
I purchased file boxes from Office Depot throughout the year. I believe they were around $10-15 each. I also purchased the FasTab hanging file folders. I don't know about you but I can't stand the file folders with the little plastic tabs you have to hook in and then the mouse-sized strips of white paper you have to write on with teeny tiny letters! These FasTab's were well worth the money! I believe they are around $15 a box and I used 3 boxes.
What's inside my boxes: I have a general holiday file for each holiday/special day inside the boxes. Inside of those are worksheets and center games (all center game recording sheets and pieces are in a ziplock gallon bag inside the file so I can grab it and put it out). All craft projects have their own file so I can quickly see what crafts I have for each holiday. Plus, the bulkiness of the craft baggies would be too much for the holiday files. I do not keep anything bulky in these boxes. My holiday picture books on are my personal library bookshelf near my desk for easy access.
Once everything was sorted, labeled, and ready for the lid, I attached the monthly labels, which are free in my TpT store!
This was a HUGE undertaking but I did a lot of much-needed purging. Out with the old and in with the new! This also showed me which months I have hardly any materials for!!! Those of you that know me, let's just say December isn't a problem! I will be so thrilled in the fall when I can just pull out the box I need!
So how do you stay organized?
xo
Megan
7 comments:
Last week for me..4 more days..definitely counting down! :) Thank you so much for the shout out..so glad you and your kiddidles enjoyed the awards.
Megan, I think you need to come and organize my monthly goodies!! I love how you did it! :)
❤Teri
A Cupcake for the Teacher
I have a big task ahead of me too this summer...organizing centers! Not really looking forward to it!
Lindsay
For the Love of First Grade
LOVE the organization!
Several years ago, several teachers were getting rid of all of their old Saxon Math crates. they were throwing them in the trash. Now if you aren't familiar with Saxon, their worksheets are stored in file folders inside plastic tubs with lids. They even hold hanging file folders. Of course I had to rescue them before they made it to the trash! ;P So I don't need the crates, but I may have to get some of the better folders. thanks for the ideas!
Kelly
I'm Not Your Grandpa, I'm Your Teacher
I LOVE your files boxes. I couldnt find a great way to story all the stuff I make. I too have put them into large ziplock bags, but crammed into a file cabinet-which I hate. Love the boxes. Thanks!
Amazing organization!! I am trying to figure out how I want to reorganize my monthly "stuff" and this might be perfect! Thanks for sharing:)
Elizabeth
Fun in Room 4B
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