Teacher Toolbox

With all of these teacher toolboxes floating around on Pinterest, it's hard to really know who started it all. If any of you know who the original creator of the teacher toolbox is, please let me know so I can give proper credit. With that said, I've seen the teacher toolbox floating around the internet and decided it was time to make one. I am constantly searching around my classroom, looking for little odds-and-ends that are no where to be found. I love the fact that now, they will all be in one place. 

This year I am trying to create a theme for my classroom. It started with a rug that I have in my room and then it branched out into a color scheme. I was pretty sure that I was just going to stick to colors and not a full out theme, but I kind of started leaning toward a forest/woodland theme. I have always wanted a nature theme in my room, so I guess this theme was just perfect for me.

If you would like a copy of your own, please visit my TPT store HERE.

**I have two different files available for purchase. One is premade labels and the other is customizable**

Custom Notebooks

 Last year I bought these composition books with the intentions of using them. I knew that I wanted to use them for reading, science, and social studies, but I never knew how to put all three subjects in one notebook. Last year my teaching buddy and BFF added tabs to her notebooks and I thought it was a great idea. She was able to use the notebooks all year. I meant to do it last year, but the time got away from me. I was determined to make time for it this summer.

I love the composition books because they are more sturdy than to spiral notebooks. Spiral notebooks get destroyed and eventually pages are torn and lost. Not to mention the wire starts to get messed up and pokes a student!! To create the tabs I just used a SU! label punch. You can get a newer addition HERE. I am extremely excited to start using these notebooks in my class this year and I already have so many ideas!!!

Before Pictures

Many people that walk into my classroom think that it is such a clean and organized room. Clean... yes. Organized... NO WAY!!

Here is what everyone sees my classroom as...

I love my room and I spent a lot of time rearranging it to make it fit my needs as well as my students' needs. It is a very functional classroom, aside from the organizational piece that is missing. Today I am going to share with you my "secrets". Are you ready for them? I must say that they aren't pretty. Be warned, you are about to see my BEFORE photos. 

 This area looks fairly organized, except for the fact that I don't use ANY of it. I ocassionally lift up the fabric to get the students' reading books and a binder here and there, but other than that, these shelves are taking up prime real estate. 

 One of my few cabinets that lock is filled with supplies that don't need to be locked up.

 Math centers that have never been used because I still have no clue how I want to organize them. Without organization I'm afraid they will turn into a complete mess so instead they just sit in the corner.

 Movies that I hardly ever watch with my class (maybe three a year) as well as old journals and folders.

 Two drawers that are my "junk" drawers. I know houses have junk drawers, but a classroom... really!?

 My math cabinets. Surprisingly, this is pretty nice compared to what it used to be.

 Under the sink, don't get me started. :-/

 My main source of supplies, all crammed into four small drawers.

 Two cabinets that house extra books or materials that aren't used.

 A bookshelf that I bought to solve the issue of limited space. I love how everything is stored away, but I hate the fact that I would like these things locked up since Lakeshore stuff is so pricey!!

 My desk. I try to have a little organization system in place. I think I outgrew it already.

 Yet again, another locking cabinet that houses materials that don't need to be locked up.

 My teaching easel on a good day. By Friday it's packed and today is only Monday.

I hope I didn't scare you with all of my disorganization. I know it isn't too bad, but to me I find myself wasting more time trying to find things then actually teaching. If I had an organizational system in place, it would make my life so much easier. Not to mentioned I would never loose anything again... maybe.

I'm linking up over at Clutter Free Classroom. You can follow my process of organizing my classroom as well as play along with us. Check back later in the week when I do challenge #2, planning.

Classroom Video Tour

Take a tour of my classroom. Pictures in a later post.

Supplies

I have been having a difficult time with supplies over the past few years that I have been teaching. I have tables in my room and even though some people may love tables, me not so much. I love the fact that you save space with tables, but when the students don't have a place for their things, it becomes a problem, especially in 2nd grade. I have tried many things. My first year I tried a single bucket of supplies and by the end of the year it was a total mess. Then I switched to individual boxes. That got expensive for me, even when they were on sale. Then I had the students start to buy them. The only problem was that when a student ran out of a certain material, they wouldn't buy a new one and the other students were hesitant to share. This year I wanted to have a sense of community and that we take care of our things and share. I am going to try out the community supplies again. I will have the students buy their supplies at the beginning of the year, but as time goes on I will replenish them, that way all students are prepared and ready to learn.

I found these labels over a year ago on another teacher's blog and I fell in love with them. I wanted to make my own, but I happily stumbled upon them when I was reading Ladybug's Teacher Files blog. So I just want to say thank you for the amazing file. If you guys want it, you can get it here and the best part is that it's FREE!!

My Supply Project

I love these little labels. They make me think of a chalk board and chalk. At first, when I saw them I thought that's what it was. She has this whole thing called Flipped signs. It's where she has a black background with white lettering and it's supposed to make it stand out more. I actually bought her alphabet sets and I'm going to use the white ones and then "flip" the vowels. I did a little tweaking when it came to the original file. Usually each circle is 6 inches, but I went into Photoshop and shrunk them down to 2 inches. Then I took a few of my crafty punches and punched them out. So much easier than cutting 30 circles out!! It's nice to know that my crafting supplies are getting more than one use out of them!!
 
The really nice thing is that I already had these cups and all of the supplies at home. The only thing I have to figure out now is how to store them. I don't want to place them all on the tables, because I know that they will be knocked over by little hands. At first I was thinking of going to Hobby Lobby to buy some of those chargers (fancy plates) since they are normally $1-$2. But I would still have the problem of students knocking them down. That's when I decided to go with a clear box. I had one at home already so I set it all up and I think it looks really good. Hopefully now my students will be more willing to share. Now we just have to deal with keeping it clean! So after it's all said and done, I will only have to spend money on getting six clear boxes. It's a little mixture of my old way of storing materials, but with an organizational feature inside!!!
While I was on Ladybug's Teacher Files website I saw her post a project she has been working on and she uploaded it to a blog called 4th Grade Frolics. I was so excited to see that so many teachers post things they have been working on. I mentioned in an earlier blog post that I also have a crafting blog where I do the same thing. You have no idea how excited I was!!! So I am linking it up over at... Monday Made It.