Kristyn's Classroom *Organization & Management*

Technology Tips & Tricks If your school is fortunate to have technology available for your classroom, then please keep reading for some helpful organization tips. If you have desktop computers or laptops, I would set up a station where students can access these technologies with seating available. Stools are great-and low cost! If you use certain websites like Epic! (great tool for reading!) then you will need to give your students a login and password. To make your job and the kids jobs a little easier, a great simple idea is to purchase a few stand up whiteboard displays like the ones pictured below. Write down the password so that students don't have to ask you what the password is a million times or lose the paper that it was written down on. Now if your class has iPads or tablets available, I like to store these in a bin and I would definitely recommend getting protective cases for these as unfortunately kids DO break things! I would also like to share a few apps...

Teacher Reminder Display As teachers, we are hit with a lot of information we need to remember on a daily basis. Students come in with notes from parents. Newsletters, homework, announcements-you name it! Sometimes if we don't write things down we forget! A cute little display like this one using a picture frame can easily solve this problem. Personally, I love to use sticky notes and I end up finding them all over my desk. With this useful display, I am able to put this on my desk and stick my important sticky notes onto the glass of the frame. You can customize the categories into anything you wish by simply typing up a template on Microsoft Word. I personally love to give reminders to myself because it makes me feel organized and on top of things. I hate to forget important information. I write in my agenda book daily as well. Lily Pulitzer is my go-to agenda book! They are the cutest designs and come with stickers.  Who doesn't love stickers?!   I use this as m...

Reward Systems for Classroom Management This marble management is a great idea for managing behaviors in the classroom. Displaying a "marble jar" like this on the board will motivate students to behave so they can earn a class reward. These images and texts can be printed and laminated and taped to the white board. Super simple! You can decide what your goal amount of marbles is and write it in with dry-erase marker. The great thing about this is you can always change the goal and make it higher as more of a challenge as time goes on. You can also change the reward. Rewards can be anything you choose. Perhaps you could do a pizza party (depending on allergies in your classroom!), movie day, or something as simple as letting students sit with a friend as pictured above. I recommend displaying it somewhere where the kids will constantly see it and be reminded to behave. Another way I did this in the past was having the reward, which in this case happened to be a picnic, sp...

Create your own Voice Level Chart Now I know what you're all thinking. The answer is yes!! These buttons do actually light up! This awesome light up display features different noise/voice levels for students to use during different times of the day. Are your students taking a silent exam? Go ahead and push the "No Voice" button. Are your students doing presentations? Press "Speak Up" to let students know it is okay to use a loud speaking voice so peers can hear them. This is such a great classroom management tool. We all know that students can have a hard time being quiet when we ask them to. As a teacher, it can be a struggle getting your students to stop chatting during a lesson. With this tool students will know exactly what level their voices should be at at all times. The best part is that all you have to do is push a button! If your class is having a hard time even after introducing this display, then you can create consequences for students who do no...

The "Ketchup" Folder The insanely cute "Ketchup" folder is designed for students to retrieve any missing work they must catch up on if they were absent. This low-cost display will get your kids excited about catching up on work! It also puts less work on you as the teacher because all you have to do is put extra worksheets in the folder. It is the student's responsibility to check the "Ketchup" folder if they were absent the previous day(s). It can be really hard to remember who was absent what days and trying to track these students down and give them the work that they missed can be a challenge. This is an easy solution. Students will love the name of the folder as it is kind of silly. It will get them a little more excited about doing make-up work :) All you need for this display is any old folder you have laying around. You can type up your own display however you like. Be sure to add a big image of a ketchup bottle as a nice visual. Visuals a...

Who's Buying Lunch Today? Teachers- Have you ever forgotten to do lunch count in the morning? Ever get tired of yelling, "Who's buying lunch today?" each morning to half asleep students who probably aren't even paying attention? Have no fear-I have the cure for you! Displaying your daily class lunch count in your classroom is cute and a major life saver. Having numbered magnets for each student is such a helpful hint for forgetful teachers. It makes our job so much easier in the morning. It also provides another step in each student's morning routine which is great. Routines are the backbone to any Elementary classroom. Routines make teachers lives easier and they also save valuable classroom time. Students feel safe and secure with routines and they know exactly what is expected of them. Some students may need reminders to move their magnet the first few times but I promise they will get the hang of it in no time. Remember, practice makes perfect! Eac...

Sub Tubs Now I'm not sure about all of you fellow teachers, but I know that personally I started off my teaching career by substitute teaching all over different schools. This was no simple task. I subbed in two different districts. That's about 30 different schools. With each school came different teachers and different styles of teaching. It can get really difficult to come into a new setting each day not knowing the classroom rules, routines, and procedures. Some teachers don't give very detailed plans, either which can be really tough. I remember one time I was subbing in a fifth grade classroom and the teacher didn't know she was going to be absent that day and left me no plans! It was very stressful trying to come up with activities for new students in an unfamiliar classroom. Anyway, one day during my subbing career, I walked into a beautifully decorated third grade classroom. On the teacher's desk I found this bin labeled "Especially for th...

Positivity Stools Not only will these adorable stools add color and brightness into your classroom, but they will also contribute to creating a positive classroom. My recommendation would be to put these stools around a small table where centers occur or small groups work. Whenever students sit down to work, they will be reminded of how loved, smart, brave, strong, and kind they are. We don’t always know our students’ whole life stories or what they might have to deal with at home. If they are not getting this kind of positivity at home, then why not give it to them at school? Why not make your students excited to come to school every day? Designing your classroom to be welcoming and positive can be so rewarding. Students feel at ease and comfortable. This is exactly how we want students to be when we are teaching. If a student is distracted or feeling uncomfortable in their space, chances are that they will not be able to learn. These stools can also be a seating option for ...

Assigning students new classroom jobs each week not only helps you keep your classroom tidy and in order, but the kids absolutely love to help out their teacher. My students look forward to doing their jobs at the end of each school day. A great tip is to display classroom jobs in a cute way like this clothesline display. Super easy to do! All you need is some string and some mini clothes pins. Create cards for each job however you like and then just print out each child's name. This display makes it super easy to rotate jobs each week by simply moving the names on the cards over one. This makes it easy to change jobs and it is also fair because this way students will eventually get to do each job on your list. It is also a great idea to keep jobs on display because kids are often forgetful and if they forget their job, they won't have to bother you about it they can just check the door! Another helpful piece of advice is to always stay consistent with classroom jobs and ...

My name is Kristyn and I am addicted to organization. It's true! I absolutely love having a neat classroom. I believe that order and organization play a huge role in a classroom running smoothly. Classroom management is one of the toughest parts about teaching-for me at least! I have found that spending a little extra time on your classroom makes classroom management a breeze.  Also, having a homey feel in your classroom makes students feel safe in their environment. A safe learning environment is key to successful learning. If a student feels safe in their environment then they are going to be more apt to raise their hand and participate in class. Less stress on the teachers lead to more effectiveness for teachers and at the end of the day we all want to be the best teacher we can be. This is why I have decided to start a blog about all things organization in the classroom. There are so many cute ideas and different ways to organize an Elementary classroom. I know you may look on ...