By Rach Jamison, Rissa Hanneken, Marissa Despins, Rachel Deroche, Marianna Monheim, and Tanya Marshall – UPDATED November 05, 2023
Organization in the Upper Elementary Classroom
Can staying organized feel frustrating when you're overworked and overwhelmed? I have teamed up with some outstanding educators who have the perfect ideas to stay organized in an extra special roundup. I hope you find some ideas to make you feel more organized and less stressed.
Planning Sheets to the Rescue
Staying organized in the Upper Elementary classroom can be overwhelming when you don’t have something that feels consistent. You’re torn between a million things like teaching students, planning for upcoming lessons, meetings with the staff and parents, helping kids with ‘ouchies,’ and more! The flow might work out better if you could make your day-to-day planning so much easier. I like to keep a daily binder with printed plans and things to remember or keep in place just in case a plan goes awry. You can grab a copy of some FREE daily planning sheets here and find even more unique ideas for organizing your classroom within the same post.
STAYING ORGANIZED WITH SUB TUBS
When it comes to staying organized in the elementary classroom, having a “sub tub” prepped and ready is one of Marissa from Creative Classroom Core‘s favorite organization hacks for teachers. A sub tub is a bin you keep in a central location in your classroom. Inside the bin is all the information and activities needed for a sub to come in and teach your classroom for a week. Sub tubs are lifesavers when emergencies pop up that you cannot plan for. The last thing you want to do when you are feeling sick is write out tedious sub plans! Instead, when you have a sub tub ready, you only need to send a quick text to a teaching partner to call in a sub and let them know that everything is planned out for them in the sub tub. Having this already prepared takes away so much stress and allows you to focus on feeling better. Read more of Marissa's favorite organizational tips for teachers on the Creative Classroom Core blog!
STAYING ORGANIZED WITH TASK CARD ACTIVITIES
Keeping your learning activities is a great way to keep your classroom organized. Rachel from Uniquely Upper believes that staying organized with task cards is essential for student efficiency and productivity in the classroom. Task cards provide an opportunity for students to review various skills. Using them also fosters movement in the classroom. When task card activities are organized, it becomes simpler to prioritize, delegate, and track students' progress. This fosters a sense of clarity and control, reducing the likelihood of students and teachers feeling overwhelmed by many tasks.
STAYING ORGANIZED WITH CENTERS
Staying organized in your upper elementary classroom protects your sanity and fosters a smooth learning experience. This is especially the case for small group instruction! So, imagine this: for her 4th Grade Literacy Centers, Tanya G. Marshall—The Butterfly Teacher, highly recommends using large manilla envelopes with outside clasps. You might be thinking, “Envelopes? Really?” But here's the magic: she laminates them. By doing this, those envelopes– often seen as fragile–become durable warriors during center rotations. She adds the instructions for students on each envelope's front. This keeps everything organized and gives her students flexibility in using centers. Imagine the ease with which your students could walk up, confidently pick their small-group activity, and later return it without a fuss. It's all about creating an environment where students feel independent, and you feel less frazzled. Think of the time and energy saved! If you're nodding along, thinking, “I need more of this in my life!” Tanya's got you covered. Dive deep into her blog post “10 Classroom Centers Organization Tips That Actually Work” for more insightful and effective strategies. These are tried and true methods from a fellow upper elementary educator on how to stay organized!
STAYING ORGANIZED WITH NUMBERED LABELS
Sometimes, simple solutions are the most effective. Take, for example, number labels. While Marianna from Creatively Comprehensive started using numbers to label classroom items early in her teaching career, it wasn’t until she taught a departmentalized grade that she realized they are essential for staying organized in an elementary classroom! Assigning each student number was a game changer for shared supplies (like clipboards) and things such as individual student supply boxes. Students could reorganize everything by number at the end of each class period and quickly scan to see if anything was missing.
Head to Marianna’s blog to find 25 different ways to use number labels…there’s probably at least one you haven’t thought of before!
STAYING ORGANIZED WITH SELF-RUNNING CLASS JOBS
Ever been in a classroom where it feels like there's just a wee bit too much chaos? Picture this: students running the show, smoothly handling tasks, and you, the teacher, sliding into more of a director role. Sound too good to be true? Rissa from Teaching in the Heart of Florida swears by the self-running classroom method. At first glance, having each student in charge of a task might sound like a recipe for mayhem. But, they get their jobs for a whole month. That means less “Um, how do I do this again?” and more “Watch me ace this!” Then there's the genius part: they train their replacements! Instead of juggling a thousand questions, students pass on the knowledge. Before roles are swapped out, they even pitch their top job preferences. A bit of choice always spices things up!
Want to learn more about staying organized in the classroom?
An Exciting Cold Calling Method For All Classrooms In a Few Easy Steps
2 Ways to Make Notebook Organization Successful
5 Ways To Prepare For The End Of The School Year
Modern Day Math Stations with Teacher Input
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