First, I just want to make it clear that this article will not be about having a Pinterest-worthy classroom based on decor, etc. I mean, that would be wonderful to have and can really help put you in a great mental space whenever you enter the classroom. But, that is not the priority yet! I do promise, though, that an organized classroom will look calm and peaceful and will help focus the mind regardless of the decor. However, the first step is not about pretty labels and matching bins, etc. It’s about the nitty gritty of evaluating, decluttering, sorting, and managing the work space to maximize the workflow. Once that’s established, THEN you can use the extra time and energy that an organized foundation will give you to spend your time on things that make you happy – like creating a Pinterest worthy looking classroom with matching labels and bins (which does make many people happy, including myself). You do want your classroom to be a place of calm when you enter and a place where work can get done without being hampered by mess or inconsistency.
Overview of this article:
What does being an organized teacher mean/look like/feel like?
What are the benefits of being an organized teacher?
What are the steps to take to become an organized teacher?
How can a teacher maintain being organized?
What does being an organized teacher mean/look like/feel like?
An organized classroom is clutter free, labeled, free of large piles of unknown papers or items, sorted, and in an organized classroom everything has a home. Things are consistently easy to find and easy to put away. An organized teacher knows where things are in the classroom. He or she can quickly access whatever is needed. This teacher has established routines and consistency that keep not just the physical space organized, but the work and the mental space as well. An organized teacher has more time, energy, and work-life balance.
What are the benefits of being an organized teacher?
It increases productivity, work-life balance, and student learning. Becoming an organized teacher will literally give you superhuman capabilities in the classroom and in your work-life balance. It will give you extra time for so much. I have had years where I’ve had 6 classes to prep for, with only one prep period a day, but also advised a very active student council and a quiz bowl team who competed a lot and went to nationals. I organized the National Geographic Bee for the school, and still created and executed a lot of my own curriculum in the classroom, like class debates, research paper writing workshops, skits, etc. When I first got the job and they told me about what it entailed, I thought it would be impossible to do it all well. And I started my first couple of years with it all being very streamlined and limited. I only did one or two consistent events for student council, only one competition for quiz bowl, and the Geo Bee was pretty much a one day event.
But as I got more familiar with the job, the extra curricular activities got more involved and our classes got more creative as I had more fun designing and teaching projects that were beyond the regular curriculum. Outside of the classroom, I still had the time, energy, and mental space to be actively involved in the leadership of one of the largest young adult groups, with hundreds of members, in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. I was part of their core team multiple years in a row under different roles, organizing everything from social events, like barn dances and barbecues, to weekly spiritual talks and retreats. And yes, all of this was happening during the same years I had a more involved quiz bowl team and student council. I had to call D.J.s and book facilities while also coaching and planning the quiz bowl team’s trip to Nationals. At the same time I was planning and coordinating fundraisers with student council and running a debate in my classroom of whether Abraham Lincoln was a magnanimous leader. I’m going into all these specific details to show you that it is all possible!
This type of hyper productivity required me to have organization, consistent routines, and schedules. Those habits and systems freed up and protected precious mental and emotional real estate. Being organized allowed me the time and the space to go beyond the regular curriculum and regular teacher activities of grading and planning, staff meetings, etc. I even had time to tutor students outside of class. Though, you may choose to spend your extra time spending more time with family or on a hobby outside of work that you find fulfilling. Maybe even building your own business. The point is, it’s all very doable.
One of the most important benefits to being an organized teacher is the impact it will have on your students’ learning. First, when they enter a space that is organized and clutter free, it minimizes the distractions and gets their mood set for productivity and learning (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21228167/ and https://hbr.org/2019/03/the-case-for-finally-cleaning-your-desk). It also sends the subconscious signal that you have everything under control. This should help tremendously with classroom management. You’re setting a professional tone with the professional work space. And the space demands respect for itself and for the teacher and students who work there. You will also have easier and quicker access to the students whenever they need your help or attention. You’ll be able to provide them with handouts, info, etc that they need without wasting time. You protect and maximize instructional time by cutting down on wasted time looking for things or having them in places that are not easily accessible. In addition, they can see a great model of organization and being put together, a great model of what their own desks and backpacks and workspaces should look like.
The predictability that an organized space and routines provides helps the mental and physical flow of your learning community. There is actually research that says the brain has to choose between predicting and learning since both are functions of the same area of the brain. When we are required to make predictions, we are less able to access or work our memories. Having to try and guess where things are in the classroom or what will happen in class takes up precious mental energy that students can use for more meaningful tasks and learning in your classroom. (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/forecast-or-remember-the-brain-must-choose-one/).
What are the steps to take to become an organized teacher?
Step 1: Step Back and Evaluate
Take a step back and evaluate your classroom. Identify and prioritize the area in most need, especially if you are doing this in the middle of the year and won’t be able to tackle your whole classroom in one go. How do you know what area is in most need of attention? It will be the area(s) you use most and most affect your functions as a teacher. Yet you might be finding yourself avoiding it because of piled clutter or wasting precious time looking for things or recreating worksheets and resources that have been lost under piles of paper. For many of us, this would be our teacher desk and the surrounding areas. For some of us, like myself, it might actually be the digital space. Don’t forget the digital space! For me, I like to look at my curriculum and evaluate for an eagle’s view of what types of activities each class will mostly do. This helps me with prioritizing which physical space needs to be tackled first. I try to create all the folders and sub folders I think I’ll need on the desktop, one for each class section, one for resources, one for school wide-related events or issues, one for grade-level or committee specific meetings, etc. This also helps me realize what kinds of folders or notebooks I’m going to need physically on my desk or teacher bookshelf, within easy access.
Step 2: Plan and Schedule
Create a plan or a sequence of which space you should organize first, next, last, etc. (especially if you are doing this during the school year rather than the weeks before). Then create a realistic schedule or deadline of when you’ll have each space organized. Ask yourself questions about the flow and functions of your class. Does it make sense to organize one area of the room over another, based on the frequency the whole class uses it? You should also think about whether you’ll need to relocate areas. Don’t just think about how you use the classroom and your walking routes, but also think about student flow and movement patterns. Are things they need in areas that are easily accessible or will they have to go through a path where they’ll have ten opportunities to get distracted or distract someone else?
I try to organize my classroom based on what I anticipate my class will be like, my instructional style and the types of activities we will be doing. This is key. You want to tailor fit your system to your functions. They shouldn’t clash. And should complement and serve each other. For example, I like a lot of debates and class discussions, but some days can also be more focused on independent work or lectures. Not only does this information give me an idea for desk placements and my need for flexibility in student seating, but it also helps me anticipate what materials will be most used and where I should place them so they are easily accessible and not in the way.
Step 3: Tackle Each Space
Once you’ve analyzed your space and created a schedule of action, these are the actual steps you can use to organize each space:
- Purge, purge, purge! Have a set of boxes or bins with categories like toss, donate, recycle, keep. The rule of thumb for purging?: if you haven’t used it in the past year, toss or donate it. Ask questions like: Is this your style of resource? Are you comfortable and knowledgeable using it now or is it like a dream for the future? When would you have the time to learn how to use it? If you can’t answer that last question clearly and specifically about a resource you dream of using someday, then it might be time to just get rid of it. I have been a pack rat too, so I feel that pain. However, I used to hoard those kinds of things, and they’ve taken valuable classroom real estate for years without being touched.
- Organize your keep pile. Sort, group, and categorize. Categorize for function and curriculum. You might have something like the following groupings:
- Teacher office supplies
- Student community supplies.
- Teacher self care
- Snacks and coffee/tea supplies
- Resources for different classes (Seperate each class into their own categories)
- General resources that can work for all classes.
- Organization tools.
- Tech tools.
- Instructional tools for your instruction area (ex: whiteboard markers, pointers, wireless keyboard and mouse, etc.)
- Wall displays
- Purge again. Look at your keep piles. Ask yourself again, “Am I going to use these items this upcoming year? Is there space for them?”
- Reflect and decide on a home for everything. To help you decide on a home for everything, think about who will use the item, how, and how often. How will they be accessed and how often? Try to place things in a home where they will be physically easy to access and put away: not too far away, not too high. In particular, if students need access to them, will they be treading a path where they can be easily distracted or distract others? I recommend having a student command center where all their community materials are just set in one place. It might not end up being perfect as far as no distractions in accessibility, but just do your best to minimize that. I would really prioritize one place for it all, like a student “command center” for clarity and ease for your students. They will waste less mental space and time trying to remember where everything is or roaming your classroom looking for stuff when they know that all the stuff they are allowed to use are in one place.
Don’t forget to make a space and system for things that will be coming in throughout the year! Make sure to plan and set up a place for these items as well, even though you might not currently have any of these types of items in your keep pile. It is important to anticipate them as much as possible so that you can easily organize when they come in. Some of the more common items are:
- Student work/submissions
- Graded students work to be returned
- school wide communications (flyers, etc)
- Teacher notebooks/folders/binders (meeting notes, parent communication, field trips, sub folders, IEPs, etc)
- Handouts for each class
- Extracurricular activities and events
Don’t forget your digital space! Keep your digital desktop as clean as possible. Only have shortcuts to programs and websites that you use daily. Make a folder for every class and the different types of meetings you will have throughout the year. Create similar folders in your email inbox.
- Place things in their homes. Make temporary, fast and easy labels using paper, marker, and tape. Try to place things in clear storage bins or hanging file folder bins (for paper, etc). As a public servant who did not make a lot of money, Walmart and the Dollar Tree have been great for me. You can even buy things in bulk online. Just pay attention to the dimensions and sizes, and make sure it is what you need).
- Create and place more permanent labels. Use whatever works for your style and just be cognizant of the time and cost you are putting into this step. Make it uniform as much as you can to minimize your decision making (sometimes the choices out there are overwhelming!) and to give your room a much neater and unified appearance. Some people like to laminate or buy templates from Teachers Pay Teachers. Some make their own. Some use a label maker. Use large and easy to read fonts and designs. Color code if that is helpful in separating categories. Just remember that your time and money are limited and precious commodities. So do spend the time to make your systems last at least all year, but don’t spend so much time that you run out of time for other duties.
How to Stay Organized: Systems to Use Throughout the Year
- Have daily routines for clean-up and putting things into their homes. I recommend using 10-15 minutes at the end of the school day for you to just go around the room and put things back into their homes. I also highly recommend using the last 1-2 minutes of each class to make sure that students tidy up the classroom. Keep this short and sweet. Consider setting a timer for just 1 minute (or even 30 seconds) to pick up the room.
- Don’t make new messes before cleaning up old ones.
- Do a weekly reset. This usually happens every Friday at the end of day. Don’t wait until Monday! You don’t want this hanging over your head over the weekend. Monday is key because it is the beginning of the week, when you are most rested and refreshed. You have valuable mental real estate you want to protect. It’s like the first couple of hours of the day, when you are most productive and have the highest will power. You don’t want to waste this time on cleaning up your classroom. You’ll want to use Mondas for things like tweaking curriculum, troubleshooting student intervention, planning the week ahead or touching base with students and building relationships. Use Monday energy and mental/emotional capacity for activities that requires a lot of decision making because you are not decision-fatigued yet. There was a study a while ago that showed (1500 per day! https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/teacher-makes-1500-decisions-a-day/ ) that teachers make more decisions in a day than do neurosurgeons. So use your mental powers wisely.
- Put things away into their homes right away as soon as you get them. Don’t procrastinate and end up with piles. If something will take you less than 30-60 seconds to put away or file away, do it right away as much as possible. The point of making a home and labels for everything is to make putting things away easy and minimize procrastination. It does take time to put things away, but not much! It will take less than a minute to file that piece of mail instead of starting a pile on your desk. This is also why a place for everything and labels are important! It minimizes your decision making. The only decision you need to make is whether you’re going to put it away at this moment or not! If things do end up piling, make it a priority to tackle it at the end of the day so you can start the next morning for more important tasks and decision making. Don’t let things pile up for multiple days at a time.
- Create and stick to a schedule for constantly incoming and outgoing items such as mail, email, and student work. When will you hand out papers? When will you read through and purge or file away long emails? Some of these activities may require daily or weekly action or it might be a few times a week.
- Make purging a weekly habit. Have a purge box in easy access for things you can’t just easily throw in the trash. Empty it out at the end of the week or month, depending on how fast it gets filled.
- Be flexible! If something is not working, change it. Continually reflect and have it in the back of your mind. Most teachers come up with unique systems for their unique needs. Continue to fine tune until you find yours. Also, remember that creating habits takes time and consistency, especially in the beginning. Don’t give up and just keep trying! It will pay off and the results will be well worth it.
Whew! That was a long article! I hope it has been helpful. Thank you for teaching!