Back to School Bash Linky Weekly Series AND Giveaway

I am so excited to be co-hosting the Back to School Bash.  We have 4 weeks of Back to School topics to discuss.  This week is Classroom Set-Up and Organization! 

 I am moving from fourth to third grade this year and I cannot wait to get in my classroom.  I left it looking like this... 

  

When I moved rooms, I just put things in places to get it off the floor.  There's just stuff EVERYWHERE!  I have to-do lists upon to-do lists of things that I need to tackle as soon as I step foot in this room.

Here's a picture of my classroom from the past 2 years.  It is a LOT smaller than my new room but I did my best to use the space wisely!  [Did I mention my new room has a bathroom?!  WOOHOO!]  These black 3-drawer carts that you see in each table group have been a life saver for the past 2 years.  

I taught 2 classes of 4th grade every day (ELA and SS) so group A left their Reading and Writing notebooks in the top drawer and the second drawer was filled with group B's notebooks.  The bottom drawer contained dry erase board made of page protectors and socks (for erasers).  The tub on top of the cart held the class supplies.  Each group was responsible for making sure the tub was organized before they left my room.

These seats have been a wonderful addition to my room!  They are what my students sit on when they come to my Guided Reading table.  

I spray painted paint buckets from Lowes.   The seats are made from padding that I bought in the Walmart craft section.  I used zebra bandanas from Hobby Lobby and duck taped them on.  They are super glue to the lid of the paint buckets.  They are a wonderful source of storage.

So apparently I should have purchased stock in Target a long time ago.  Seriously.  But that's where I picked up 7 of these cubes, expect mine are black.  

They are called "Itso KD Cube" and are $8.99.  Four of these fit so perfectly on my back counter.  I also have one under my desk and two by the door when you step into my classroom.  Coupled with the shelf ($4.99) in black and the storage trays (2.99) in clear, these are perfect for keeping track of classroom supplies.  

Each cube will hold four of the storage trays! This is where I keep all of the highlighters, post-it notes, index cards, scisssors, glue bottles, glue sticks, and the list continues.  
Here's a picture of what they looked like on my back counter last year.  As you can see, I slowly added to my itso KD cube collection throughout the year.  

  
I love to make copies at least a week in advance.  Then with all of those copies, I had a hard time remembering what copy went with what day, etc.  Especially doing interactive notebooks (IANs as we call them in my class), I would go crazy-town if I didn't have a way to organize that hot mess.  I bought 2 of the sterlite drawer containers and put daily labels in the front of them.  

These buddies make my life a WHOLE lot simpler.  Did you know they are a freebie in my TPT store?  Go grab them HERE.


And of course, I couldn't be organized without my handy-dandy Teacher Binder!  Every form I need is right at my fingertips. And did I mention that it's completely editable?! You can get this guy HERE!

 

What are some of your best classroom organization and set-up suggestions?  I can't wait to hear them!  Link up with us and make sure to enter our giveaway.

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