Organized or Not?
Posted by Kim Murphy on 08 Sep 2009 | Posted in: Classroom Management, Organization and Supplies, Teachers and Teaching
As I look about my office, I notice a lot of piles. There are piles of folders, piles of ideas, and piles of miscellaneous things that need to be sorted into other piles. I’m sure some of my coworkers are horrified at my haphazard organizational system. It isn’t that I don’t want to have everything in its place; I really do! However, my brain doesn’t seem to function that way.
The one time I always had everything organized and as neat as a pin was at the beginning of the school year. Of course, my organized room would slowly disintegrate into my more typical piling method. Do you consider yourself well organized? Are you consistently neat and tidy or do you lean a bit more toward my method of organization? Do you feel that your home and classroom are both organized or does one suffer? Drop me a line and let me know!
Your slightly disorganized blog host,
Kim
Congratulations to Rhonda Brown of Messiah Lutheran Preschool in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She is the winner of a copy of one of the books from our Mix & Match Games series.
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63 Responses to “Organized or Not?”
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More Comments Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 » Show All Comments
My classroom is very organized. I am lucky enough to have a co-teacher and an assistant(I work in a private religious language school teaching kindergarten) who are very helpful in organizing. I label everything and everywhere, so that the students are able to put things away too. But, my little storage room-9feet by 6 feet, is a disaster. No one is allowed in there and it is where I leave my organization outside. It lets me pile things up and get to it later. I think that we need both sides to be creative and able to work efficiently.
I thank you all for making my day!! I am glad to be in the “teacherhood” of pilers. I know where everything is—or at least which pile it is in!!
How can we expect students to be organized if we’re not? I subbed onced in a filthy and messy room. Old things piled everywhere. At the end of the year, the students had to really clean and get rid of old materials. One student said, “Why should we clean, Mrs. Smith does not!”
Wow! I thought that I was the only one. I too, am a “piler”. I did do a great deal of purging in my classroom last year. It was so much easier to begin this new school year when I didn’t have to organize so much stuff. I haven’t missed a single item that I tossed or gave away!
I realize it is best to be organized. I realize that if I want to use my time for teaching Then I have to take the time to Organize everything. When I organize the classroom the children are able to help get the room clean and organized by knowing that there is a place for everything. But I still think I need more time in the day to achieve perfection!!
I also have piles everywhere. I have a friend who calls it Horizontal Surface Disorder…if there’s a horizontal surface in my classroom I have piles on it!
After reading all of the comments I feel a lot better. I too have piles and folders. Good intentions of organizing go by the wayside once the “busyness” of school begins. The comment about having the space to put things away is true. They should make classrooms with one wall of only drawers and cupboards.
I am more organized then ever. I use a binder system for all my papers. I sort them by every day needed papers, Portfolio papers and themes. I have binders for everything. This has helped and keeps the papers in order and less mess on my desk and in my teacher room at home.
Organization! What’s that? I too find my desk or the tables and shelves around my desk become my filing tables of stacks of things waiting to be used at one time or another. I am looking for an easy method to keep things in order and filed as it should be. The labeled tubs may be an answer but who has time to do that and teach. We are required to teach so msny frameworks and make sure the students are ready for all the different assessments etc. that it sometimes seems overwhelming just to get that part done. Looking for good ideas in all the Mailbox issues.
I start out the year with the very best of intentions when it comes to staying organized. Each year I try a new system, but by the end of September I realize that piles have started to form on my desk and shelving next to my desk. All I want is to find the system that allows me to instantly put my finger on that needed piece of paper, education article, or fun activity. Glad to read that I’m not alone in my pursuit of organization.
I have taught preschool for 20 years I have always been organized at work. but not at home.
my childs kindergarten class was a cluttered mess
and so so is my seconds child. you may not see the mess but parents do.
I’ve always struggled with clutter - it’s organized, but others perceive it as messy.
When I began my career, a fellow teacher dedicated a table as her “file” system. If you would ask her for some specific thing, she’d travel two piles over and down 5 inches and find just what you needed.
I find my space is similar: I’m so visual that I need all important items out and showing! If I can’t put it out in plain sight or in a pile, I forget it. I keep the student spaces much less cluttered and try to tidy up for them. Home is messy! I’m too exhausted to get it spic and span after work!