A New Year AND a Giveaway!

To be honest, I can’t think of a better way to welcome 2015 than with a First Friday Giveaway! January is Get Organized Month. This may not come as a total surprise. I would guess that getting organized is a popular New Year’s resolution. But here’s something you may not know: according to a survey conducted by the magazine Real Simple, American women, on average, spend 55 minutes per day looking for lost or misplaced items. YIKES! Even if you or I spend half of that time tracking down items (for ourselves or our family members), that’s almost seven days in a year. That means in 2015, we’d spend about 168 hours looking for stuff. I don’t know about you, but I want my time back! Where should I begin? My desk definitely needs some TLC. Then the hallway closet needs a makeover, and there’s that cupboard that’s overflowing with mismatched plastic containers and lids…

So getting back to our giveaway. To get your time back, what would you organize first? Well, I guess that “what” could be a “who” too! :+) Share your answer right here on the blog by midnight ET Saturday, January 10, 2015, and you’ll be entered to win a school supply surprise pack (think markers, stickers, notepads) with a value of $30!

Happy New Year!

Diane

Congratulations to Alexandra, this month’s giveaway winner!


206 thoughts on “A New Year AND a Giveaway!

  1. I’ve got that file, I mean, pile, of misc. teaching ideas/reproducibles that is supposed to be dealt with in a timely manner. The items don’t get filed and it grows thicker and gets shelved and then I start a new one!!! Even in this age of electronic storage it’s still necessary to deal with the real stuff. SO, I am attacking this now. I have also decided to house virtually ALL my educational materials, professional books, etc. in my classroom. No more glut at home. Now, what about all those recipes………LOL!

  2. I am a first grade teacher and the one thing I have a problem with is my organizational skills and keeping things in order. I have a file cabinet but in it I am afraid to throw anything away. Curriculum is always changing and I know in the back of my head “I’m going to need this “, and then back it goes. If you ask me what is the one thing you need to make your job easier? My definitive answer would be a full time secretary. But since this is not going to happen I then would truthfully reply, a better organizational system.

  3. Oh my goodness I have decided to organize and cut down on my craft stuff. You know all those things you save to make something out of with the kiddos. Its either going to fit at school or its hitting the trash. It has begun to get scary. LOL

  4. I would love to be able to keep my classroom organized, especially my desk. I am constantly putting up student materials because they won’t do it and my stuff gets scattered everywhere. My desk is clean when I walk in but by the end of the day it is a disaster. I have always heard that a desk like that means you are working and not sitting. 🙂

  5. Some of my school resource books and materials have overflowed into my home. I am decluttering my home and going to try to keep all my teaching stuff at school in my classroom. I’ll only bring home materials that fit in my teacher bag and that I need to complete lessons.

    • i just need to figure out a way to stay organized when there is not enough time in the day. I also like to safe to much stuff.

  6. OMG….seriously, I need to organize my craft shelves. I have so many craft ideas for my preschoolers, and spend so much time looking for the craft items, that I clearly know I have, but cannot locate. So out to the dollar store it is to buy the items I know are on my craft shelves somewhere. PLEASE HELP ME!!!

  7. This school year has been all about getting organized, but what is scary is that what made sense one day, is a search and rescue the next day. For 2015 I want to make sense of how I am organizing my teaching tools at school. My hope is to use technology to the fullest to organize my files and make planning easier and convenient.

  8. I need to get organized period. I made the mistake of moving into my condo 3 days before teachers had to report back to school in July. I’ve been trying to figure out where to place things, but really need a week without interruption to get everything done. I’ve spent most of December taking care of my mom, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in October. She had surgery last month (is it January already?!?) and is now starting chemo. It’s difficult getting my condo organized when I’m spending so much time at my mom’s house. I’m not complaining though. I have absolutely no problem taking care of my mom. It’s just …. does anyone have a magic wand to wave over my place to give everything a home?!? You know… the same magic wand that grows on the money tree! 😉

  9. Well I too have one of those “files” that works as a catch all. I love fresh new years since it seems to re energize my desire and drive to get organized. I am going to first resolve the way I lay out my classroom materials for each day/weeks lessons. I currently use a shelf with daily boxes however I really don’t like how I cannot see the contents of each day in one glance. Any ideas??? I’d love to hear what’s worked for you I am only in my second year teaching so I haven’t quite found my “system”.
    Thanks Suzanne Homer, Utah

  10. I am so in need of organizing my work world! I teach third grade Sped in the Bronx! There are 30 kids and a small space! Oh, and the paperwork is endless! Help please!

  11. It would be really great to organize all of my teaching materials that I have accumulated, but have not gone through! My goal is also to organize all of my free reading books in my classroom as well!

  12. After moving into and unpacking my room due to construction finishing over break, I need to organize my entire room! My goal is to organize all of my curriculum materials and get rid of the outdated materials I do not use anymore.

  13. My goal is to organize my teaching materials and free reading books in my classroom to try to keep my classroom as clutter-free as can be!

  14. I have two stackable trays full of worksheets and lessons that need to be refiled. My goal is to work on getting these items refiled and when I use something for a lesson, place it back into the proper file at the end of the day.

  15. My art supplies need to get organized and easily accesabily for projects to meet my students sensory and learning needs.

  16. I would start with my closet and dresser. Most of those 55 minutes are spent looking for pieces to an outfit. “I know there is a scarf that goes with this shirt.” “Honey, have you seen my brown shoes?”

  17. I need to organize everything in my life. I spend more than 55 minutes a day looking for all different kinds of things. I have started organizing my office and have done a pretty good job. Today I am working on my walk in closet. I know that getting my clothes in order will help me cut down on my time getting ready in the morning. I have a large closet and it includes crafts in there as well. I am organizing all my shoes, clothes and crafts in my closet.

  18. My big cupboard! I have been throwing things in it for 6 years! It locks, so no one sees it, but I can sense the mess, always!

  19. My closet and toys area need a good makeover/organization. That would be the area I start with. I had a baby at the end of April last year and my closet turned into a hiding place.

  20. i have hundreds, no maybe a thousand books that need organizing. I’ve tackled This chore at the start of each school year then can never find the book that I need, when I need it. I’ve organized it so well that I can’t ever find it, lol, until the end of the school year. HELP!

  21. Our teacher work room is always a disaster and the Type A side of me cannot stand it! I will be devoting some time to its organization this year for sure!!

  22. I would organize my closet, there’s felt, foam, beads, glitter and a bit of everything else all cluttered and hard to find, it seems like a wasteland just a pile of things that need to get organized. If I actually organize it it will be much easier to do my activities, that I plan otherwise It’ll take me a long time to find all the supplies needed.

  23. I need to get ME organized. I ‘lose’ clothing and spend that lost time looking for the shirt or pants I really want to wear that day. My socks are never paired and no matter what my students say I cannot leave my home with mismatched socks. I think that is my goal for the new year…to try and keep my personal life a little bit more together.

  24. I have started organizing today. I think (hope) I have come up with a better way to have my preschool themes and all related materials organized.

  25. My daughter’s private band instructor. My daughter has worked with this lady for the past 5 years, as a student at school and now a private student. A few of us found out that this lady has accumulated so much stuff in her house she cannot have her new furniture delivered! Her goal is to open a private studio so lessons can be held at her house, rather than a local school.
    We have gotten a group of about 12 to help get things organized ( including a family where father and daughter have been taught by this great teacher). I think it will be a hard job, but a great way for us to give back to a wonderful educator who is impacting our kids in a fabulous way!

  26. i keep a copy of every worksheet/ assignment in case my kids lose theirs. They were originally all in manilla file folders in a storage box but they need to be sorted and gone through. It’s my first year teaching and I am trying to stay organized but it is hard.

  27. Everything needs organized. As in my entire life! First up though is organizing all the wonderful teaching materials I collect from TPT in a manner that I can actually find them when I am teachinf the unit I collected them for enhancing!
    Paula Peroli

  28. I need to organize my piles of stuff to do: school tasks, course work, National Board work. i have piles and no real desk at home . I keep re stacking and pulling out what to work on next.

  29. I keep dozens of recipes that I find in a magazine file on my kitchen counter, and I am determined to go through them, try them, and file them into either the trash or my recipe box. Maybe I’m not determined enough, because the magazine file is overflowing!

  30. After a flood took over the lower level of my home 2 years ago, friends helped to pack our stuff and move it out. After tearing down walls, ripping out carpeting and cleaning, our friends brought the boxes in and there they sit. I have not been able to go through them to toss, save, and put back. I need to get over this hurdle to get my life organized again.

  31. I want to get my files cleaned out and start over with new things. I am a pack rat an know that things need to go. I went into school and turned all the files backwards. If I don’t use them this year I will throw it out. Purge.

  32. I need to organize all new resources I am given each week during PLC meetings. I never look at the material again because I can’t remember where I put it!

  33. I got hired a week before school started…so I had to go through all of my stuff that I had at home and quickly get it into school. but, I also had to get my classroom set up, attend meetings, learn the curriculum, etc!!! So I ended up just putting the things that I had bought and brought to school away as quickly as possible. SO…my classroom is a bit unorganized. HELP!

  34. A place I can think of that always needs organizing are my two children’s closets. They seem to be the catch all for anything that needs to be put “out of sight and out of mind.”

  35. At home, I am trying a 52 week organizing calendar. I hope to follow something similar at school that matches. This year I am determined to take 15 minutes a day to hit an area.

  36. Oh goodness, this list could go on and on. I would probably have to start with my ridiculous pile of miscellaneous paperwork sitting behind my teacher table. I swear it grows during the evening hours when I’m actually at home and not in my classroom. Yeesh! Thank you for the giveaway opportunity!

    Daina

  37. Any corner….just one little place…..whole room organization is overwhelming….I started with one desk drawer over the holidays to eliminate expired coupons and old receipts-progress is the key

  38. I would like to organize my clothes first. I organized my children’s clothes over break, but have yet to tackle mine!

  39. I need to get my reading stations for my 23 Kindergarten students organized better! It is hard to keep track of all the materials for each leveled group in an organized fashion 🙂

  40. i need to organize my closet at home. It would be so much easier to get ready for school everyday if I could find what I was looking for!

  41. The question is what doesn’t need to organized?!? The black file bin on my desk at school for starters. And then my children’s rooms!

  42. 30 years as an elementary teacher.., still haven’t figured out how to totally organize and stay organized! Each year is different!, I am trying to do a little each day, it’s hard to toss classroom memories!!

  43. My social studies and science “files”. They are just boxes with copies thrown in them. No order at all. I would like to use large binders with tabs instead.

  44. I am starting with getting rid of things that take up space and I have to look for. There is so much online that I don’t need to keep so much paper. I’m starting with getting rid of the paper and a filing system for those things I don’t want to waste precious time looking for!

  45. I just finished organizing my house. I had a lot of school stuff at home and I had not had the time to organized it until this past week. At school, I will organize my big pile of papers when I come back this Monday!!!!
    Something that helps me is to do it little by little. I am fortunate because I have 2 daughters who always are willing to help me!!!

  46. My brain! 😉

    Over the past summer, I reorganized all of my reproducibles into 6 large three-ring binders. It’s soooooo much easier to find what I need now.

    If I could only find the time to organize the art closet in my classroom and even my closets at home, that would be great. Kelly M., I’m glad to know that I’m not the only one who loses pants & shirts. I seriously thought I was the only one who did that!!!! 😉

  47. I would organize my lesson plans, curriculum ideas, notes, pictures, etc. They are scattered everywhere and I end up going to pinterest (and you know how long you can stay there!) to get new ideas because I can’t find what I used last year! As many also mentioned, I need to move all my stuff to school. My husband has been very patient but literally, we have a walkway to the computer in our shared office at home! Yikes!

  48. I need to organize my morning. Somewhere between the alarm going off and my leaving for school, a whole lot of time seems to get lost.

  49. I would save sooooo much time if my files at school were organized by season and theme. Some parts of the three filing cabinets have winter, or Christmas together but most of the time I just find it easier to go add more by searching for something new. As I work along through the units of the year I don’t have time to put them back in order. Sigh.

  50. My husband needs to get organized! Every year I clear off the old stuff from the past year and we box it up (for taxes, posterity…???) Then he begins his collection of mail on the kitchen table all over again. I have tried to get him to use file folders in a file cabinet to file away his most important papers, bins to put mail he needs to look through later or bills to pay, but nothing seems to work. He is a dairy farmer and does not have a lot of free time, but his overflowing mountain of mail drives me crazy every year. About every three months, I secretly purge a lot of stuff that is “junk” mail and store his magazines that he doesn’t want thrown away (because some day he might read them! )

  51. I feel so much better now that I know so many others have organizational problems and that I’m not the only one. I need to organize my closet at home, papers at school. I just can’t toss worksheets that someday might be perfect for my students.

  52. I JUST got rid of the teacher desk in my classroom and have tried to organize my things without having one. I would continue working on this, because I CAN’T REMEMBER where I put things!!!!

  53. i need help organizing my desk. It’s an older, well used desk, however the drawers are a mess. It’s weird sizes and hard for me to find organizational containers that will work. The file drawer is falling apart and I can never find my pens. I’ve tried so many different items to help get my desk organized!

  54. Classroom library, closet, drawers, desk, counter………..the list goes on and on……….I’m organization-challenged! 🙂

  55. The first thing I need to organize is my closet (my armoire actually). It does not have a light and when I’m trying to find pants in the right color without disturbing my hubby with the overhead light, I never know if I’ll get brown, navy, or black. And, in the morning dimness, sometimes I end up with the wrong color. I need to tag them somehow so that I’ll know in a instant what color I am reaching for.

  56. I really want to organize our utensil drawer at home. Why do we need 8 large stirring spoons, yet have only one spatula? I know we have more.

  57. Well, I’m so disorganized that my first place to start is with my mind. I’m trying to decide where to start organizing and my mind is going all over the place. When school is in session, I feel like I run around settings this here, putting these things over there, rearranging desk, restocking pencils, putting all my ideas “to try” in a basket, extra copies in folders, etc…… I can go on for hours. I spend all summer getting organized and a week to destroy that. When school is out I find all the things I spent the school year looking for. So right now I need a list to organize my lists of things to organize! I hope I’m not the only one.

  58. I would tackle my filing cabinets. I got hired mid year and inherited two full filing cabinets that are in desperate need of a purge.

  59. I would organize my materials that were used this year and need to organized and out away right for next year. The pile is crazy and needs attention!

  60. I am a fourth grade teacher, and I would say that my files in my file cabinet are the most disorganized files, one because I am constantly placing worksheets in random folders thinking ” I will get back to them” yet I never do, and two I forget where I placed certain worksheets and print them again, then put them in another folder, and repeat the process again. Sticky notes, folder separators, and containers will definitely help me get organized and not waste so much paper and ink. 🙂

  61. At home, I need to organize my closet… I know I have a black sweater somewhere….
    At school, my read alouds need some serious help. I bet when I do, I will find about 10 copies of “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” I keep buying new copies.

  62. I would like to organize my entire classroom. My kindergarten classroom is extremely small and I am always trying to figure out where to put items. Even my cupboard is small.

  63. I have moved to different classrooms three out of the last four years and my “stuff” seems to be in three different locations at school. I need to purge and reorganize to even know what I have and don’t have. When someone asks to borrow something I have to think where it might be go check and get back to them. Such a waste of valuable time. Any help would be appreciated !

  64. I am organizing my office so I finally have space to grade papers and prepare lessons. As part of the organization I am scanning all paper copies and filing them in my computer. 2015 WILL be the year I finally get organized.

  65. Where to begin?????
    I am a certified teacher filling in for another certified teacher…who just happens to be THE most organized person I have ever met! I am…well…let’s say “global”…
    I am very creative, but not extremely organized. Please help??? I really do not want to create chaos in the midst of her “calm”. Let’s tackle all those lovely worksheet…shall we?!

  66. My desk! I can’t see the top of it for all the books and papers on it. And then my classroom closets… And my classroom library… And my computer… The list goes on!

  67. I would love to get all my themes in appropriate binders and my papers in binders so i can stop searching for them in bags lol

  68. At work, it would have to be all of my TPT materials. I put them in large plastic bags, but I now need some organization for those bags.
    At home, it would have to be my walk in closet which is no longer a walk in. Has my clothes, the Christmas stuff and everything else imaginable in there.

  69. I need a better organization system for my desk. It is a disaster area most days! It’s just so hard with all the papers!

  70. I started out the year teaching kindergarten and then in October I was moved to a different building and different grade level, second grade! I would love to re-organize my daily 5 materials as well as the few bins I have yet to open. It has been such a whirlwind!

  71. I’d love to organize curriculum & art supplies for projects. I don’t have a desk …. Only cabinets & a table …..things are always getting misplaced!!

  72. My papers. This is my first year at this school and in third. I’ve kept one of everything… in a pile, next to some nice huge binders!

  73. My family! I am probably the most organized person I know. That being said, my family does not share my enthusiasm for staying organized. My kids in my class are pretty good at putting things back where they belong. I think probably because everything has a home that is labeled. We have a supply deputy and a librarian that help keep those areas looking nice.

  74. I think I have a teacher desk in my room. In fact I think its over in the corner by the windows. But I’m not sure… there seems to be a large pile of books and papers on its place. I guess I need to dig it out and organize it!

  75. My desk…everything always finds it way to my desk. I even have books stacked underneath the desk. As a first year teacher, I know this will get better. Right!;)

  76. Everytime I feel like my lesson plans are organized and done, I always find myself looking for something that is missing. Also, getting those copies done and organized. I find myself making copies again when I can’t find them. And of course the chaos of my library. Everyday, I’m organizing and reshelving them.

  77. I need to work on my back computer table!! I have so many piles of papers and forms that I am working on at different times. I am bad for little notes or reminders of things to do but are always getting covered up by other papers.

  78. I need to organize my center materials. Im ashamed to say there is a point in the week where I dump everything that has accumulated on my desk into a file cabinet drawer. It is so full at this point I almost can’t open it.

  79. My desk! It was a mess but I’m catching up on grading and finding a home for all of the papers. Next up, my binders (of lesson plans, curriculum maps, etc) – recently, I’ve been just shoving new papers in them.

  80. Help!!! I’m moving and need to organize all of my 2nd grade papers and centers. What to take, what to leave with the next teacher, what to scan? I’ve taught for 40 years and have so much “stuff.”

  81. My personal library of books .As a librarian I have an extensive collection and it becomes difficult to stay organized if my books are all over the place

  82. Only being at my current school for 2 years (but a 20+ yr veteran teacher who has moved cross country 3 times in the past 5 years) I have had to start over with my teacher “stuff”. Also, I had to change classrooms from last year to this and that created another “moving trauma”. I would FIRST organize my classroom so that I could easily locate WHATEVER it was I was looking for. I have actually accumulated many NEW supplies but am in a bit of a scattered mess because I gave away all of my teacher/classroom stuff when I moved from the Southwest to the East coast!

  83. I desperately need to organize all of the copies that I have made and the printables. I am a K-4th STACK teacher in an Autism room and I have students in all 5 of those grades. I need to organize everything that I have made and printed so that for next yr I can just go pull it out when I need something instead of having to go through everything just to find that 1 item that I might need.

  84. The classroom library is a disaster. This is my first project of the new year so that we can find books and maintain the library with ease!

  85. After moving my house and my classroom to a new state last summer, I found myself with lots of things that I wasn’t able to use in my new classroom, and a much smaller house. Along with starting a new job and sorting through a new house, I was also planning a wedding that was going to happen in a different state. I find myself going through bins on a weekly, and sometimes daily basis, at school, and at home, looking for things that I know I have, but can’t seem to find. Wishing I had more time to go through and purge and organize library books and other items. Life would be so much easier….

  86. I not only have a new year to deal with but a whole new class and grade. Good thing I am naturally organized. The transition went pretty smoothly.

  87. oh my! I would have to start with myself!! Every new school year I think… This year I will clean out the clutter and get more organized. Well, that didn’t happen.

  88. When I look at my teaching / theme materials that I need to organize, I’m always amazed how much new material I’ve found and used. I think we need to give ourselves a pat on the back for all we do and challenge ourselves to try new things in our classrooms this year. Hey, I love teaching but the organizing…. not so much. 🙂

  89. I have a file cabinet full of folders of this ant that. I need to sort and throw some of it away, but I might need something from there???

  90. My ever growing “file pile” is out of control! We also got a new language arts curriculum this year and I am working on organizing all of the resources by unit.

  91. My storage cabinets at school. I moved classrooms over the summer and my great organizing system sadly did not move from the old classroom to the new one.

  92. i would organize all of those teaching items I pinned on Pinterest into folders or binders or something so I would actually use them!

  93. In a world where a classroom equipped like an office, I would organize my papers in a lateral file cabinet. However, my room doesn’t have any storage for paper. So then my priority, in the next 2 weeks, is to prepare cooperative or individual activities at centers or in folders.

  94. I need to find a way to organize my desk and the “needed” clutter of notes, memos, testing, slips, reports, etc. that drip onto my desk and eventually drown me in things that are needed, just not at this moment.

  95. I need to print and organize all the wonderful resources, lessons, ideas from my computer so I can remember to use them as I planned when I saved them!

  96. I began organizing my cabinets at school today. It felt great to get that accomplished. Now….to tackle my books and supplies at home!

  97. I would organize my library in my classroom! It’s a mess! Next, my desk accumulates so much paper from assignments to memos from the office. Help!

  98. Paperwork!!!! I tend to make stacks that I will work on tomorrow! But 3 years of tomorrows have piled up in drawers, on my desks, and in teacher bags. 🙁

  99. I have been a teacher for 3 years. The first two years I taught in a self-contained 5th grade classroom for all subjects. This year I am teaching 5th and 6th grade Science only. One of the things I will get organized completely are all of my outside resources for Science. With a high concentration being on reading and math the two districts I have taught in had very outdated Science materials so I have researched and gathered several outside resources to teach Science and meet my standards, but with outside resources comes a bundle if paper. I have filed it everywhere EXCEPT where it should be filed. This year I am determined to get all of my outside resources filed in individual binders labeled with each SOL so when I am teaching that specific unit I will have all of my resources at my fingertips without the hassle of trying to guess where it is or locate it online again.

  100. First, I would organize my classroom library. I started this passed summer but it could always be better. Next I would organize my cabinets. I’m lucky enough to have cabinets but they aren’t organized.

  101. I would organize the piles that seem to accumulate every day! I convince myself they are organized piles but I really need to find a system to get everything in order!

  102. I’d organize my desk! I am always having my kids clean there desks and take their stuff home so they don’t end up like me!

  103. My shelving unit next to my desk! It has turned into a “I’ll find a place for this later” spot and it’s gotten totally out of control!!

  104. I would love to organize the many resources I have to use in my class for my special needs class. Sort them and group them to de clutter the class.

  105. I would organize my desk for sure! It gets so cluttered, even though I know I work so much more efficiently with it neat and organized.

  106. It would be great to have the prep room at the center I work at get organized. Also all the papers in my office that have not found a home in my filing cabinet.

  107. I need to organize all of my files. I still have paper files, yes – really. I like them. I really want to organize them by month so I will spend less time getting things together. I also need to organize all of my computer files. I have a lot of those too.

  108. I would organize my closet….it becomes the catch all for everything all year and then when the kids leave and we have our days to still be there, it is into the closet with a big trash can nearby…..another thought….I would organize my mind, but that may take WAY TOO LONG! By the way….I saw the stern teacher look (verrrrrrry nice!) and it made me respond! Thanks!

  109. OMG!!! First I have to go into my garage and organize all my Mailbox Magazines, yearbooks and Monthly Books. Then I have to organize all my craft supplies. Then go into my Pre-school classroom and organize well were do I start…….. all the classroom.LOL

  110. A year and a half ago I inherited a second grade classroom where the retiring teacher left 4 filing cabinets, six cupboards, and several shelves of materials in the classroom. Then I added my stuff. Needless to say my classroom is in caucus! Organized? I don’t even know where to begin!

  111. I would love a good system for organizing materials that I’ve gathered and am using to plan/create new small group/center activities for my third graders! There are constantly piles of materials everywhere in my classroom and at home.

  112. My students help keep me organized by sorting and tidying up my piles. One thing that does help is having places for everything, like bins and boxes and binders. I think I keep the post-it company in business for labeling everything. And yet, it still piles up. Haha I’m frequently applauded for my organization but I don’t feel it and this school year has been the worst yet.

  113. I found out I had to move into a new classroom on the last day of school last June. I tried to be organized as I move all of my things into as much smaller room but I have one closet that became a catch all for miscellaneous things. If I had more time, this would be the first thing I would organize!

  114. I need to better organize my classroom library into Accelerated Reader levels. There is also the paperwork that needs to find its way into files.

  115. Wow, where would I begin. That’s a loaded question for this first grade teacher. I think I would organize all the games I’ve made for literacy centers and math stations. And make a list of all the games I have for each category.

  116. I need to organize all my paper work. We are constantly given handouts on zillions of things. I keep throwing them in a basket, saying I’ll come back and organize them later. The basket keeps getting fuller!

  117. I definitely need to organize my craft supplies. I love them and I am always buying things because I can’t remember what I have! It’s definitely that time! 🙂

  118. My pile of ideas for classroom projects, themes, etc is threatening to topple so it’s the first thing I am trying to organize/file/etc.

  119. You know that desk drawer that you pile everything to make the top of your desk look spiffy, well my ‘drawer’ has turned into every drawer, oy.

  120. If i had the time and supplies, i would organize my file cabinet better. Currently my file cabinet is a catch all place to shove stuff that inwill probably never look at again unless i know it is there and was a noteworthy activity…. i have attempted many times to organize it. I currently have 1 out of the 4 drawer semi organized with important things…. but the other 3 are so packed with stuff that i dare no t open unless needed. Lol.

  121. A few friends retired last year and generously gave me some (as in 7 tons) of their old treasures. I really need to go through it and my own bins of hoarded science/social studies supplies and artifacts and either use it, offer it to others or throw it (gasp) away!

  122. I would start with organizing my desk drawers! I can get to the bandaids but who knows what other treasures are hiding in there!

  123. To get organized I will start using the trash can to my advantage. Tossing things that are keeping me bogged down. Do I use this? When was the last time I used this? Can I find this on line? Uncluttering my life will bring so much organization.

  124. I would start with organizing my art supplies. My Pre-K students love free art and I have so many baggies full of things I will use the next time…Famous last words….I’m so fortunate to have a class full of creative 4 and 5 year olds!

  125. First, let me say Thank you for showing I am not the only unorganized teacher in the world of teaching! LOL 😀 I, too, moved classrooms t the end of last year ( into a smaller room of course!) so, yes I am organizing! Slooooooowly. I had huge thee binders and am in the process of everything into 1 & 1/2 inch binders. Organization is not my greatest strength! LOL!

  126. The first thing that I need to organize is my metal cabinet. It seems to collect everything I need cleaned up and I end up throwing everything in that closet. I always think that I will get it cleaned out during the summer, but that never seems to happen.

  127. My desk!!! Also curriculum resources and center activities. Oh to have a whole week to do nothing but organize my classroom!

  128. I need to organize that pile of “things” you get when you empty your mailbox in the office. I get back to my room and set the pile down (most of the time it is set on yesterday’s pile). Once a week is not often enough to go through that pile. Thanks for all the great ideas from Mailbox.

  129. We have a 2 1/2 car garage that is filled with about 70 Rubbermaid 18 gallon Preschool bins & piles of stuff that I have bought that need to go into the bins! Because the garage is so full, the 2 brand new cars sit in the driveway. LOL! I keep promising my husband that I will work in the garage, but it is too overwhelming! My living and dining rooms also have Preschool items in them! Please, please help me!

  130. I would organize 6 file drawers full of ideas, pulling all themes and putting them in the box with the theme books they go with.

  131. The first, and really only, thing I need to organize, at least differently than I do now, is the books. Oodles and oodles of books on shelves with little to no rhyme or reason, other than subject matter. I’ve been debating my own card catalog system, and I’m fairly certain that’s my end game, when I make it that far. 😀

  132. My craft shelves are exploding!! Every time I open the cabinet doors things start falling on me! Time to organize them!

  133. I would organize my desk at school. My system for organizing student work needs help. Keeping classes separate, and the work that I hand out to them as well gets a bit messy.

  134. It would have to be my files that need organizing the most. I spent last summer plowing through my books and starting a library spreadsheet, but now I can’t find anything I saved to use this year.

  135. The first thing I would do is use the money to buy color coded folders to organize student IEPs. Red for behavior tracking, green for student samples, purple for IEP, blue for parent communication … Well you get the point! 😉

  136. My entire classroom! You know it is bad when you have sweet kiddos who ask every day if they can organize your room. I let them do it, but then I cannot find what I need and end up messing it up. I even had a sweet girl organize my supply cart.

  137. Most definitely my computer files…Smartboard slides…documents…emails…its all a crazy mess! Thank goodness my computer AND my email have a “search” feature or I’d never find anything. I am actually an extremely organized person, probably too much so, in my physical environment. But apparently my technology organizational skills need work!

  138. I really need to do a better job of organizing my teaching materials in my classroom! I teach 3 or 4 grade levels of special ed students in my self contained class each year and have some of my students for 4 or 5 years in a row. I have accumulated many teaching materials to accommodate students at these various levels without repeating any basic units. My room is overflowing!

  139. I teach students with moderate to severe disabilities. This year I created an independent work system for the class to use with TEACCH style tasks in plastic bins and shoeboxes on two bookshelves. It is phenomenal for the students and has enabled them to increase independence and success with academics and life skills. The problem occurs when I want to update or change the tasks. I am faced with sorting through multiple boxes and a closet filled with manipulatives. There are beads, laminated pages, flash cards, ice cube trays, and tiny plastic insects to name a few of the varied supplies I have to work with. My goal is to organize the system to ensure that I’m using my time for teaching, planning, and not just looking for the other blue clothes pin.

  140. Personally I need to organize my purse! Professionally I need to organize all of my binders, master copies and SPED paperwork… I have a paperwork overload and I just cant seem to get it organized..

  141. I would start with the “big green monster” that happens to be a cabinet. It’s filled with an assortment of toys and blocks. It is a MESS! Closing the doors reminds of how I have to sit on my over stuffed suitcase to zip it closed.

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