Getting Organized...

    This school year, I am determined to get organized and stay organized! With all the free time I had the past school year, I was able to start really looking through all of my teacher stuff. And I mean really looking through, as in actually deciding to toss some things out!! That was huge for me, but I have accumulated so much stuff in the past 10 years, some things just had to go (mostly paper goods, thankfully!)
   Anyhow, since my munchkin is a little older this summer, she can easily keep herself entertained for longer periods of time! So that has made a world of difference, as she plays, colors, reads or even watches a DVD or two, while I sit alongside her and work on some little projects.
   Two of the first things I knew I had to organize were my stickers (I've got way too many, in my opinion) and my books. I have all of my books in plastic totes, according to seasons & holidays, but I now have an awesome library collection at my new preschool center that I can use...and it will save my books from the inevitable wear & tear and love from little preschool hands!
   For my stickers, I grabbed a binder and picked up a few clear plastic pencil pouches. Since I tend to file things according to seasons & holidays, I did just that. Each pouch holds stickers for each season. And the other pouches are filled with other types of reward stickers...

My personal favorite: Scratch & Sniff Stickers!!

    When it came to organizing books, I decided that I will just take a few of my personal favorites from my library, into the classroom. I picked up a few of these magazine file boxes at Target.

    I was going to make my own from cereal boxes, but since they will be used by 3-5 year olds, I need something more sturdy and durable. I used fun animal print duct tape to jazz up the boxes.(After alot of thought, I decided to go with a Jungle Themed Classroom this year!)

    Since these boxes will be handled by little hands, I went the extra mile and reinforced all the edges of the boxed with clear packaging tape. No cardboard cuts for my munchkins! Plus, I am sure that it will help keep the boxes intact so that they make it through the school year.
     I bought random label holders somewhere awhile back (I can't remember where...I think it was Michaels) and they were never used... until now! I also purchased these Book Bin Labels to help me get organized,  from Krazee 4 Kindergarten. There are over 200 different labels!

    Here is how I am going to organize my books. Each book box has a Theme label and a colored dot sticker. The books that belong in that Theme Box have the same color dot sticker, making it easy to match the book to its correct box.

    Four of the boxes are for Monthly Theme Books and other boxes are for universal themes, such as Alphabet Books, Number Books, etc.  

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    As I was browsing Pinterest for more ways to organize classroom materials, I saw a cute weekly drawer organizer and I wanted to make my own. So, here it is! (That last drawer is empty, but I think I might make it a Sub drawer.)

     And of course, since now I have a way to organize my weekly lessons and projects, I decided that if I am going to be really committed to staying organized, I am going to need Monthly Binders as well. That is my current project... I will share it soon!