Organization in the Classroom (page 2)

Organizing the Closet and Sink Areas

Organization in your classroom is essential to doing a good job, being efficient with your time, and making a good impression. Well-organized closet and sink areas play a significant role in letting your students see that keeping things clean and organized is important. When you are organized and orderly, so are your students.

Closet

Considerations

• Start out with a well-organized closet the very first week of school, and make it a habit to keep it that way.
• Give students a sense of responsibility for their personal property and space by modeling good organization.
• Orient students to keeping the closet neat and orderly, including the following:
  • Where and how to hang up their backpacks and jackets
  • Where supplies are kept
  • How supplies are stored
• Keep the closet clutter-free. Backpacks can be hung up.
• Consider organizing instructional materials by curricular areas for easy access.
• Keep all books neat, orderly, and on an easily accessible shelf.
• Place regularly used items in the middle of the closet for easy access.
• Store heavier items on lower shelves.
• Store large boxes at the bottom of the closet for easy access.
• Make sure that no potentially dangerous items are in a closet accessed by students.

Supplies

Supplies are typically available at the school site, usually by request. Check with the office for request forms and procedures for requesting supplies. Once you have your supplies, organize them neatly in your supply closet.

The following is a list of supplies that you could expect to use in your classroom:

• Paper
  • Copy paper
  • Writing paper
  • Lined paper (grade-appropriate for grades K, 1, 2–3, 4–5)
  • Story paper (grades K–2)
  • Graph paper (math)
  • Newsprint (math scratch paper, drawing)
  • Student journals
  • Word cards
  • Sentence strips
  • Lined tag board
  • Poster board
  • Chipboard
  • Index cards
  • Post-it Notes
• Arts and crafts
  • Heavy drawing paper
  • Watercolor paper
  • 9" X 12" construction paper
  • 12" X 18" construction paper
  • Tissue paper
  • Butcher paper
  • Yarn
  • Cord
  • Brad fasteners
  • Glue bottles
  • Glue sticks
  • Rubber cement
  • Liquid starch
  • Paint (water color and/or tempera)
  • Paint cups
  • Paintbrushes
  • Felt
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Clothespins
  • Metal closing rings
  • Clamps and clips
  • Markers
  • Crayons
  • Colored pencils
  • Large blue pencils (grades K–2)
  • Standard No. 2 pencils (grades 2–5)
  • Chalk
  • Dry-erase markers
  • Erasers
  • Scotch tape
  • Clear packing tape
  • Masking tape
  • Bookbinding tape
  • Pens
  • Overhead markers
  • Permanent markers
  • File folders
  • Stapler
  • Staples
  • Staple remover
  • Paper clips
  • Sticky putty
  • Student scissors
  • Teacher scissors

Sink

Considerations

• Keep the sink area clean and organized.
• Make sure that soap and paper towels are always available at the sink.
• Check with the school for a list of district-approved cleaning products.
• Clean the sink area once a week to kill germs. Use an approved cleanser.
• Store lunch containers (and snacks that could leak) on the ledge of the sink for easy clean-up.
• Art supplies that involve clean-up with water can be stored at the sink, including the following:
  • Paintbrushes, paint cups, and trays
  • Printing rollers
  • Tempera paints
  • Liquid starch