Busy Busy Bee

So yes, I am aware that it seems like I have fallen of the face of the earth (or at least the internet). In the past 3 months my husband and I have painted 17 rooms, packed up a house, unpacked a house, and I have started a new job. I am at an elementary school in Springfield, VA and I couldn't be happier! All of the students, staff, and administration are absolutely wonderful. We had a fire drill the other day and I have never been more impressed. Over 700 students stood outside of the building in what seemed like dead silence. Absolutely amazing! It has taken a little while to adjust to my new environment full of construction workers and noises (our school is in the process of renovation). My year has also had an interesting twist when my class changed from a second grade class to a first and second grade split class. It has brought some new challenges to my day but SUPER organization has helped to keep me on track. My students work great with each other and we have a wonderful dynamic in our room. As you can tell, to say that I've been busy is an understatement (especially considering that I have an almost 3 year old at home too). Either way I'd like to rejoin the world of the internet and keep sharing great teaching ideas.

This year I have already come up with some great things on my own and learned some awesome things from my new colleagues! Today's share is from my new team leader who has been so helpful that I can't thank her enough. This year I put my color coded stickers at the bottom of my journals. This way my students barely had to pull their journals out of their desks to see which journal it was before deciding if it was the correct one or not. I have to say, I thought that I was pretty smart.

 Until I saw my team leader's journals. Without a doubt they were better than mine.

She had her students color the pages on the outside all the way around the journal so they didn't even  have to take their journals out at all. All they did was look inside and boom they could see the pink or green and pick the journal they needed! Genius. 

Of course, I then had all of my students color the outside of their pages too and now it's never been easier for them to find their journals. Thank you Ms. Navarrete for the super tip! Hopefully you can use this in your classroom too. Do you have a tip that helps to keep your students' desks organized? Leave a comment below!

-OneCrazyS