Organizing The Chaos

My husband curses my Mother (in a loving way) because she passed on her severe anal retentive-ness to my sister and I. I'm the most OCD person/teacher you'll ever meet. In fact, I considered opening my own business of "Organizing for Busy Teachers" because I hated walking into other classrooms and I just wanted to fix everything because it hurt to look at. I have issues... But I realized quickly this would fail because teachers spend their money on more important things (as they should!).

One of the great things about Pinterest is the plethora of Organization links. Some of the first things I bought before even setting foot in the classroom were inspired by Pinterest. Here's my go-to list:

1. Binder Clips - Perfect for organizing those piles of loose paper. Use them for clipping onto a metal tray organizer. Mine say "To be filed," "To be graded," "To enter into ESchool."

Binder clips can also be used to make charge cords or USBs easily accessable - attach them to the side of your desk!

2. Organizing Files by Topic - My file tabs say "Me gusta," "AR verbs," etc. I have sections for puzzles, memory games and hide my candy in the very back of the file cabinet! I also have a folder that says "Smile :)" that's filled with nice notes from students.

3. Clear Sheet Protectors - I use these for my Word Wall (as required by LFS). I used to spent time hand-writing and taping my vocabulary words onto my board, but this is WAY easier. You just write as many as you can fit onto a landscape formatted document, print, and Voilà!

4. Absent Students: I've got a "command center" wall where students can find any papers we've worked on in the last few days. They come in and know right where to go if they missed a day of note taking. 

5. Ask in Spanish! I only let students leave the classroom if they ask in Spanish. My teachers always made me do this and it stuck out in my mind as a rule I needed to have. If anything, it makes the shy ones speak Spanish! Here are some of the ones I have posted above my "command center."

6. Hit up Target's Dollar Section! - If you haven't experienced Target's dollar section when you walk right in the door you haven't experienced life. Alright I'm exaggerating, but it's AWESOME. I found these great TO DO lists for a dollar. There are about 50 sheets per pack and I tape four of them to the inside of my planner. They fit perfectly and it's a great way to plan my To Do list by week. When I'm done I just tear them out and put new ones in - No more lost Post its everywhere in my purse!

Many of the organization pins found on Pinterest are for the Elementary classroom. I don't know about you, but teaching Spanish doesn't exist is the Elementary schools in our district YET, so some of these pins are hard to relate to. However, here are a few photos of some helpful ways to organize your Secondary level Spanish classroom!