Second Grade Made in the Shade

Visit my blog documenting all my adventures in my first year of teaching second grade.
Second Grade Made in the Shade

Here is one of my recent post.

My teaching career started years ago in third grade followed by a move to first grade a year later. Seven years later, I am moving to a new grade level, 2nd, and a new school. Very excited!!!!! So this means setting up a whole new classroom. They say third times a charm and I don't know if that will be the case but I have learned a few valuable lessons along the way. I hope my journey will make yours a little easier. First I went through my classroom sorting out all the things I had bought from the things that belonged to the school. I know I spend lots of $$$ each year, but it was still surprising how much I had accumulated.  I also noted some of things I use everyday in my teaching that I had to leave behind. Hopefully I will find something similar at my new school, if not I will be forking out some more money.

This is all the things I have bought for third and first grade as well as tons of stuff a retired teacher gave me (felt like winning the lottery). The pile of stuff takes up over half the garage, and stands about 3ft high. Now, what do I do with all this stuff?

 General rules of organizing don't always apply to teachers/school stuff especially for those who teach in impoverished areas where resources are limited. So don't start off throwing things away or weighing the replacement cost, etc.  If you are a brand new teacher, a teacher moving rooms, or a teacher just wanting to reorganize I think some of these ideas might help you.

#1 Too much stuff is worse than not enough (if you can't remember you have it or access it easily then you won't use it, BIG waste)
#2 One teacher's trash is someone else treasure, don't throw anything away without first offering it to other teachers or even students
#3 If your not using it and someone else can let them, no need in things wasting away on a shelf when they could be benefiting children
 #4 Reference the curriculum, know what you will be teaching, how does each item fit into that
#5 Know your students, some students need work above or below their current grade level, think about how each item fits into that
#6 Don't throw away too soon, if you love the item or are unsure of it's usefulness in your current position keep it, if you don't use it you can discard it at the end of the year or the beginning of the next.

Now I am off to follow these guidelines as I sort through the garage.