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Organizing Student Materials

September 26, 2021 By Rachel Vincent

Organizing student materials

Organizing student materials is a must if you want your students to be able to function independently in the classroom. There’s nothing worse than asking a student to get materials out and they have no idea where they are.

Now let’s start with the fact that just like adults, some students are naturally more organized than others. We are not going to change a student’s personality but having some of these systems in place can at least help in the organization process.

What you use to help students organize their materials is really a personal preference. I know many teachers like students to have binders and tabs for each subject. Personally, I prefer composition notebooks. One thing that really helps in color coding each subject. It’s a lot easier to ask students to get out their math notebooks and remind them it’s the blue one.

color coding student notebooks

Since I use notebooks, I need to have a place for loose paper to go. Each student also has a “Cubby Folder.” I have tables in my class so students keep all materials in their cubby, but when I had desks, we had “Desk Folders.” Essentially this folder is for all loose paper including unfinished work. Once students turn work in, it is now my responsibility. I share how I deal with paper as the teacher in this blog post.

Work folder for organizing student papers

Books for my classroom library are my favorite things to buy for my classroom, but that also means I don’t want them shoved in desks or cubbies. So each student has a book box that they keep their library books in. I do limit the number of books they keep otherwise some students would shove it full. We keep our book boxes on the shelves, but students have access their book boxes anytime they want. It’s just a good place to store them at the end of each day or when we need a clear area to work.

book boxes for independent reading

Upper elementary students are fully capable of getting their own materials, so I have several places around the room for students to access materials without me. Extra paper, crayons, glue, etc are kept in drawers and bins that are clearly labeled for students.

student drawers for materials

Although students have places for all their materials, there are always materials lost on the floor. We have a “Lost Property” that any lost item goes in. This keeps us from having to disrupt learning to find the owner.

lost property bucket

Tips for organizing student materials

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    Rachel | 4th Grade Teacher
    How long is your students’ attention spans? I o How long is your students’ attention spans?
I only have about 10 minutes before I lose them! 🤪
And I don’t know about you but my lessons are typically longer…so I try to mix it up every 10 minutes with a Think-Pair-Share or some kind of movement
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    6 ways to get your students participating in your 6 ways to get your students participating in your lessons!
1️⃣ Think Time - giving your students time to think about the answer keeps your over achievers from answering all the questions 
2️⃣ Movement - Stand/Sit if this is your answer
3️⃣ Turn & Talk - Everyone shares their answer with a partner
4️⃣ Hand Signals - Perfect for multiple choice questions
5️⃣ Think-Pair-Share - Combines the think time with turn & talk 
6️⃣ Repetition - repeat important information to help it stick
🗣🗣Which number are you trying this week?!
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#teachersfollowteachers #igteachers #iteach #teachergram #iteachfourth #iteach345 #teachingstrategies #studentparticipation
    Do you have these 4 teacher goals?! 1️⃣ Instr Do you have these 4 teacher goals?!
1️⃣ Instructional Goal - How are you improving your instruction?
2️⃣ Relationship Goal - How are you building relationships with students or coworkers?
3️⃣ Balance Goal - How are you trying to have a better work-life balance?
4️⃣ Non Instructional Goal - What other area are you trying to improve?
Here’s my 4 goals!
1. Vocabulary Instruction 
2. 2 Positive Notes a Week
3. Leave by 3:00 3 out 5 days
4. Clean off back counter once a week
What are your goals?
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    Coming back from break is a lot easier than the fi Coming back from break is a lot easier than the first day of school!
Less teacher talk 🗣
More student talk 👥
1️⃣ Give your students time to catch up with each other. Even adults like to chit chat about what we did during break!
2️⃣ Review procedures by playing a fun game. Charades is a great way to act out procedures to see if other students can guess what they’re doing!
3️⃣ The halfway point of the school year is a great time for students to set goals!
What’s your favorite thing to do after a break?!
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