It’s summer. You have your classroom organization strategies in mind, and you are envisioning a beautifully-inspired Pinterest classroom. You purchase the cute new cactus theme bulletin board; you display your classroom library with the latest books on the top shelf, and you have your monthly calendar color-coded. Fast forward to October. Your desk is covered with ungraded essays from all 150 students, the Reese’s cup wrapper is crumpled up in your desk drawer, your calendar is still flipped to August, and your classroom library looks like a tornado just made a visit to your classroom. Well, that didn’t last long! Don’t you wish you could have the dream classroom all year long? It is possible, but it will require some work upfront.
For world language teachers, we tend to have bright, colorful classrooms with walls covered in posters, input, decorations, and student work. We have conversation cards and TPRS images for every unit. We grade essays, projects, posters, and more. At some point, something has to be sacrificed, and it tends to be classroom organization. I am going to give you my best classroom organization ideas to last you through the year, but it does require some effort up front on your part! Take advantage of my Spanish Teacher Survival Guide FREEBIE and get your year started off on the right foot. These 9 FREE documents will save you time and money! Get them printed and organized before the school year starts and you’ll be ready to go!
1. Organized Teacher Binder
Create a small 1 inch “teacher binder” with your most important documents – monthly calendar, to-do list, student groupings, class rosters, etc. I always find myself reaching for my purple binder. I’ve used it every year for the past 6 years, and don’t plan on stopping until it breaks! It is my lifeline. I recommend labeling different sections with tabs and then you will flip right to the section you need. Plus, I never like to take work home, but taking home one small binder with the essentials isn’t terrible! Here are some binders that come in fun colors!
2. Start a Binder System
Create MORE binders – Utilize your classroom storage space for a section of organized binders. I had one for each unit that I taught, filled with hard copies of activities. Another binder for sub plans, and one for authentic resources (maps, magazine articles, pamphlets from traveling, etc.). One of the greatest binders you can create is the one for student work samples. Year after year, when students do the same project, you want to be able to show them an example of the best work you’ve seen. So when an assignment stands out to you, ask the student if you may keep it as an example. They will be honored, and you’ll create a collection of beautiful work samples to inspire future classes.
I also recommend a “smile binder,” filled with notes from students, outstanding observation grades, teacher of the month nominations, etc. You’ll love reaching for this binder on a tough day when you need a smile and a reminder of why you do this job!
3. Use a Calendar
Keep your calendar up to date and color-coded! You can even mix school and personal life on one calendar if it makes it easier for you. Keep track of personal events: your kids’ sports games, tutoring sessions, family parties, birthdays, etc.) Then, add the major school events like the end of a marking period, pep rally, etc. Choose a color for each category; and reach for those flair pens to get some joy out of this task!
4. Lesson plan… EARLY!
Lesson plan ahead of time!! As much as we need to adjust our future lessons based on how our students handle the current lessons, we can still have a plan looking forward. I always liked to have my plans set at least one week ahead of time. Having a vision for the following lessons motivated me to keep my students on track and push them to achieve more. Grab your free lesson plan doc in the Spanish Teacher Survival Guide!
5. Give everything a designated place
Classroom organization should start with your desk. And your desk should not be cluttered. You should have folders, binders, or bins for everything from graded assignments to markers to sub plans. Don’t procrastinate filing things in the right place. Set your systems early and keep up with them so it doesn’t become overwhelming. The Dollar Tree has tons of great storage containers for $1! Check out Dollar Tree Classrooms on Instagram for the best ideas on keeping your classroom organized for cheap!
6. Create Student Groups
If you do a lot of group work like I do, then creating different student groups at the beginning of the year will save you a lot of time and headaches. Use pre-planned groups for group projects, interpersonal conversations, and seating charts by having a few different groupings of students written down and kept in a safe place. At the beginning of the year, have your students fill out a survey where they list the students they want to work with. That could be one grouping for fun projects and assignments. Then, once you get to know your students a bit better, create group assignments based on reading levels or writing levels. Then, when you do reading assignments, you go right to that list without even thinking!
7. Keep a running to do list
And keep it posted where you can always see it. A to-do list is something you could also keep in your teacher binder so you always have it with you. I usually make a personal list and a school list for each week. On Monday morning, I start my week off by writing down everything I want to accomplish that week, even my routine tasks of grading assignments and lesson planning. It just feels good to cross something off once its done!
8. Make student portfolios
This will help to keep your students organized, too! At the beginning of the year, give each student a manilla folder and a checklist to staple to the inside. It should have the major projects, readings, can-do statements, etc. for each unit. Every time they complete one of these assignments and receive feedback, it goes in their portfolio and they check it off. Then, at the end of the year they can see their growth and progress! Plus, it keeps you accountable for assigning and grading all of these assignments.
9. Keep an Organized Grading System
Keep two folders for each class that you teach. One folder will be for work that you need to grade; the other is work that is graded and ready to be handed back. The key is that once it is graded, transfer it to that second folder. Don’t let it pile up on your desk. You can even designate a student to pass it back or remind you once a week to pass back graded work.
10. Classroom Library Checkout System
I recently shared my 9 tips for finding cheap or free books for your Spanish classroom library. But once you have all of these books, you will take pride in them! You don’t want even a single one to go missing. Make sure you have a sign out sheet next to the library for students to write the title, their name, sign-out date, and sign-in date.
11. Take pictures of your notes on the white board
I would write a lot of vocabulary brainstorming, grammar lessons, and graphic organizers on the whiteboard during lessons. Before I erased what I wrote, I would often take a picture of it to remember what we talked about. For middle school and high school teachers that teach the same lesson multiple times in one day, this can be extremely helpful so you make sure your classes are all getting relatively the same info when brainstorming, making vocab lists, etc. Plus, you can easily post it on Google Classroom or print it out for absent students!
Are you up for the challenge of keeping your classroom organized all year long? Don’t forget about the classroom organization freebie, the Spanish teacher survival guide! Print out the pages (in color or black & white) and post them on your bulletin board or in your teacher binder! I like to think of classroom organization as a garden or the landscaping around your house. If you pick the weeds when you see them, they won’t grow out of control. If you keep saying “I’ll pick them tomorrow,” well then you will never be able to catch up to them. They will grow out of control, as will the stacks of paper, the to-do list, and the messy pile of books.
