I keep a journal for the end of each year. I have lists of "what worked " and what "didn't work", along with my ideas and lists of items for next year. Its a great reflection tool.

Currently doing my student teaching and love what the teacher I am observing does for her water bottles. she had all her friends and family to save their Lysol wipes container and she took the label off and zip tied them to the back of the students chairs. they can then put their water bottle inside the container and they are out of the way.

Best white board erasers: black makeup reusable cotton rounds! Amazon!

For water bottles, one of my teammates has collected empty Lysol wipe jugs, poked holes in the side, and zip-tied them to the students’ desk legs or chair legs so their water bottle is right there at all times and it has its own place. The only time this becomes an issue is if a student’s desk gets rearranged and the jug is on the wrong side so she has had to redo a few of them throughout the school year. Also keeps the water bottles from noisily dropping on the floor.

I’d love to see a video on things you want to keep the same for next year. And I’m lucky and have a bunch of built in cabinets in my classroom so I keep my indoor recess games in there. I also wanted stools and beanbags for my classroom so thanks for the heads up! Also with areas in my classroom that get really congested I’ve found it much easier to have the paper passers pass out the things. Or send the kids up one table group at a time. After recess I set a two minute timer for kids to get drink of water and get settled, if I have something that I still need to prep really fast after recess I put on a read aloud while they get a drink from their water bottle or go to the bathroom and calm down before the next lesson.

Hello, I've been a 2nd grade teacher for the past 11 years. What has worked for me with whiteboards are to keep them in a bin like yours. However, I use book dividers to keep them upright. This way they are easy to access. Also, I invested in clipboard whiteboards, so they can be used for both (scoot games etc.). They are to keep an eraser and expo in their pencil box. However, I do have a small supply cart where they can access supplies when needed. It has open boxes with expos, glue sticks, squares of black felt for erasing, rulers, extra scissors. I will occasionally replenish the supplies when needed. Its in the back of the room too, so it doesn't create a distraction. I have one bean bag in a reading nook. Also, I have 6 crate seats I've had for over 10 years still going strong. Every 1-2 years I'll replace the cushion and fabric with a staple gun. Also, I have one long wall with focus boards for the different subjects for anchor charts, vocab. etc. Displays that don't need to be changed out are in a place that are too high or not easy to access but can be seen easily. Also, I have 3 teacher desk areas! =) One for business in the back of the room near my printer with important documents. One for my elmo and computer set up during whole group teaching. And the last one in a small groups table with minimal things on it with a 3 tier cart with teaching supplies. I traded out a jelly bean table for a trapezoid table that is much smaller and I love it! The kids love it too! Can't wait to see your set up this summer! Good luck!

For the rainy day board games - we use a zip wallet. So take the game out the box, cut the picture off the front and stick it inside so you know what the game. So much easier and tidier to store when they are all in the same packaging xx

For the whiteboards, I ordered these mesh type zipper bags that fit my whiteboards, a marker, and an eraser. I keep them all together in a bin by my carpet

For the board games, I personally hate how the boxes fall apart and I had some cheap scrapbook containers lying around so I took the games out of the box, into the scrapbook case, label the case and put the game pieces in a snap container or ziplock bag. They stack neatly in cabinets and they're out of sight and out of mind until we bring them out for rainy day recess.

The Dollar Tree book bins are great for storing cleaning supplies. I have one in my bathroom and one in my kitchen under the sinks.

Great to what's not working! Not everything is successful and it's helpful to remember that. 💛

Hi Shelley, been a while. For the water bottle, you can use the behind the door hanging pocket organizer. IKEA has it. A cupboard can store the board games out of sight. Other alternative to rearrange the book might be book deviders/ book ends with labels. Hope the change helps. Blessings to you 🙏💐🎉

When I setup in a new space, I envision a triangular shape. This helps me think about how the kids will move within the room and throughout different parts of the day. I keep our main areas to 3 points…like a triangle. My 3 points were mailboxes, small group table and whole group carpet time. This helped me determine where shelving and bulletin boards made the most sense and how students would access materials throughout the day. Whiteboards: kept at the front of the room where we met for whole group time. They were in open shelves. I only use black markers and black socks. Keeping everything the same eliminated students wasting time trying to find a fun color or eraser. I also dismissed by table groups or in rows on the carpet. Students HAD to line up. This was a routine we practiced and practiced and practiced. Was it a little more time consuming? Maybe, but once students understood my expectations and why a simple routine like getting a whiteboard was a specific process, it too maybe 90 seconds for everyone to get their materials and sit down. As students got their boards they had options to practice skills from what we’ve learned or just doodle 🤷🏼‍♀️ Honestly I always loved when students had to get whiteboards because it allowed them to practice efficiency and teamwork while also having a calming moment to grab their materials and work on whatever they wanted until we were all ready to move on…including me!

I HATE the noise that comes from bean bags. So I filled them with repurposed pillows / cushions and cut up foam. Same feel for the kids but SILENT!!!!

What I do for the water bottles is have them stored in a plastic shoe holder (the one that hangs off of a door) at the front of the class. It's called the "Hydration Station" and really has helped with spills and the giant clang of hydroflasks hitting the floor.

I use student canvas chair pockets for whiteboard storage and clipboards. Especially when kids couldn’t touch the same materials. There is a zipper pouch on the pockets for the eraser and marker…attached with Velcro. I’ve had to remove them and found a new place for erasers.

We had a small table basket for our whiteboard supplies in our classroom when I was a kid, it was attached to the side of the tables for us, though we had rectangular tables.

I'd love to see your assessment filing system and anything erase that worked well. I put my indoor recess games in a big opaque bin out of sight. Works well.

I try the cute lights too, they never worked . The year is not over, and I ripped them out two months ago. Lol 😂

What about moving your library book shelves to the Opposite wall where the whiteboard is? Move the low cubbies in front of the window OR use those as benches to sit on near the library. I would designate two wall spaces or 3 for Reading, Writing, and Math anchor charts/posters. Make it where the students can access it or see it easily. I made book bins for each student where they kept their whiteboard and belongings. Every morning they came in, unpacked, grabbed their book bin, sat it on their desk or next too. End of the day, dismissed so many at a time, took book back, packed up. Water bottles: I had all students come in and rest while I called so many at a time to get a drink/bathroom break. I hope these suggestions help!

I switched from Bean Bag chairs to little kid camp chairs. I get them on clearance from Target at the end of the summer. When I don't want them out I just fold them up and put them in their little bag. I also HATE the stools from Amazon. Last year only one was broken. BUT my school isn't as rich as yours, and our PTA doesn't give us as much money. So I have not been able to find a cheaper, nicer solution. I just found your channel, looking through it just before I start my 4th year as a 2nd grade teacher.

For bean bags and games- I have a cabinet with doors, so I store the games on the bottom shelf in the back (so even if they get in there they can't see them right without crouching on the floor) and I put the bean bags on the top when they aren't available. You can also try for more sturdy bean bags that don't lose shape or comfy computer desk type chairs if you want them to be more permanent/replacement seating options if certain students need it. (I have a student who is morbidly obese and gets VERY uncomfortable in those tiny chairs.) Anchor charts- Besides moving them to a more visual part of the room, you can make pocket sized copies for them to have at their desks. You can print them on regular paper to be glued in notebooks, cardstock for sturdy references while teaching the topic, or laminated color ones for those who need a more constant reference (great IEP or 504 accommodation that you can take out and show parents, plus gives the student ownership and confidence in tools to help them learn and adapt to LRE.)

For the water bottles, I teach kindergarten. My para makes circles out of contact paper and puts them on the counter and they have to put their water bottle on a circle. This makes sure they all have a place and they arent all on top of each other. We just always talk about when its an appropriate time to get a drink and not... They aren't allowed to keep them at their tables because we have ipads and i don't allow them to have any water near their ipads.

I have a white board bucket and a marker bucket in the front of the room. I have 2 helpers for the room each week. Whenever, we need them one helper grabs the boards and the other grabs the markers to pass out. Erasers are kept in their pencil boxes in desks. If passing out materials becomes a hassle or takes too long, I count down and everyone must be ready at that point.

I teach pre-k and water bottles was an issue in my room 🤦🏾‍♀️. What I did was put water bottles in shoe pockets. I used the hangable shoe racks/holder and hung it on my cabinet door. I wrote each student name on their water bottle and assigned them a pocket. They went and got their water bottles before and after recess and during snack time only. It helped with transitions and it eliminated a lot of unnecessary traffic. I also dismissed them to go get water bottles by tables. I hope that helps!

I teach first grade in a smaller size classroom. My students have desks that are grouped together. I just let them keep their water bottles on their desks. It hasn't been a big problem. Occasionally there will be a spill, but it's usually from the same child and they have to keep theirs on the floor most of the time.

I’d ❤️ to see a video of what systems you love in your room! I’m currently revamping things in my room too. One thing that seems to be working is putting whiteboards and a skinny pencil basket with expo markers and felt erasers (cutting up a felt sheet into small rectangles) and keeping those in the bottom basket of a 3-tier rolling cart from Michaels! It allows me to roll it anywhere in the room to work with a small group. 🙂

My students have seat sacks , they keep their writing folder, science, soc studies, white boards erasers and rulers all tidy in there . I have a shoe organizers and created a water station for them there. Purchased dollar tree water bottles numbered them and that’s where they go. No problem.

I use to have a rainy day box that I put games, colouring pages etc. So I could just bring it out on rainy day and can easily be put away out of sight.

Great video! One thing I’ve done to control the white board situation is to put card stock into a sturdy sheet protector (I do one side blank and one side lined). Then the kids can store their dry erase marker and eraser (I get black felt in bulk and cut it up) right in their little dry erase board/pocket. I teach kinder and it has lasted all year 😀

I love the book bins from Target at back to school time and mine have held up for 6 years so far

I love this video! Every year I make a list of this exact thing!! But after being in the same classroom for 12+ years you get really good at figuring out what works. 💜💜 I love your summer/fall videos too!!

Yes to the things you love in your classroom! Thanks

I have a cabinet with doors that keeps them (indoor recess games) out of sight so they don’t ask for them. One of my unofficial classroom jobs is “Organizer” and it’s usually the same person who’s great at keeping things neat and tidy Love the vids! Looking to make my room more open, welcoming, and less cluttered…not my strong suit whatsoever so I’m learning from your vids!

I bought wobble stool from Amazon for my kidney table. They are sturdy and help with the wiggles. I saw a first grade teacher put a whiteboard, eraser, and marker in large ziplock bags. They get passed out when needed.

I have had the same problem with water bottles and have found that keeping their water bottles in their cubbies by their book bins works well. I let them get a quick drink periodically throughout the day.

I made whiteboard pouches for my students last year with those zipper pouches from Amazon. They keep their board, their eraser, and their marker in their pouch, which is then stored in their chair pocket. So if they need to bring it to the floor, they just grab their entire pouch and are ready to go.

The bean bags lol. I don’t know! Thanks for this! Getting inspired for August!

This is so helpful as a soon to be first year teacher! Thank you!! Love watching your classroom videos 🥰

This year I zip tied dollar tree baskets under their chair for their white boards and pencil boxes. I love it.

Yes please! New teacher here need all the help I can get! Haha things that absolutely worked are also needed over here! Thank you so much

I feel you on the same child managing to break multiple stools. When teaching 3rd grade, every classroom in the school got new furniture for the reading corner/classroom library, including nice baskets. The only problem is that the baskets were the kind from IKEA that you assemble yourself, and my class managed to break them all! I screwed one back together, then gave up and just stored the broken baskets on a shelf and fixed them at the end of the year. I thought maybe the baskets were flimsy, but apparently it was just my kids - none of the other classes broke any of their baskets!

Thank you for sharing. When I first started teaching, I thought I had to have everything worked out. I would be so hard on myself when things weren’t working. Now I’ve come to realize teaching is a work in progress. Thank you

Yes Video about things worked

For the stools you can get some new ones at ikea or you can also get cubed seats if you want the more affordable choice you can get those cubed milk crates and place a cushion on top

I felt the same way about the voice level lights! Great in theory, but I NEVER used them.

For water bottles, get some over the door hanging shoe organizer and label their names on them.

For the white board issue when working at their seats just use their desktops as the dry erase boards that way there is less that they have to go get. They can keep their dry erase marker in their pencil cases.

For the students books and materials, there’s chair pouches that can help students place their materials. For the voice levels, have you tried giving a student the job of pressing the voice level button? I always forget to do things in my class, so I just make a class job so students can help. :)

Put a curtain over the games. I have a shelf full of games and random things and with the curtain they can’t see them and I can’t see the clutter! Works like a charm!

Free carpet squares from Lowes or Home Depot are great erasers!!!

My whiteboards and erasers I have on top of a shelf and there’s a kind of pathway I have made so students go around and pick up their supplies and return to their seat so it’s not a huge pile of bodies bumping into one another. I also have them in partners, so partner A gets whiteboards,markers and erasers and partner B gets manipulatives.

Chair pockets instead of book bins, home depot buckets instead of stools, 3 tiered charts for each table group. The first shelf is for water bottles and pencil pouches, the next to shelves for daily folders and homework folders. I hope that hrlps .

This year I used book boxes for my classroom library in addition to the students’ personal book boxes. I labeled the front of each one with a number which corresponds to a number I printed on the back of the book. The kids can easily tell where to return books in the library and the book boxes hold up great. I got them at Wal-Mart. Easy peasy!

I stored my rainy day games and puzzles in a drawer.

I make us all fill up water bottles at the very beginning of the day and they have to keep them in their backpack or sit it on the floor up against the wall under their backpack hook. When they ask to get water, I only let them if we're not in the middle of direct instruction. They learn quickly that they cannot get up to get out of work or get away from the lesson or even go out of the room to fill water. It works for me, at least.

I used a bench in my library which was also an ottoman and stored my games in there!

IKEA stools have held up really great for me! Try those!

Someone at my school hole punched dollar tree cups and zip tied them to the desk legs! Changed my life

In my first grade class they keep their water bottles at their desk, and for the few students that this is too distracting for, they have theirs on the windowsill. Then I have designated water breaks, after each recess and after PE they get a 1 minute water break. It works great, every once in a while there is a spill... but it is just water so it isn't too big of a deal to clean up.

An alternative to bean bags are the foldable floot chairs they have at lakeshore. My kids love them and they are super comfortable and easily lay flat to stairs against the wall. Also, I let my kids ear a reward of playing with rainy day recess games so it’s less of a distraction and when they talk about them I can ask what they need to do to earn them.

Thank you for this video. I love that you share what didn't work for you. I follow so many teachers and try many things. When something doesn't work for me, I somehow feel like I just didn't do it right. Hearing you say things like "it didn't work for my teacher style", just seemed to click with me. It isn't necessarily that I haven't been doing things the "right way", it just wasn't a tip that worked for my unique teaching style. I would love to see a what you did love in your room video!

Here is couple options for water bottles . 1. Go back to the bins but have their names on it and then send one table at a time to go get there water bottles and line up so it’s not every student going to get there water bottles and if they run or talk to line up have them go sit back down and try again 2. Have a hanging cubby spot for them 3. Have something on back of their chair only for water . 4. Have a spot near your teaching desk for them so you can monitor when they go and get them

I also struggle with the whiteboard situation… my students cannot keep them in their desks without losing or drying out the markers every day. I have student helpers pass out and collect each part but it still takes longer than I like. My temporary solution is giving them a plastic sleeve that they can put different worksheets in and passing out just markers and erasers. That has made one less thing to pass out and collect.

For an anchor chart solution, I have made a small one in my journal under the document camera and had students draw one in their journal. For big ones you can hand on the wall, my teacher partner got a small standing desk that bends down and the one part of the desk can hold chart paper or big books.

At our school a lot of teachers zip tie a basket on the back of the chair for water bottles

I am completely with you on the Voice Light System!! I tried it as well and got the exact same results. I also finally tore them off. I have tried the bell to sound for level 0 and then just verbalize the voice level (whisper, inside talking voice, group discussion voice). Haven’t found anything great visually.

Thanks for sharing.. Sometimes.. I feel since I placed something up or in a spot.. I have have to commit to it. Please share on the things that works in your in class.

I’m not a teacher but I love organizing things. For the kid’s water bottles have you tried a back of the door hanging shoe organizer? For your books and papers have you looked at The Container Store’s multipurpose bins? They have different sizes so you can keep things standing up and they are super durable. They also have large patterned zippered pouches to store your board games in so the kids will not be able to see them as well and because they are all the same size you can organize them vertically.

Put the rain games on the shelf at the bottom and make shelf curtains

Ikea Easel :) Folds up and is great for anchor charts. You can use clips to secure the anchor chart or hole-punch the top corners, add d-rings, and loop them onto the red tabs that hold the rod for the easel.

I have a shoe organizer that is numbered where they keep their water bottles, then I just don’t make a big deal about getting a drink and they do it when they need it during centers mostly then after recess. My coteacher zip tied a plastic cup holder to table legs & it works beautifully too!

My janitor drilled completely new holes through those stools straight through the top so like you can see the tiny screw on top of the seat but it doesn't poke them or anything and it's worked im on my 4th year of using them after all of them broke off my first year and he fixed them

Use a small curtain rod with a cute curtain to cover anything on shelves that you want hidden like those recess games etc., and could you use the table top easel of large Post-it notes To make anchor charts together? You buy it already like a pad of large post it notes but it is made to sit on a table.

Hanging shoe organizer for water bottles :)

There are small easels that are cheap from ikea! May be too small for a large anchor chart but I normally cut the paper in half and it’s perfect!

Water bottles were such an issue for me too! Now, I placed a tray where they place their bottles by the door if they want a drink they hold up 3 fingers (w) and when I see the signal I let them go they know only 2 ppl max. Having it by the door allows easy access to grab it on the way in/out of the room for recess/gym/etc.

For the whiteboards have one student pass out the boards and another the erasers to the whole class. Also the sock idea is amazing, keep the markers inside the socks so it’s easy to pass out and all in one place.

Wow, you have a lot of stuff. For the bean bags: I would do a different corner of the room and have that be the reading corner. You can put some of the book shelves and partition it off to designate that corner. Also for the bean bags, you can have a big plastic bin and the students can put the back in there when they are done. Although I am not a teacher yet, I am a tutor for the afterschool program and when I have a project I am doing, I usually have one table at a time to get supplies. That way you have like a heard of animals getting supplies at once since you were talking about the white boards and the erasers.

With the book bins on top of the shelves you could pull them away from the window wall and move them to a different space and back to back them like a library shelf setup that way it will prevent books from falling in between the shelves or behind the shelf. The white boards could already be at the table in the table baskets in the middle. You could also try felt squares for whiteboard erasers, socks would be great too like you said.

Love my hanging shoe hanger for the water bottles I'm on year two of using them but the hanger had to be drilled into the wall command stripes did not work

I got a whiteboard from amazon and I think it would work better than an easel. It doesn’t take up much space and it was an easy set up/ it has wheels to move it around. It’s magnetic too. It was $110 and very worth it

Easel: dress rack with rings for paper-- but you'll have to practice writing without a solid back/writing surface.

For waterbottles what I do is I get a silicone bottle holder that hangs over the desks let me know if you want the link from amazon xx❤️

I use a roll cart for my water bottles called the 'hydration station'. It lives by my classroom door. When kids come inside it is one of the things they put away. I can then roll it outside my classroom so kids can use it before coming into the room. The only con is that they are kids and water spills occasionally, but I just keep it on the tiled area so it can be cleaned up easily. And being by the door, that water is not going onto their work. Hope this helps!

First year teaching second grade !!! I’m doing three grades this year so exciting but challenging! Ur overwhelmed girl get rid of some bulletins. Too much visual clutter…. Sometimes it takes years to narrow it down… redo the layout to fit more in… less is more.

Hello! For the materials that you have in the book boxes and cubbies have you ever considered chair pockets? A teacher on my team had them last year. I ordered me some for this year and I am so excited. it also eliminates them needing to get up to grab things.

Hey Shelly! I just bought this great, portable whiteboard that flips, on Amazon for $99! I was having the same issue with space. It's great so far:) Description: Mobile Whiteboard -36x 24 inches Rolling Double Sided Dry Erase Board, Magnetic White Board on Wheels, Office Classroom Portable Easel with Stand

I would love to see what you love and will never change

Use reusable dry erase pocket from the dollar tree. Put the dry erase in the sleeve.

For the board games, the iris scrapbook bins from Michaels and invest in the wooden scrapbook bin holder shelf. it holds 9 of those bins. also perfect size for a printer to set on top or student mail boxes.

Hi Shelley! Can you talk about student binders in a future video? Are they specifically for homework, class work, etc? And do you use a weekly folder to communicate with parents/send work home? Thanks!

You need tote tray towers for your kids. They each get one drawer, we use these in our classrooms and kids use the top for their water bottle and fruit break. They keep their white boards/markers/erasers in them and a sketch book and any unfinished work or pencil cases. I'm in Australia so I'm not sure what you would call the tote tray towers?

I've seen people use a hanging shoe pocket organizer for water bottles.

I would get a book case with the back case with three or four tiers for the books. Water bottles can be in a shoe organizers with numbers by the door. Get a sturdy stool from Lakeshore Learning. Get drawers for gaming section that can lock or something of that nature to put where the printer and other stuff is in.

Have you thought about putting their book bins on the long white cube shelves in the opposite wall?

Wobble stools are sturdy and perfect flexible seating!

There are some bags for board games, specifically for them, where you put all the pieces and then you just cut the front of the box so you quickly know what game is in the bag and leave the instructions inside. I had the same problem as you, but this was my solution. Sorry for my grammar and spelling, I'm not american.

You can put all of your games in the mesh zipper bags from Amazon. Put a small label on the outside zipper with a ring or zip tie. Takes up way less space than the boxes.

Yes please do a things you love video too!