By now, that beginning-of-the-year, cute-new-classroom feeling has worn off, and our classrooms aren't as neat anymore. Do you know what I'm talking about?? No? Well OK, Ms. (or Mr.) Super Teacher! I sure know that feeling right now, and luckily for me, I've figured out a few tricks to having a nice, neat classroom EVERY. DAY.
My biggest help, and my favorite tool, is a classroom game that I purchased a few years ago on TeachersPayTeachers, and it was probably one of my most useful purchases ever! I introduce to you...
FIND IT AND FIX IT!
This game cost me $3.00, and it has saved me so many countless hours of tidying up, that I can't even begin to tell you how awesome it is. Basically, you create a quick, one minute game out of finding a mystery piece of garbage, and the student who finds that piece of garbage wins. It doesn't have to be garbage though--it can be an out-of-place object as well. The kids LOVE this game, and in 60 seconds, with no effort on my part, my room looks perfect. My custodian tells me regularly that I have the cleanest classroom of all the rooms he cleans. LET ME TELL YOU... we get MESSY in my room! If you saw my room during math, you would NOT think my room was always clean. If I'm being honest, you wouldn't think my room was the neatest one in my school after 10 minutes of teaching. This game makes me happier than I can ever explain. It also makes my life easy when a substitute teacher is filling in for me. Click the picture above to be taken to Clutter-Free Classroom's Find It & Fix It game. You'll thank me later.
I also give my kids class jobs to do during dismissal. There are TONS of these on TPT, but the above link is one that I purchased. This is not a new trick, but it's still useful. I think we underestimate how many things kids are capable of doing. They update my schedule by looking at my lesson plans, they water my plants, pass out mail into mailboxes, organize my library, wipe down our tables, organize my math manipulatives, replenish supplies when they run out (like tissues or bandaids)... they do everything! It gives them a sense of responsibility and shows them how much their effort means to our classroom community. I do model these jobs for the students, but it is SO worth it.
My last tip for you today is to organize your desk EVERY SINGLE DAY before you leave. If you do this every day, you won't have a lot to organize. You will be much happier when you come in every morning ready-to-go. It also helps for those awful days where something goes wrong in the morning--you'll come to work ready to go even if you're late.
Anyway, those are my tips and tricks for you! A lot of my friends ask me how my room is so clean at the end of the day, and I can't take the credit. It's my students helping me out!!
Don't forget to grab your Halloween math lab created by yours truly! Click the picture below to check out this awesome, differentiated, challenging math project!
Teachers, are you dressing up for Halloween?? If so, what are you dressing up as? Do you have a costume for school and a costume for home? Comment below!!
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