Check your local library for book sales too. Our library sales are donation based, so I can go in and put in what I can spend and take as much as I want. Usually I make sure to do at least 0.10 per paperback and 0.50 for hardback. The money goes to fund their programming and they are constantly weeding amazing books to make space.
Thank you! This is so helpful. My first year will be in two years and I already get overwhelmed thinking about these things because I am not an overly crafty/organized person like so many teachers are
Girl yes! I’ll be a teacher in 2 short years and I’m like ugh I need to start preparing soon but I can’t breathe because I don’t know what I need and what I don’t.
For the photo box - I have 2nd grade math toothy task cards from TPT. I taught the kids to use it during independent time (early finishers, partner work, etc). It goes through every standard you teach per grade and it’s self correcting with the answers on the back! I pick the main ones I want them to work on depending on the unit and lesson. They put popsicle sticks with their names on it under the case they are using.
I got a Cricut Joy xtra for my classroom and I love it! It is small enough to keep in the classroom but powerful enough to get a lot of things done (personalized bookmarks for birthdays, prize stickers with their favorite characters, general decor, etc..). I use a hanging shoe /phone storage to hold my task cards. I label the outside clear plastic with the topic of the card… it’s practical and affordable.
I'm a reading intervention teacher, so it will be used differently...BUT...I love the photo keeper boxes. I have a box for each group to keep things like pencils, markers, manipulative, flashcards, etc. inside. It keeps me organized. Then I use my other ones for specific manipulatives...like I have a box for vowel magnet tiles, a box for blend cards, etc. I have boxes as spelling tool kits with things inside.. That way when we are doing that skill or I need them, they are organized and ready for me to grab for multiple different groups throughout the day. Hopefully that helps someone!
For photo box- I do morning choice boxes! Some dominoes, erasers, hashtag things from dollar spot, 24 piece puzzles from dollar store, different little things they can pick through in the morning!!
Omgosh I love the tool box. I'm not a teacher yet but I just ordered one of those - while watching this 😅 for my apartment. I was literally just thinking this morning I've got so many random small things all over the place that are driving me crazy. Thank yoou
Girrrrrrrl idk what I could do without my hand signals. I hate hands being raised to ask me for water and the bathroom. I honestly hate when kids ask me for water and to go to the bathroom when we aren't at the carpet!
I use my photo box but I have all the individual boxes out of the big box. I have sight words organized in them for students to grad during reading and writing. I agree the whole box stinks but having them out is much better and highly used
I wasted more paper by making copies a week ahead of time. There are numerous times I didn't get finished with the weeks lessons-for numerous reasons such as: snow days, fire drills, assemblies, accidents, behavior disruptions, etc ) and had to carry it over to the next week and before you know it I had a MESS of copied papers all over my room. A lot of them I didn't even get to. I'm that teacher that makes copies the day before so I know exactly what I need for the next day. Which means I'm the type of teacher that doesn't move on to the next thing unless the majority of my students are ready to move on. Also:: I NEVER look at my lesson plans or my empty planner
Love this video! Thank you for your input. I hope to be in the classroom by august of 2023. Have you ever used a digital planner? I have seen a bunch of those in TPT and get curious. I’m all about the organization so anything up that alley is what I’m about! Thanks again and take care 💚
Totally agree with the cricut! Bought one in 2020 and sold it this last summer lol. The task box/photo keeper I enjoy! We do task box Tuesday and I have two photo keeper sets filled with task boxes. Students work on them at their level for about 30 mins.
Our plans must’ve written in an online program that gets viewed by administration. I can copy links right into it, directly click on them and I. Taken straight to what I need for the smart board, etc… But honestly I miss writing plans with pen in a cool binder.
I make my own stickers, cut letters with it, and create vinyl labels with me Cricut every year and throughout . task cards are like math around the world task . no worksheets and gets them up and moving.
Bought that photo box. I did put some scrabble tiles in like 4 of the small boxes for guided reading spelling practice. Never used them again. That was over 2 years ago. 😂
I am barely starting my journey- currently getting out of the Army and just finalized signing up for college for this fall So excited to become an Elementary Teacher
I laminated so many things I thought would be so cute/ helpful and 90% of it I didn’t use. For example I laminated numbers and class job stuff and then once I got my class half of the jobs just didn’t make sense and now I just write it down on a blank piece of paper each month 😂but it works
I am in special education and we use a laminator all of the time. We have the same daily worksheets that the students fill out every single day. So we turned them into dry erase boards. I was using dry erase erasers on them, but after a short while, they were all very dirty, smudged up. I tried Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. Even when dry, they work better than the erasers made for the dry erase boards. Also, the foreign language taught at our school is ASL, everybody in the school takes one semester every year, (2 year middle school). So our non verbal students can communicate with many of the students. It works out great.
I use the photo box for small math manipulatives in middle years. It works great for counters/algebra tiles, storing number lines etc. We keep these small boxes stored in small zipper bags with other math materials.
For the task cards in the photo box, I just take out the phonics skill cards were using per every 2-3 weeks/units. That way the students don’t have access to the whole thing. I put away when we’re done until we’re ready for some review on past phonics skills depending on student needs.
Good morning happy Wednesday morning and I just wanted to say that your vlogs is amazing and you are sweetheart because you are amazing Supporter I loved your channel always
It’s so hard to organize the room at my school, because it’s shared with another teacher who teaches religious studies in the morning. So actually I onlyget 50 percent of the room. 😶
Why do the teachers need to spend their money on school supplies especially for things such as books?!!! Are they homeschooling?? What does the school provide?? How is this the employee’s job?
"When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive, to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love... then make that day count!" - Steve Maraboli
Thank you for being anti-pillow, big stuffed animals and bean bag chairs. The kids do not take care of them and they get so gross very quickly!!! I see all these new teachers who spend hundreds of dollars on this crap to make their room cute! but it is not realistic or functional!!! AND who has time to keep walking up to to voice level lights or charts to control voice levels. Just tell the kids to be quiet!! And I hate those affirmation mirrors. No one uses those except the teachers.
Thanks for the video. I really like your task cards box, it's so bright and not that big. I would like to use that when i become a teacher which will be really soon 😅. Although you said that you opened it twice, i want to hope such a box will come in handy for me as an English teacher. As there's a need in some extra tasks for children. So such a well organized box will definitely be a great idea to have in a class
