Student Spaces The Desk Fairy Will Love!

Don't you love those mornings when you walk in to an

 organized classroom with tidy desks and a CLEAN floor?  

We all know that doesn't ALWAYS happen,
but HELLO HAPPY when it does!

My students and I consider our classroom our little home
away from home and I remind them often that one of their
jobs is to keep their "room" clean.  Ha!

Here are some ways I've found to help keep my students
and their spaces clean, organized and running smoothly!

Teach your students how to be organized.

Show them how you expect their space to look.

What looks organized to a 7 year old may look like a
hot mess to me! I teach my class that everything has a home
and there is a home for everything. And...we need to
keep our house tidy because you never know when
company is going to come! Ha!

Teach your students at the beginning of the year where
to keep things in their desks. We stack our folders and journals
on one side with our supply boxes on top. The books
 students are reading go on the other side. 

These go in the middle and one pencil goes in the "pencil tray." 

Find a place for the little stuff.

I make sure each student has a 5" x 7"  size pencil box. I shop
the clearance aisles and even garage sales to collect these
little gems so I always have a secret stash in my cupboard for
students who need one.All of the "small stuff", crayons,
glue sticks, scissors etc. "live" in the supply box.

Organize on top as well as inside.

  

As every primary teacher knows, the younger the grade level,

the more "stuff" we AND our students have! Unfortunately,

we need and use EVERY BIT of it!   My desks are arranged
in groups we call teams. Each team has a table box.
We keep important odds and ends students use
on a daily basis in these.

Use foam shapes as coasters.

At the beginning and end of our school year, our Arizona
 temperatures can climb well into the 100's. My students
often bring frozen or ice filled water bottles. I like them to
be able to drink water whenever they want to

without leaving their seats, but those frosty water bottles
can make a BIG SOPPY MESS! Here's a simple solution

I came up with to keep our desks and papers dry....

I use craft foam shapes from Dollar Tree or Michael's on 
each student's desk. Students know that this is where their 
water bottle lives. Since my teams are color coded 
each table gets the coaster that matches their team color.  

This also serves as a visual for me when calling teams to line up.

Make neatness part of your daily routine.

Each day before dismissal have students do a quick check
of their desk and floor to make sure everything is tidy and
picked up. I make a big fuss over how nice each team's
space looks and what a fresh start
they'll have the next morning!

I hope you can use some of these tips to make life run

more smoothly in your classroom!  If you've enjoyed these

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