Teachers spend so much time organising lessons, classrooms, activities, creating, collecting and preparing resources. But where do all those resources and supplies go?
Over time, teaching materials tend to multiply. The worksheets, flashcards, craft supplies, charts, books, stationery and resources collected “just in case.”
When these stacks come home, they quickly take over Dining tables, coffee tables and even your kitchen counters are not spared. Slowly school stuff starts sneaking into your home. If there is no strict system in place then papers can easily blend with personal mails, bills or family documents.
As Home organiser my organizing perspective is “clarity” means everything should be clearly visible.
Here are 3 practical tips to organize your teaching materials and supplies.
1. Binders:
One of the easiest ways to keep your Home organized is through the use of binders. Organize your lesson plans, work for each individual class, teaching materials, and any other paperwork into separate binders. This will make finding what you need fast and efficient
Colour-code your binders as you need to segregate your work. But we don’t want too many tiny categories, to start feeling overwhelmed again. Simple systems are easy to maintain for the long term.
2. Clear plastic containers:
Often teachers save leftover scraps from the
Class projects like cardboards, colour paper, markers, ribbons, google eyes etc.
Eventually Closets, and bedrooms become overflow storage units for school items. Then starts the “teacher-struggle” to throw things away because they think, “I might need this for a lesson plan next year.
To fix this clutter use “Clear plastic container”. Throw in all the art and stationery in One single plastic bin. Use plastic seal bags to keep all the items segregated.
Now apply the ‘One-In, One-Out’ rule or set a hard physical boundary, like one single plastic bin. If your collected scraps overflow that single bin, it’s time to purge.”
3. Give home to Sentimental items:
We often hold on to our gifts and love showered by students on our shelves, which starts overflowing with duplicate mugs, handmade drawings, and small knick-knacks.
It is very difficult to discard them when you are emotionally attached.
Let’s deal with these “Sentimental Gifts”. We love our students but holding onto every single handmade card and duplicate ‘Best Teacher’ mug will quickly take over your shelves.
To fix this -Take a photo of the handmade drawings or sweet notes to create a digital memory book, then let the physical paper go. For mugs, keep your absolute favourites and donate the rest, knowing they brought joy twice. Use a plastic box or cardboard boxes for keeping a few most loved ones as a memory.
Teaching is an incredible profession, but your home should be your sanctuary and not an extension of your classroom. Which of these organization struggles hits closest to home for you?
If you struggle to let go or organise your resources, we are just a call away
