Organization Project: Wk1: The Before Pictures

Oh my goodness,am I tired. I didn't even have students today and I feel like a Mac Truck hit me. I had to lay down for 20 minutes when I got home. I think going to bed at 2:00am and waking up at 6:30am is not a good combination. Anyway, I'm here to share my before pictures.

Ok, I can't begin to tell you how embarrassed I am right now. As I was walking around taking pictures, I thought, how on Earth did I let it get this bad? Ugh, ok please don't judge me too harshly.

This is my biggest hurdle. My class library, reading center whatever you call it, it is a mess. I want to properly label my books and baskets for my students. I want them to be able to put things away in their place.

 

This is the first year I have a proper counter and I should say I have not treated it properly. I just end up dumping all kinds of stuff on top. What I really want is to make id a functional working space.

These tubs were great when I had materials sorted by class in them. However, I moved to another system. They became a catch all.

 

This is my little dorm room desk, that I got when I had a MUCH smaller room. If you remember this year, I switched to 2 tables in an L shape so that I didn't have an additional table for small groups. So I have used this small desk as more counter space. Again, it is a mess! I am so disappointed in myself.

I like the way I have my Writing manuals and my mentor texts here, I just would like to find a place for all the stuff I just pile on top of it.

This stack of papers are my students work, that I display. I collect it monthly, I compile them, and give to my students at the end of the year. However, I don't have a system for this and it is unsightly. :(

These tubs were purchased to hold my thematic units, seasonal work and centers, by quarter. As you can see I have not taken the initiative and started working on this. The goal is that I would work out of one tub every quarter. Right now I have just been stacking stuff on top. As you can see I have a problem with stacks of papers.

I also have little areas of clutter, that I just have to go through and eliminate and a drawer that I think can be put to better use.

Finally, this is my overhead center. Ignore the chairs, they are left overs from our holiday celebration. However, if you look closely, beneath the overhead, you see those white binders? They were donated and I snagged a bunch to use with my kids next year. I DO want to keep these, I just have to find a place to store them where I am not looking at them.

Because I felt so terrible after snapping the pictures, I cleaned up a bit. Here is what my little desk/ counter looked like after. It is not perfect, but much improved.

Also I got rid of the numbered dots on the carpet because they were looking pretty shabby. I didn't replaced them the floor because I will start using my carpet squares.

I did switch out the numbers on the desk.

Finally, something to make me feel good. I got pictures of my paper trays in action.

As Jodi said "Please take some time to offer some comment lovin." I'd love to hear what you have to say.