By mid-year, the classroom closets that were once so neat in August, have become a veritable war zone that requires a hard hat and shield every time you open the door. If you are tired of battling with your messy closets, take charge and regain control of the clutter. The tips below are sure to have your closets in shape in no time. Start the year off right by using the tips below to set your closets up for success at the beginning of the school year!
Closet Organization Tips for Teachers
1. Clear Out!
Clear out the clutter, that is. Before you can begin to re-organize the space, you must remove everything that is in it. Drag those boxes, bins, loose papers, and racks of what-nots out into the open.
2. Purge
Get rid of the things that you no longer need. If they are still in good shape, put them in the teachers’ lounge as freebies. Old papers and dried out bottles of paint can be thrown away or recycled. The more you get rid of, the easier it will be to organize.
3. Sort
Now that you know what you will be keeping, sort it into piles. You might want to sort by subject, by the time of year you use it, by color, or by size. There is no incorrect way as long as the way you organize it works for you.
4. Contain
After everything is sorted, it is time to contain it. Clear containers with large labels work well for keeping track of what is in each box. Color-coding is also an option that works well for some teachers. Keep all of the math materials in blue boxes and all of the language arts supplies in red ones, for example.
5. Shelve It
With everything sorted and contained, it is time to put it back in the closet. The key is to make sure that everything is easily accessible. Try to limit what you stack on top of containers, as it makes it more difficult to keep those areas organized when you have to remove the containers. Have a place for everything and label it.
Now that your closet is organized and looks great, the only thing you have to do is maintain it. Take the time to put things back where they belong and you will find that at the end of the year, your closet will look just as clean. A clean closet makes it much easier to find what you need when you need it – all year long.