What I purged - a little late!

Most of you know I am following the Clutter-Free Classroom's project for cleaning and organizing my classroom.

Last week's assignment was to sort through stuff and purge!  I did work on it, but I'm not done yet.  That closet.  Ugh.  I think I need to get some unique organizing ideas before tackling that project. :/

But, let's move on to the areas I did work on!

Before pictures:
photo of classroom photo Teaching With Style  3rd grade organization binder storage
Teacher resource shelving area.  Overflowing, to say the least!

photo of classroom photo Teaching With Style  3rd grade organization wire rack
More teacher resources.  Many of which I never use anymore in 3rd grade.
 Drum roll, please..... The after pictures!!

photo of classroom photo Teaching With Style  3rd grade organization binder storage
Newly organized teacher resource shelf

photo of classroom photo Teaching With Style  3rd grade organization wire rack
Bakers rack - now has student supplies

photo of classroom photo Teaching With Style  3rd grade organization rainbow cart
EMPTY rainbow cart!! Not sure what I want to do with it now...
I'm really happy that this turned out so well!  I went through all my teacher resources and did five things with them: 
1) put some in a box to put in the school's attic for if I ever teach 1st grade again
2) gave my son's teacher, my friend Teacher Laura, some kindergarten resources 
3) gave curriculum TE's that I won't use to the librarian to be bar coded so other teachers could use it
4) put some resources in the staff room with "FREE" written on an index card
5) recycled some weird, outdated stuff no one would want! 

I cleaned out so much that my pretty paper can now be stored at the top of my shelf.  All my teacher resources fit inside the shelving unit, too.  I had enough big magazine files for each table group to have one for math resources (Workplaces book, Number Corner book, and a math folder).  I shrank down the adorable table signs from Lesson Plan SOS and taped them to the front of each magazine file.  Before, the Workplace books and math folders were on the left side of the rainbow cart and the Number Corner books were on the right.  Now, I can begin to think about parting with the rainbow cart! It was expensive, but I hate how the drawers always fall off the tracks and you can't store heavy things in it.  I'm sure I can pawn it off on a teacher at my school who would have a much better use for it than me.  

So now I need your advice - should I get rid of the rainbow cart or keep it?  Do you have one?  What do you put in it?  

8 comments

  1. Nicole,
    Do your kiddos have shared supplies that they keep at their tables? If not you could use them for that. It seems like you have enough drawers.

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    1. I have 3-drawer Sterilite units on each table for shared supplies. I like that it is all right there and they don't have to get up every time they need something. But, this is definitely a suggestion to consider. Thank you so much!

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  2. Thanks for linking up. You did a great job and I love that you were able to repurpose things like the file rack and give away others. I would probably get rid of the rainbow shelf if there is someone who would have a use for it. If you decide to keep it, maybe you could use it for math games. Do the trays slide out all the way? If so you could put a game for math or centers materials in each one and the students could pull them out to work on them,


    ❤Jodi from...
    ★★The Clutter-Free Classroom★★
    Helping Teachers Get Organized

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion Jody - I ended up giving it away to a teacher at my school! I'm feeling liberated! Haha!
      Nicole

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  3. What a great job! If you keep the rainbow cart, they are great for center-ish type things. In particular, the various Daily 5 activities (if you do that).

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion Heather! I actually have this really nice, wooden shelf organizer on the other side of the room to keep my Daily 5 supplies. The rainbow cart ended up getting the boot. Hopefully another teacher can use it successfully!
      Nicole

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  4. Great organization!! Where did you get your cute flower organizers? They are so cute!!

    Thanks
    Miss J
    Smiles, Crayons, and Endless Stories

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    1. Thanks Miss J! They are from Ikea a couple years ago - they are just cardboard magazine files. They've held up well for holding thin resource books!
      Nicole

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