What if the secret to a peaceful classroom environment lies in something as simple as classroom organization bins? Imagine a space where students confidently access the materials they need, feeling secure and independent. Discover how the right organization can transform not just your classroom, but your teaching experience.
I loved my student’s independence as they took personal responsibility for their learning and helped each other out.
“Hey, Luke, could you grab me a rekenrek please?” Luke’s partner, Carmen, headed over to the classroom organization bins where we kept our math tools, and got them each one from the bin labeled “Rekenreks”.
When you think of classroom organization bins, what are criteria for selecting what to use ?
Why is Classroom Organization Important?
The beginning of each school year requires teachers to establish expectations and drill routines and procedures. Spending time on these two things significantly reduces chaos in the classroom.
When students know what to do, when to do it, and where to find the tools to complete a task we nurture their:
- Confidence
- Success
- Independence
I love watching my students grow and mature in these attributes, and I love the impact these growing attributes have on my ability to focus on what I am doing elsewhere in the classroom.
I don’t have to stop what I am doing to help a student who knows what to do. Every minute counts in the classroom.
Pre-organizing lesson materials in bins:
- saves time and stress during transitions.
- allows efficient access and preparation supporting student engagement
Too many teachers have lost control of their classroom as students are left to their own devices while teachers search for supplies.
Effective Classroom Organization
I know, classroom organization for teachers does require time and effort up front, and it is not necessarily a one and done process.
- My initial labelling was awful and needed to be redone.
- Covid required extra advance planning in case I was ill, and I needed to create new buckets to support that.
- How do I support shifting themes throughout the year?
But when I compare the level of effort it takes to set up classroom organization bins to the amount of effort, disruption, and mental load that they save me every single day, there is no question at all about why is classroom organization important.
What have some of your classroom organization redos been?
Classroom Organization Strategies Support Instruction
Teachers are implementing a number of powerful instructional strategies with effective classroom organization:
- You are teaching students what organization includes?
- What is the value of organization?
- Highly visual or easily distractible students need minimized visuals for success
- Students are learning the discipline of how to put things back where they belong.
- Students are internalizing the importance of an organized environment.
- They are experiencing a teacher who is calmer, more fun, focused and engaged, as my overwhelm is reduced, and exhaustion and overwhelm are lower or non-existent..
- Maintaining a classroom builds classroom community .
- Differentiation is facilitated as students independently choose the tool they need,
Classroom organization bins and strategies support everything from executive skills development to differentiation.
Teacher Organization Tips
Are you ready to ditch the overwhelm? Student independence, as mentioned, reduces the demands on your time and energy. However, classroom organization bins also:
- Helps to eliminate clutter and piles, creating a clutter-free environment.
- Increases teacher time efficiency, providing more time for personal activities and reducing exhaustion.
- Facilitates your ability to be focused on the task at hand.
- Enables you to be organized for the next day. On the bottom of my teacher bin was the last thing I needed for the end of the day. On the top of the bin was what I would need first. I worked through my bin as I worked through the day.
There were, of course, things that did not fit into that bin. If we were using painting supplies I obviously could not put them into my bin, but the papers we would need for painting were in the bin.
Finding the right bin that is big enough to hold your supplies, and sturdy enough to last is essential.
What part of your classroom management could classroom organization bins support?
Teacher Organization Tools
To organize my classroom I used IKEA Trofast bins. (No. that is not an affiliate link). I had lots of IKEA bins around the perimeter of my classroom.
I like these bins because:
- They are the right size for storing 8.5×11 paper.
- Students can carry them easily
- They are so sturdy, and they are the least likely to break.
- I do not like plastic garbage, and I had too many plastic bins and boxes that became garbage.
- Broken plastic is sharp and poses a cutting danger to students .
- Trofast bins are opaque. Students who are easily distracted visually were not distracted by the contents of each bin.
- These bins come in a variety of sizes.
Classroom Organization and Management
An example of the organization of classroom organization and management is exemplified by my counting collections. Often when I was sick I would assign counting collections for my math class. Not only are they a powerful math activity throughout the year no matter what we were working on, but the students loved them and knew exactly what to do.
I had the same type of system for many of our activities and tools:
- Sight Words
- Phonics
- Silent Reading
- Writing
My system was very much a grab and go system. . . once it was organized.
How to Create Systems for Your Classroom Organization Bins
My Science and Social Studies Units were a bit different. The hands-on resources for each unit
were in a large labeled bin, and they were on a shelf way up high.
I pulled them down as a new unit approached, and I kept a spot for a large bin in the Trofast
shelving near my desk. There it would sit for the 4-6 weeks I needed it until it was rotated out.
Because everyone did word work at the same time in my class, I just pulled out the bin for each group, and they were good to go.
Each group was working at a different level, but I created activities in my bins each group could use.
On Monday each group received their words, and then each group would rotate through the same activities throughout the week.
Once the bins are prepped was hand each group the bin they were on that day.
About once a month I needed to make sure the materials in the bins were in good shape.
Teacher Organization Tips and Tools
Labels, labels, labels. That’s the big teacher organization tip here.
Business cards, lamination and velcro dots. These are your other teacher organization tools for setting up your bins.
“Huh?”, you ask.
There are many options for buying premade labels for classroom organization bins, but I often
want them to be editable to get things just right.
I discovered that the perfect label size was the business card size. I simply typed my bin names onto the labels and printed them off.
So, if you are going to edit them anyways, business cards may be the best idea for you as well.
Selecting Classroom Organization Bins
I like Trofast shelves and bins because:
- The shelves are designed to be at a height that young children are able to access
- The bins themselves are easily carried by the students (super important)
- I could buy shelving that is designed to fit the bins I was using
- The shelving is simple to build
- Shelves and bins are durable and easily moved.
I admit, my school paid for mine, and that may not be an option for you. To obtain funding for yours consider:
- PAC
- A grant
- A GoFundMe page
- Facebook Marketplace
- Garage sales.
These classroom organization bins were one of the best decisions I made relative to getting my classroom up and going.
Simplify Your Life With Classroom Organization Bins
Regardless of whether or not you choose Trofast bins for your classroom organization bins, I encourage you to consider organizing your classroom in a way that:
I would love to hear your thoughts on classroom organization bins, and how you use them. Share your thoughts in the comments below.
- Supports differentiation
- Makes lesson planning easier
- Builds student independence, confidence and sense of security
- Calms the visual chaos of your classroom
- Saves you time and energy in the long run both in school and out of school
What type of classroom organization bins do you prefer? Share your favourites in the comments below.
Related blog posts:
How to Build Transformed Classroom Communities in 3 Easy Steps
How to Unlock the Mystery of Differentiation in Math
Classroom Routines 15 steps for How to Achieve Counting Collections Success
Articles or Research Referenced
