Being Brave and Showing You The BEFORE pictures of my Classroom..... Yikes!

Hello Friends!

With all the beautiful classroom pictures being shown on teacher blogs, I am a little bit scared to show you "my work in progress" classroom! But everything has to have a beginning, right? So I am taking a big breath and showing you what my "decluttering" is looking like right now......

So....... Here we go........... gulp............


It REALLY it is not as bad as it looks...... This is just one side of my classroom; my storage cabinet side. My under the cabinet shelves are not really designed for classroom storage. They would be awesome if I was storing pots and pans and cookie sheets in them, but I am not... I am storing laminated games, game pieces, science equipment...... Ugh....... 

This winter I was so exasperated with these cabinets. I KNEW that I had science thermometers, or mirrors, or a polar animal game BUT..... Do you think I could go right to them when I needed them? Nope..... I would take everything out of the cabinets searching for the item I needed and then when I found it, I would literally push everything back into the cabinets before the kids came in and the cycle started all over.... sigh.......

So...... I told myself that THIS year, this was NOT going to happen! This morning I started with a purge. I had some things in those cabinets that have been there since I started teaching kindergarten which was 20 years ago! I have no idea why I was storing things I did not need, so they were the first to go........ My next step will be to organize what I want to keep and label the boxes inside as well as the OUTSIDE of the cabinets.... Stay tuned.......

As I said, the above picture is only one side of my classroom. I AM making headway..... Here are a few pictures of what I have accomplished so far... I still have a long way to go, though! 

These crate seats are the perfect size for "little bottoms." I tried to get more of them this summer, but was told by Sterlite that they were a BTS promotion for Walmart a few summers ago and are no longer available..... so sad......

 Here is the beginning of my Hungry Caterpillar bulletin board. I plan to attach my student's photos to pictures of fruit and place them around the caterpillar. I just used squished up tissue paper to make the caterpillar and attached to the board with staples and tacks. Oops! Looks like some of the letters need to be straightened!
 Here is the beginning of my door. I used this same idea last year. I just changed it around a little bit this year! I cut circles from the extra polka dotted trim and will attach my student's photos to the circles. I will add the circles around the flower.... Eric Carle style!
 I am ALMOST finished labeling my classroom library. I used the Library Labels that I purchased from Maria Manore during the BTS. I love the clean, crisp look! Since this is not a close up picture, you really cannot see the labels, but trust me, they are CUTE!


So... that is it for the beginnings of my classroom.... I will share more when things are looking better than they are now!

Until next time!

Blessings,

6 comments

  1. I can identify with the mess and the "ugh" feeling. I emptied out my math cabinet before leaving for the summer and attempted to organize it. All my math manipulatives were on my tables and my partner teacher was laughing so hard as I was trying to find a place for everything.

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    1. So funny! My partners are so organized... I keep telling them that I want to be "like them when I grow up!" It IS hard to find spots for everything we have!

      Thanks for commenting!

      Cindy

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  2. It's so ironic that you posted this because I was just thinking, oh I would love to post pictures of my classroom right now, but they are dreadfully messy right now.

    I also loved those half size sterilite containers. I hope they bring them back at so,e point. I have a handful of them and they are perfect!

    I hope the rest of your organizing goes smoothly!

    Jessica
    www.coordinatedclassroom.blogspot.com

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    1. I love the sterlite containers so much... It really makes me sad that they stopped making them..... I wrote in my reply to them that I am not the only teacher who loves them... maybe they will listen?

      Thanks for commenting! Cindy

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  3. I love that you shared these pics!! ;) Your room is looking great. We should all share pics like that more often. Who doesn't love "before and after" pics? :).

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    1. You are sweet for saying that! It really was hard to show my clutter, but it's nice knowing that other teachers are in the same situation as me right now!

      Thanks for commenting! Cindy

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