Children need a classroom environment they can understand and trust. They need to understand the routines and to know where to find things, they need uncluttered spaces to do their work, and they need clear, safe pathways for moving about. It’s essential that classrooms be well organized, predictable, and orderly, with a place for everything and everything in its place. Not only does this make the classroom pleasant for both children and adults to be in, but it nurtures children’s initiative and creativity, enables them to use and care for the space independently, and clearly communicates the message that this is a space worth caring about.
There’s no one right way to create an orderly and predictable classroom. What’s most important is that you create systems of organization that make sense to you and to the children, that you teach the systems well, and that you are vigilant about keeping the room and the materials organized and in good working order.
When trying to organize an entire classroom space, it can be difficult knowing where to begin. The first step is to release yourself from feeling that you need to accomplish everything on your first try. Instead, choose one or two areas to focus on. Once you see the benefits of your efforts in these areas, it’s likely that you’ll be eager to do more.
Below are some tips and tricks from Responsive Classroom Educational Consultants who have taught and observed in classrooms all over the world.
Getting Started
Work with students to design how the class will be organized! This means setting yourself up to start the year, but not filling the space with teacher stuff before the kids even get there. At the beginning of the school year, talk with students about their work preferences (places to be alone, displays, places to work together, etc.) and use their responses to inform a collaborative classroom organization. Having students contribute to the organization of the space and materials in some way provides a sense of shared ownership and autonomy.
Specialists typically have the same students year after year, so it works to have students contribute to getting the room ready for the next fall. At the end of the year, have a few interested students create new labels for organization bins of supplies for the next year; this can be a nice way to include students in the space in a really simple way.
Organization
With younger students, try hanging learning artifacts—like anchor charts the class creates together, the previous week’s morning messages, and current song/poem charts—on a kid-sized garment rack in the back of your room. This makes the charts accessible while keeping them out of the way. The kids will love the clothespins and the novelty, and you will love the effective management of lots of extra-large pieces of paper!
After teaching students how to use classroom materials, store them on shelves in stackable, open-top bins. Making them easy for students to access means you will never have to stop instruction to get supplies!
If your classroom has an old magnetic chalkboard, try this: get about twenty recycled cans, hot-glue strong magnets to them, and organize them with colored pencils, markers, and other specialty drawing tools. You can also cover the chalkboard with paper that has an outline for where each of these cans “lives” so everything has a place and nothing goes missing.
Furniture
In a classroom with a mix of tables and desks, wait to assign seats. During the first weeks of school, have every student try out both types of seating to figure out what works for them before they chose their seats for the first few months of school.
In an extremely small or cramped classroom, getting rid of your teacher desk frees up so much space. Once it’s gone, you will most likely realize that you don’t miss it!
Style
Instead of using an overwhelming amount of colors to organize materials—such as a rainbow color coding system or zebra print curtains—try using varying shades of cooler colors, such as blue and green. This will feel more soothing to everyone.
If you can bring in color with lamps, or window coverings, or signs, or containers—do it! But do it with two or three accents that you use throughout, avoiding a color bonanza everywhere. That can be really overstimulating!
Learn More
For more on this, check out our Classroom Organization Quick Coaching Guide (for K-8 educators):
