Hello My Teacher Friends!

Welcome to the Organized Classroom. In this course, we'll spend 10 days together to get you and your classroom organized like never before. Don't worry. We'll do this step-by-step together.

Let's take a look at what's come and then we'll dive in. When we finish our introduction, we'll jump into Module 1 where we'll get rid of distractions and start prepping and purging your classroom.

Next is Module 2:The Structure. We'll talk about zones, floor planning, moving your furniture and creating teacher zones.

Module 3: Posh and Polish This is where we'll style and design your classroom. We'll do labels, post directions and some student supports, and we'll talk about how to adjust.

Module 4: Keeping the Boat Afloat. In this module we'll deal with your inbox, the one with all the paper in it, and maintaining order. Creating simple system fixes that will help you stay organized, not just get organized.

There is a bonus section you'll want to access as well. Be sure to get into the Facebook Group right away! The directions are in the bonus section.

It's time to meet the teacher!

My family has been so supportive of all that I am doing to help teachers be successful. We have a family of seven. Our children range from middle school to college graduate. It's been an adventure.

I've been in education for more than 20 years. I have taught all grades K--5 and have subbed though 8th grade. Additionally, I have been a reading specialist, a resource specialist, a student achievement specialist, instructional coach and a mentor teacher.

I love education and I'm passionate about helping teacher succeed!

I have tons of hobbies. I love to read, run and bake. Lately, I've been learning photography and teaching my youngest daughter to sew.

You can find my on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. I'd love to connect with you more!

Let's dive in to the Organized Classroom!

I have news for you. I've failed at organization. I'm not perfect. I did it ALL wrong in my first classroom. Way worse than you could imagine. Buried in paper and disorganization, I remember the breaking point.

I was all planned and headed home. I was going to go in early the next morning and squeeze in some last minute prep at lunchtime. Best laid plans... My day went downhill form the start. I'd forgotten to get some paperwork into the office, and it went on from there.I was searching for things, misplacing things. I was scrambling for things as I was trying to teach the lesson. Finally, I sat down and cried at the end of the day. Something had to change!

I started doubting myself. Should I quit. Can I do this? Am I really cut out for this?

I know you've been there. It's so hard. I finally just visited with some other teachers after school for a few days. I talked with them about their organization. I pulled what I thought would work for me, and I tried some stuff out. I re-did all of my systems to fit me. Certainly, I used a lot of suggestions from other teachers.

See, the problem was, I was trying to be what everyone told me I should be as far as organized and a teacher goes. It's great to have suggestions. There are some things that are tried and true and some that are really just your personality.

We'll talk about your personality in this course. Me? I'm not naturally organized. I'm a free spirit, a bit of a rebel and a horizontal stacker. I know, crazy. but, I like long flat surfaces to stack things on, and I work my way through the plies. It works for me. We just have to figure out who we are- curly hair, straight hair. Work with what you've got!

Sometimes in life we just need a do-over. That's what I had, a do-over. Figure out who you are and work with it, but be YOU.

Why

Why do you ant to do this? Are you sick to death of the mess? Of not being able to keep track of things? Of always feeling behind?

You are not alone, for sure. We all get to that point where we feel like we can't find our way out of the mess.

Teaching is a profession where we live at 100 mph every day. We live on our feet. So, it's easy to get disorganized. We need to create systems.

Do you have classroom envy? It's easy online, but even in our own buildings. There are always teachers who seem to have it all together and their classrooms look perfect and beautiful all the time.

You can have that too. Well, maybe not ALL the time, but you can get a lot closer to your dream than you thing you can.

Take the time to share in the facebook group. You have good ideas and things worth sharing. Others will too. Don't miss out on that.

There is a workbook. You can download it in the next section. If you'd rather print pages as you need them, I'll always let you know at the beginning of each lesson which pages you'll need.

That's it! I'll see you in the next lesson, Module 1: Getting Started.