Classroom Organisation Teaching Resources

Bring classroom organisation to new levels with the help of teacher tools created by teachers for teachers like you! From labels for classroom supplies and storage to handy tools for setting up your teacher desk, this collection will help you stay on track this school year.

We didn't stop there. Keep reading for some organisation tips straight from the Teach Starter teacher team to keep your classroom ticking.

Organisation Tips for Teachers — From Teachers

1. Contain Classroom Clutter With Containers

Putting things into containers not only keeps the space easier to keep tidy but also makes it easy to remove only what you need from a shelf or cabinet and return it when they are done. This is key for organising your supplies as a teacher but also to give your students' clear spots to place items they no longer need.

2. Add Labels to Your Bulldog Clips

We all use bulldog clips to organise paperwork on our desks, but can you easily tell what that clip is holding together? You can when you add labels to every clip!

3. Label Wooden Pegs by Days of the Week

Are you planning out your week of lesson plans? Keep things organised with simple wooden pegs that you have labelled by the day.

4. Hang Things Up

If you're in a classroom with a lack of storage, organisation can feel like an impossible challenge. Instead of investing your own money in purchasing shelves, bins and more, take advantage of your walls! The more you can hang, the fewer things you have to store on your precious shelf space.

5. Create a Mailbox for Classroom Communication

Creating a mailbox for your classroom isn't just cute. It can prevent notes from students or even notes coming from home from ending up on your desk and potentially getting lost in that big black hole that glue stick lids go down.

Set up the mailbox at the classroom entrance and encourage your students to put notes from home in there. You can then check it at a time that's convenient for you.

6. Get a Sectioned Lazy Susan

Make sure you always have the thing you need right where you can reach it — buy a sectioned lazy susan that spins, so you can just use your finger to roll it around to the section you need! 

7. Create Washi Tape Outlines for Items You Keep on Your Desk

Outlining each item will not only remind you to place it back in the right spot but also helps guide students who 'borrow' items from your desk.

8. Use Binders for Assessment Organization

Assessments, trackers, checklists, student goals... all of this can become a little overwhelming and you may find you have bits and pieces all over the place. One teacher on our team keeps two main binders on her desk to ensure nothing goes missing.

She keeps Teach Starter assessment trackers in one binder. In the other, she keeps student work samples that she collects throughout the marking period to refer to at report card time or during parent-teacher interviews, or even when it comes time to recommend students for extra support services. Having these binders with everything together makes meetings so much less stressful!

9.  Teacher Mugs = Perfect Pencil Holders

This isn’t exactly a mind-blowing tip, we know. But we all struggle with what to do with ALL OF THOSE #1 Teacher mugs we’ve gotten from our kiddos over the years, and the answer is pretty simple. Use them for pencils, pens, rulers … all those classroom supplies that tend to end up loose on your teacher desk. 

How to Keep Student Desks Organised

Keeping your own space organised is one thing, but what about those student desks? Here are some organisation tips that may help!

1. Explicitly teach students what an organised desk looks like, and provide a visual that they can reference. You can take a picture and mount it on your whiteboard where every student can see it.
2. Designate a spot where each item should sit on your students' desks, such as 'folders on the right' or 'workbooks on the left.'
3. Schedule specific times during the school day for students to neaten their desks, such as before recess and at the end of the day. Taking the time to clear up your desk while students clear theirs is a great way to lead by example.
4. Do random 'desk checks,' and award students whose desks are neat and tidy with a no homework pass to encourage students to take responsibility for their desk organisation. You can also award them with one of Teach Starter's desk fairy awards!
5. Hold a 'clean out Friday' session before any Fun Friday festivities commence.
6. Add chair pockets to your students' chairs to give them extra space for items that just have no place to go.