Thank you to the fabulous Theresa at Pinkadots for making me a button! |
This may pain some of you to read. Feel free to close your eyes. I go through practically everything once in the fall and once in the spring and purge. Even though I have plenty of storage space (which is a luxury, I know), I just can't justify hanging on to things that I have no intention of using. Or that I have intentions of using and never do. All of my lesson plans from 1999? I finally let go of all of them except last year's. The literacy worksheets from two curriculums ago now that I no longer teach lit? Gave them to the teacher who actually wanted them.
Now, there were a few instances this spring as I was gutting my two filing cabinets when I wasn't quite ready to part with some of the materials. I let those stay. I tend to go with the two-year rule. If I haven't looked at it or even thought about it in the past two years, it's gone. That might be a little ambitious for some of you. Maybe some of you would prefer a five-year rule. Whatever works. I'm not the boss of you ;) Anyway, sometimes there are still things that I can't let go, but haven't used for a really, really long time. In that case, if I can scan it to my computer, I go that route and recycle it.
Which leads me to my next tip...
Retiring teachers. These lovely people who have been-there, done-that have a wealth of information that they are more than willing to share. However, they also have a ton of stuff that they no longer need that they want to unload. On you. That does NOT mean that you have to take it! If you can't think of how you would use something, just... say... no. Or, if you are like my passive-aggressive self, you will hang on to it for two years and then feel guilty about throwing it in the trash/recycling bin. (Luckily, no one in my building is retiring this year!)
Clipart from Educlips |
Now let's talk storage. My personal favorites are clear tubs, binders, and magazine holders (IKEA has really cheap ones at 5 for $2 or something insane like that). They just make everything so much easier to find.
What end-of-the-year organizational tips do you have? Comment below, or write a blog post to add to the linky! (No products, please.)