Does your teacher desk look like a huge pile of paper mess? Having an organized teacher desk will help you in the long run. Becoming an organized teacher will help you stay on top of all the little things that you may forget from day to day. Also, being organized saves you time grading and planning!
This article will address 7 essential things you need to have on your teacher desk to stay organized. After reading this article, check out how I stay organized throughout the teaching day here.
1. Teacher Mailbox
This is a box or tray located in your room where students turn in IMPORTANT papers, like parent notes, excuses, permission forms, money orders, etc. All class work has a different place. This is the spot for all important papers that you need to deal with immediately. This way, these papers won’t get lost in the everyday classroom papers or lost on your desk.
2. Trays for Papers
On my desk I have a turn in tray. This is all the papers that students turn in throughout the day. All papers I want collected goes in the turn in tray every time. This way, all those papers are in one spot for me to grade.
I also have a stack of trays on my desk for Papers to Grade, Papers to Copy, Papers to Deliver, and Papers to File. If you want to know how I use these, check out the article here.
3. File Folder for Days of the Week
This is one of the BEST ideas I found and use to organize my desk. Basically, you have a folder for each day Monday – Friday. Each day’s folder you put all the copies and papers you will need for that day.
4. Roll Cart Drawer Organizer
I LOVE this drawer cart. It has ten drawers and I keep it right beside my desk. In each drawer, I have important papers I use all the time. This keeps the paper mess off my desk but I am still able to access these papers quickly.
I have a drawer for Copies for Next Week and Print Weekly. I also put materials that I will need for lessons for the week, like read alouds, that are too big to fit in my daily folders. If you want to learn more about how I organize these drawers, click here.
5. Desk Drawer Organizer
I make use of all the space I have in my classroom, including my desk drawers. It is so easy to throw extra stuff into desk drawers, but it can be extremely hard to find anything. I like to use desk drawer organizers to keep my drawers organized and easily find what I need. I keep office supplies in my desk drawers that I use all the time that don’t fit well on top of my desk. I also keep extra supplies or refills, like rolls of tape and staples, so I always know where to find my refills.
6. Supply Organizer
I like to organize the office supplies I keep on my desk. I love this desk organizer. I have a section for pens, pencils, post it notes, thumb tacks, etc. Having all these supplies organized on your desk makes it easy to find what you need quickly.
7. Desk Calendar
I love having a big desk calendar on my teacher desk. I like to write down super important dates, like field trips or meetings, that I may forget about. Having a big desk calendar is so nice, because I look at it everyday. I can easily glance at the day and see if I have any meetings that I forgot about.
I hope these 7 essentials to keep your teacher desk organized helps you in your classroom!
Remember, if you want to read a more detailed article of how I stay organized throughout the teaching day, click here.
On my teacher desk, I also keep a cup of brain breaks, click here to read more about that. Also, if you want to declutter your classroom to become more organized click here for 8 tips!
Click here for 6 Tips for a Functional and Organized Classroom Space!
Thank you for Continually Learning with us!
Kyle and Sarah
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