School is back in session everywhere and every teacher knows to start the school year off on the right foot, you need to have your classroom organized. However you choose to manage your classroom, one thing is for certain, you should have all your classroom materials prepared and ready for the first weeks of school.

For most elementary teachers that means creating all the lists, charts, labels and bulletin boards you will need to establish order and repetition for your students. All of the labels and charts you make will set the tone for the school year. It’s what the kids will look to for guidance, how they track their progress, and it’s how you will reinforce your rules and planned activities. These are things like your transportation lists (bus riders vs walkers), behavior charts, desk labels, name strips, cubby labels, activity lists and more. Your classroom probably looks like this:

   

 

By now you probably have the basics all set up for the first few weeks of school, but holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving are right around the corner. We know there will be many more activities that require names, pictures, and organization. Here are 3 things to help you get organized as you prepare your classroom for the year:

1. Make a list of all of the activities, charts, and places that require labels for rest the year. On your list consider all the things you’ll want to include like a picture, student’s full name, transportation, colors, table or group number, activity and more. Having all this information in one place will come in handy when you’re ready to start creating all your labels and charts.
2. Next, you can set up all your bulletin boards. If you’re looking for great bulletin board ideas, check out our Teacher Organization board on Pinterest for classroom organizational inspiration. 
3. Last, you may want to use software to add your names to so you can save time by printing them onto labels and templates. For those of you who don’t want to have to search the internet for downloadable templates, we have an awesome time-saving tool called Class Management Tool (CMT). After loading student names once into CMT, you can easily manage student lists, organize student photos and print pre-loaded templates like Table Name Plates and Name Writing Practice.

So instead of using Microsoft Word or some other manual process to create basic classroom templates, CMT Templates provide hundreds of customizable ready-to-use templates that can be printed or downloaded. Once the class list is loaded, it takes seconds to print templates and lists that are as unique as your students.  You save time and can discover a variety of new classroom themes to personalize.

Check out this video below. Our very own Rochelle Pokorny shows you just how easy it is to use CMT templates to organize your classroom.

 

Just remember, no matter how you choose to prep your classroom for each season and each school year, you are doing your best and that’s all anyone can ask for. The kids and parents will be happy with all the effort you made. If you are looking to save yourself time, click here to try CMT for free for 60 days.