Organizing Your Classroom with these 4 IKEA shelves

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I think every teacher can relate to the ongoing battle for organization. When we have to manage so much STUFF for so many little people, it can quickly get overwhelming! IKEA has some great furniture for your classroom that is durable and will keep you more organized. Here are some of my favorites worth investing in: 


1. Trofast bins

I ditched student desks awhile ago, and I'm never going back! Getting kids to keep their desks clean is a nightmare! They just don't do it. And no matter how many times we took the morning to clean out our desks and have visits from the desk fairy, there were always some kids that had a rat's nest and weird things growing in their desks.  So now the kids use tables and Trofast bins instead. They each have a drawer where they keep folders and notebooks, and it is at the front of my room. They are big enough that they can hold those important things but small enough that it's easy to keep organized. By having it at the front of the room, they can't have their hands in there all the time, and we have routines for getting supplies that give them a chance to get up and move periodically throughout the day. It's a win-win! They also have chair pockets where they keep a bag with a pencil, highlighter, expo marker, dry erase board, and their reading books for easy access. Trofast bins for the whole class can get a little pricey when you have a drawer for each student, but I could not teach without them now that I've done it this way! I've been using these bins for 4 or 5 years now, and I have not had to replace any. They're as good as new (maybe a bit dirtier, but otherwise in great shape!). Trofast bins are probably my #1 favorite teacher hack from IKEA.


2. Kallax Bookcase Shelving 

I use the Kallax Bookcase Shelving in my classroom library. I put pillows on the top and the kids use them as couches to sit and read, and I also have baskets of books underneath, so they do double duty as book shelves too! I use 3 as couches in my classroom library. Based on your available space, you can put them end to end or separate them. I have been using these shelves for 4 or 5 years as well, and they look almost as good as new. They are very sturdy, and the perfect height for my 2nd graders to sit on.



3. LACK Wall Shelf 

The Lack Wall Shelf makes a great book display! I put this at the front of the room near my teacher reading chair, and I rotate books that we are reading throughout the year. The kids get excited to see what is coming when I display books for a new learning theme. It's nice if you can mount this shelf to the wall for safety, but the current school I'm at wouldn't let me put holes in the wall, and I've never had a problem with it tipping in 3 years. It still looks new and it is sturdy.



4. Kallax Cube

I also ditched my teacher desk many, many years ago. Even though I don't sit at a big, bulky teacher desk, I still need a place to put stuff so it doesn't pile up. Several years ago I started using Kallax Cubes as my teacher area. You can leave the cube open (which I do on top), or use the fabric bins that fit inside to hold things (which I do on the bottom). They take up a minimal amount of room, but they still hold a lot of stuff in order to keep me organized. I've been using these Kallax cubes for at least 6 years, and they are still sturdy and look great. 

As teachers, we use so much of our own money to make things organized, efficient, and pretty in our classrooms. So if we're going to fork over the money, we need to make sure it's worth the investment. These 4 shelves have proved their stamina for me, an they're still going strong. They are classroom approved! And not only are they functional, but they're pretty. Several pictures from my classroom were featured in an article on We Are Teachers called 41 IKEA Classroom Supplies for Your Next Shopping Trip. Check it out! I'm the teacher Emily from Parker, CO. 

Good luck organizing your classroom!


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ABC Family Fun

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I've been teaching for 23 years, and I swear teaching is getting harder. I'm sure that is no surprise if you were in the teaching field before Covid, or if you've just been watching the news. So this post is just about unwinding, and taking some time to have fun with your family. Relax and enjoy the summer! I'm sure you've earned it. And what better way for a teacher (or student) to unwind than with ABC family fun? Try doing something different that starts with each letter of the alphabet. I've been doing this for years (before kids it was ABC dating with my hubby), and it'a a great way to try something new, get you out of your comfort zone, and have fun!

Some tips for trying #abcfamilyfun: 

1. Make a list for each letter of the alphabet ahead of time. 

I promise, you won't be able to remember what your plan is for each letter, and some letters take a lot of creativity! I check out local magazines and websites about fun things to do in my area and I take a day to write out all the options and we vote as a family. We try to balance it with things each person will be really excited about and things we've never done. You have to get creative sometimes! I make a list on my phone using Google Keep so I can pull it up wherever we are, and I can check things off the list once we've done it.

2. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money.

Things are SO expensive right now! There are plenty of fun things you can plan to do that don't cost money or are inexpensive. Be sure to include a balance of things. You can have a picnic, go to a free concert in the park, or fly a kite for little to no money. 

3. Big trips can include more than one letter.

If you already have a big vacation planned, make sure it counts as several letters. No doubt it is already costing a lot of money, and you probably have several thing planned so it should count as more than one thing on your list. For example, last year we went on a big trip to Mexico, so it counted as our letter M for Mexico, S for snorkeling, and C for catamaran (we rented a catamaran and went to a different island with a large group). 

4. You don't have to go in order.

Don't put a lot of rules on your family fun time, or it takes some of the fun out of it. Some activities that you want to do happen at a certain time, or your big trip is scheduled and it doesn't always match ABC order. Don't sweat it or you'll never get done! The point is to have fun trying new things, so don't worry about the order or how long it takes you to finish. We've been working on our current list for a year and a half. We should finish this summer! We do a lot more in the summer, and we fit in activities when we can during the school year. There don't have to be a lot of rules -- just have fun!

5. Be flexible and creative!

One of the reasons you want to make your list of activities ahead of time is so that you can move things around as needed. For example, we live in Colorado, so we always go to a Rockies baseball game in the summer. We can count this as B for baseball or R for Rockies or F for fireworks (we love to watch a game near the 4th of July because they shoot off fireworks). We pick the letter that fits best with out list that year. If we already have something planned for B, we call it our R letter. Some letters are tricky, so be creative and move things around until they fit in your list.

Even if you don't have any big trips planned for the summer, you can have a lot of fun trying new experiences! And then you have an ABC list to remind you of the things you did, because if you're like me, when someone asks what I did this summer, I can't always come up with an answer. I know I was busy, but I don't know exactly what I did! Now you can say, we did something starting with each letter of the alphabet. It starts an interesting conversation! Here are some ideas to get you started. Be sure to comment with your ideas, especially for the hard letters!

A

  • Art Museum
  • Aquarium
  • Archery Games - We haven't done this yet, but I can't wait to try it!
  • Alpine Slide
B

  • Baseball game
  • Basketball game
  • Botanic Gardens
  • Boondocks
  • Butterfly Pavillion 
  • Biking
  • Bowling
C

  • Cooking class - we did this at the Uncorked Kitchen! It was awesome! We'd definitely do it again. It was our first time doing a cooking class, and it was a lot of fun!
  • Concert - our area has free concerts in the park all summer.
  • Children's Museum
  • Casa Bonita - We went before it closed, but it's reopened again! Can't wait to go back and watch those cliff divers!
  • Comedy show
  • Camping - this can be outside or with a blanket tent in the living room!
  • Castlewood Canyon
D

  • Dinosaurs Alive! This year there were some dinosaur experiences we got to see with dinosaur robots that moved. It was really cool!
  • Dinosaur Ridge - this was our letter D a few years ago (can you tell my son is into dinosaurs?). It was really cool to take the tour of the trail around the area -- definitely something we'll do again!
  • Dinner theater
  • Dave & Busters
  • Doughnut taste test - we discovered there are a lot of different doughnut shops in our area, so we had to try them all to find the best! #1 Crispy Cream #2 Lamar's Doughnuts #3 Hurts Doughnuts #4 Dunkin Doughnuts. I think there are a few we still haven't tried!
  • Dog Sled rides 
E
  • Elitch Gardens
  • Egypt Time of the Pharaohs - this was an exhibit at our Nature and Science Museum this year which we did for our letter E
  • Ethiopian food
  • Mt. Evans
  • Estes Park
  • Exploding Kittens - this is a super fun family card game even your teenagers will play!
F
  • Film on the Rocks - In Colorado, Red Rocks Amphitheater has a series called Film on the Rocks. You get to watch an old movie on the really big outdoor screen!
  • Fireworks
  • Frozen yogurt
  • Farmer's Market
  • Football game
  • Food Tour
  G
  • Ghost Tour - I found a historic walking ghost tour you could take in Denver that took us to the old mansions in downtown that were built in the 1800s or early 1900s and believed to be haunted. It was a cool history of the area and a fun walk!
  • Great Wolf Lodge
  • Garden of the Gods
  • Golf, miniature golf
  • Gel blasters - there is an Airsoft Field near us!
  • Game night
  • Gaylord Hotel
H
  • Hiking
  • Hot Air Balloon - there are many hot air balloon festivals in Colorado
  • Hot Springs in Glenwood Springs
  • Horse back riding
  • Hammond's Candy Factory
I
  • Inventing Room - this is something we tried this year that we've never done before! The Inventing Room Dessert Shop is like a mini version of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory! We went to a Sugar Science class and learned a lot about cooking with liquid nitrogen, and we got to eat a lot of yummy stuff! Super fun!
  • Ice cream
  • Immersive Monet - this exhibit was visiting our area, but we missed it. There are a lot of immersive art experiences to try though!
  • Imax theater
  • Indoor Skydiving
  • Ice Castles - a winter activity that has been closed since Covid, but will hopefully open back up soon!
  • Immersive Gamebox
J
  • Jurassic World Domain movie - we did this as our letter J when the movie came out this year
  • Juice Bar
  • Jeep tour
  • Jenga
K
  • Fly a kite
  • Kickboxing
  • Karate Class
  • King Tut exhibit - there was a special King Tut exhibit at our art museum a few years ago. Very interesting!
L
  • Legos - we went to the lego store and picked something out to build together as a family.
  • Library
  • Laser Tag
  • Littleton Historic Museum 
M
  • Movie Night
  • Musical
  • Museum
  • Mining for gold
  • Make your own pizza - make your own dough and everyone in the family makes their own personal pan pizza with toppings of their choice!
N
O
  • Oreo dessert bar - this year we bought a bunch of different kind of Oreos and had a fun taste test of our favorites! You'd be surprised how many kinds there are!
  • Opera
  • Orchestra
  • Origami
P
  • Park
  • Painting class
  • Picnic
  • Paintball
  • Pirate's Cove water park
Q
  • Qdoba
  • Quandary Peak
R
  • Rodeo
  • Royal Gorge
  • Red Rocks Amphitheater
  • Run - do a 5K as a family. Bonus points if it's for a good cause!
  • Rock Climbing
  • Renaissance Festival
S
  • Swimming
  • Visit the State Capitol
  • Stanley Hotel Tour - The Shining was filmed at this old historic hotel!
  • Symphony
  • Scavenger Hunt
  • Snow Tubing - obviously a winter activity!
  • Smores -- around the backyard fire pit or the camp fire, smores are always delicious!

    T
    • Tattered Cover Bookstore
    • Trampoline Park - Sky Zone, Urban Air
    • Top Golf
    • Train Ride
    • Tiny Town Railroad
    • Taco bar
    U
    • Upstairs Circus - this is on our list this summer! It's a bar where you can do DIY projects like making concrete coasters, creating a leather pet collar, or making a butcher board. I'm looking forward to checking it out!
    • US Mint
    V
    • Start a Vegetable garden
    • Video games
    W
    X
    • Xbox night
    Y
    • Yard games - i.e., corn hole, bocce ball, horseshoes, etc.
    • Yoga
    • YMCA
    Z
    • Zoo


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