In Love With My Glue... and Classroom Organizational Systems

Ok...so I know this is on the verge of the most pathetic statement EVER, but... I am in love with my new glue caps!  I can't tell you how many times I've said "A Dab'll Do Ya!" as I watch in horror as my 8th graders mound a glob of glue onto something that is about to be glued into the Interactive Science Notebook.  Now, I don't have to say it anymore and even better... my students think these caps are so cool.  Of course a few of the smarty-pants Pre-AP kids have figured out how to circumvent the entire thing by removing the cap altogether (they think they are soooooo hilarious...ugh, how annoying!), but for the most part, it has been a huge success.

But really, they are perfect for teachers who really utilize the interactive notebooks on a daily basis.  And as an added bonus, they don't spill out glue when the kids throw them in a drawer or they end up laying on their side.  The caps will fit on the 4 oz or 8 oz bottles.

So, here they are....wait for it......

AHHHHHH..... (insert heavenly angel music here)

I got mine at School Specialty (click HERE to be taken directly to the product).

Classroom Organizational Systems

I love my over-the-door organizer (it can also be wall mounted) from Simply Stashed.  Even though my arrangement isn't exactly beautiful, it is a great product and would be a great addition to any classroom (or home).  This one is the "Variety Stash", but they have many other shapes, sizes, and arrangements.

Check it out by clicking HERE.

I have built in shelving in my room (which I cover with fabric curtains to hide what is behind them more than anything).  I've tried using stacked document trays, but I never really loved them and they couldn't hold very much weight, without buckling.  This summer, I found these stack-able nesting bins at Wal-Mart.  I can print my handouts for weeks in advance, organize and store them in these stacking bins.  Things are easy to find and easy to take off the shelf.  No more stacking paper trays for me.  Click HERE to be taken directly to the Sterilite product.

Below is a pic of my paper hand-in area  (and to the right of each hand-in box (in the vertical boxes) is where I put all graded papers).  My students never have to ask where to hand-in classwork (tests and major grades are always turned into me directly).  And if they are wondering if I've graded a particular assignment or not, they know exactly where to go and check for it.  If it's not in the graded papers box for their class, it hasn't been graded -it's as simple as that.

And above that, you can see my word wall.  I teach ELL's, regular ed students, Pre-AP and GT students.  It's important that my word wall is friendly for ALL!  I think it's muy importante to include the Spanish version of each word in addition to some sort of related visual to accompany it.  You can purchase my "Forces that Change the Earth Word Wall Terms" HERE, along with all of the other word wall terms I've created up to this point (more to come as the year progresses) in my Teacher Pay Teachers store.  The vinyl pockets that I put them in were purchased from a company called Lone Star Learning.  Click HERE to be taken directly to their site.  I love these pockets because they have an area perfect for displaying your 4.5″ x 8″ vocabulary cards and a small additional pocket to hold either the definition strip or the Spanish word strip to accompany the displayed card.