Desk Shmesk!

^^^ These were my exact words on the last day of school. While cleaning out my classroom and preparing for a new year of co-teaching (excitement!) my co-teacher and I realized that in order to use our space with small groups optimally, my  Mack truck of a desk would have to find a new home. With the help of a fellow teacher (thank you, July) we proceeded to push the desk with all our might out into the hallway and say farewell. Now, as it slowly turns to August I am wondering if this was a horrible decision. Yes, I have much more space in the room. But the paper clips...the stickers...the pens...the tchotchkes...the papers that need to be graded! Where are they all going to go?! My reaction to all of this was reminding me of one of my favorite "Friends" moments of all time. I'm pretty sure these facial expressions belonged to me in the middle of a Target aisle today...

I ended up pinning for an hour today in hopes of finding ways to utilize a small space while still remaining organized. Fortunately, I found some great stuff from so many dedicated teachers out there. One project I chose to make today came from the Tattooed Teacher and also 4th Grade Frolics (both incredible blogs that I suggest you follow if you are not already!). The idea is to create a small space for papers that need to be graded, filed, or copied. I won't lie...papers have piled up quite high on my desk (R.I.P.). I needed someplace to store them and this was the perfect solution. And since the combination of yellow and gray is my latest color obsession, I went with it!

I started with a set of 3 Sterlite drawers which each measure 8 1/2" by 11" (perfect for papers!) With Powerpoint, I created three labels (Copy, Grade, File) which you can download for free here and get creative with your own fonts! Here is a picture of the materials I started with, along with a picture of my final product!

 

Now followers...share with me YOUR ideas for how I can stay organized without my desk this year. Any tips or good pins that I haven't come across yet? Please share in a comment below, and have an wonderful

weekend! :)