Top Classroom Items I'd Die Without in my Kindergarten Classroom

Ok, dramatic I know but this year was a rough one for me. I FINALLY made it to the last day of school (YAY) so I am reflecting on the year since I just had my graduation goggles on. These things are all going to be management and organization related since I struggled a lot this year with behavior.

Ok first thing's first. I would die without my classroom sit spots. And THAT is not dramatic. I don't have the money for a cute rug, and let's face it sometimes kiddos are gross (lol). I don't want to go in during summer and clean a rug. These sit spots are velcro and they're relatively cheap. A pack lasts me two years! (normally) unless it was a year like this year where some extra spicy friends just kept drawing all over them and I had to replace them constantly. BUT! you see that's the BEAUTY. I just have to rip it up and replace it! Like i'm obsessed with them. Plus they make me happy. I'm going to insert a picture here of these wonderful inventions.

Number two, which is also in the above picture, is my classroom doorbell. You can see it attached on my lanyard, and you can see it plugged in under my smart board. I had a large class this year.. with a lot of things going on behavior wise and I just refused to constantly try to talk over them. That's where the doorbell came in. Now I know this is popular but I love the crap out of it. You can just click it over and over again otherwise it loses it's luster so I would click it maybe two times total and if they didn't get it I'd stop them and go over the expectations again. That consistency gave me a solid classroom management tool all year and as a result I'd die without that doorbell. I love my pink one, it's so cute. I attach it to my lanyard with a pocket back sanitizer holder (lolololol.)

Here is mine, if you don't have one definitely get one for next school year!

Ok last up are my center boxes and early finisher dry erase pockets. Like I said... Tough crowd this year so in order to minimize any unwanted behaviors I had to be strong on procedures, and they always needed to know what to do NEXT so there wasn't any idle time to cartwheel around the room. My early finishers always go in these dry erase pockets and it's an option for center may do's. LET ME SAY IT SO LOUD. EARLY FINISHER ACTIVITIES ARE A MUST. They get up, go grab their pocket, then practice whatever skill they're working on (name, sight words, numbers, etc.)

These center boxes aren't new either and I'll go over exactly how I run centers another time because it's like one of my top 3 teacher passions, but! I love these tubs, you get them at Michael's or on Amazon! They are technically photo boxes. I organize my boxes by month so they are seasonally themed and they go perfectly into my rainbow drawer cart. These help me stay SO organized, it's quick to replace them each month, and because it's monthly it helps keep students engaged and on task. Organization and monthly rotation of activities helped me manage those behaviors. Perfect? Heck no, but definitely assisted big time. I also linked the free labels I use for both my boxes and my big center tubs. Love them! On a plus note, I just brought my classroom home for the summer and want to know what was so easy to pack up and cart home? You guessed it. These bad boys.

I know I had an extra spicy group this year, and these things made it easier but they are just tried and true. Whenever we get extra budge for supplies these are the first things on my list to get for the next year! I just EXTRA appreciated them this year. Now, time to go put them on my amazon teacher wish list for next year!

Big hugs!

Chels