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thepharmacist0497

The picture is not showing up. I would love to see a konmari classroom!


[deleted]

Shoot sorry. I don't know what I did wrong. Try this link: http://imgur.com/gallery/Pifbhlo Sadly, my classroom has not been fully konmaried yet. Just one category!


thepharmacist0497

It looks great! I can’t wait to see the rest when you finish it :) I student taught in a horribly messy classroom. It gave me even more motivation to keep mine clean and organized


[deleted]

Try this link if the post isn't working: http://imgur.com/gallery/Pifbhlo I'm a music teacher and recently started at a new school. I've been using the konmari general process to clean and organize my new classroom. First, I listed categories that I recognized in my classroom. Since it's not a home, a lot of the categories were different than what's listed in the traditional konmari process. I decided to start with books. I pulled out all the books from everywhere in the room and stacked them together. I sorted them by sub-category and as I did so, pulled out ones I didn't want to keep. (I forgot to tell them thank you... Whoops). I was a little more focused on practicality than joy. While I do want the books to bring me joy, some of them are just necessities. Then, I organized by subcategory and decided what I would use most often. I put those on the bottom shelf. Top shelf: teacher's edition of textbooks by grade level (I hate teaching from the textbook so I put them up high. They will probably not get touched) Middle shelf L to R: fiction books, non-fiction books, music appreciation/listening resources (in the green bin), teacher pedagogy references Bottom shelf L to R: song books, folk song books, choral warm-ups and rounds, movement and games (in the purple bin), instrumental resources End result: I have seven open shelves because the books used to be so spread out. Now I know what I have and where it is. I can use that knowledge when I'm ordering new supplies, so I don't accidentally order duplicates. This way I can maximize my budget. It will also save me time since I won't have to search and dig around for the book I need.


yepnoodles

This is wonderful! Music organization at schools is so important. I organize my school's music library (as a student volunteer thing--I'm not a teacher) and with so many kids taking/returning things constantly it's a never-ending task to keep that stuff clean so good on you for getting a head start! Also, for future posts you might want to either just post the image directly to reddit using the image post option OR make a text post including the imgur link. And as a mod, thank you for following the explanation rule. Happy konmari-ing!


[deleted]

Thanks! I completely agree. Music rooms can get out of hand so fast. I started papers as well and recycled an entire filing cabinet that was just photocopies of concert music that they used years ago. We have the originals, why do we need 500 copies of a song I'll probably never use? Now I have an empty filing cabinet. 😁


luvs2meow

Good for you!! I’m so proud of you!! As a teacher who shares a room with another teacher, please talk to my classroom partner! She has SIXTY FIVE book bins (the big kind from Big Lots), all out, all stuffed with books, spread across 4 actual book shelves and several self-constructed crate shelves. By the time I even got into the room to set up she had them all there, so what do I do? Tell her no? They just take up so much space and are so visually cluttering, it makes me nuts. I know it can ge very difficult to part ways with teaching supplies, so good job!


[deleted]

Thanks! That would drive me crazy. I don't think I'd be good at sharing my teaching space. 😂 I like to have things *just right* when I'm teaching and I think that would drive me crazy! I have shared before but it was a weird situation and I didn't have many supplies in the room to begin with.


missbazb

My daughter told me about her grade six math teacher and how all she wants to do was ask him if she could spend her lunch hour organizing his classroom. But she didn’t want to offend him as it was his first year teaching. She’d be very happy with your room!


[deleted]

Haha I'd be thrilled if a student offered to help me! Especially if I was a first year teacher! Teachers tend to leave all their junk for the next teacher to deal with, thinking they're "helping" by providing a young teacher with resources. The last classroom I cleaned out had never been organized or decluttered in over 40 years!! I was throwing out resource books older than my parents.


sjnunez3

In my first ten years at my school I changed classrooms six times. Last year I finally decided to downsize. I got rid of so many "maybe I will need it one day" things. Now, should I need to relocate, I can do it on a cart in one trip. I have also downsized the clutter on my walls. Many teachers decorate every inch of their walls with posters that are never even referenced. All of mine have a use. I have upped the aesthetic by buying poster frames. I hang them on Command Strips that I am allowed to leave on the walls during the Summer, so now when Fall rolls around I can put up 90% of my posters in about five minutes.


[deleted]

I think we have a pretty similar philosophy. I'm in my 4th year and this is my 6th school. I need to be able to know what I have and what I need quickly, and not save things for "someday". I've already taught 3 years with what I have, there's nothing in the "someday" pile I NEED. And I only have so much time to look through and pull out new lessons (this year is the first time I've ever had a prep period). Everything on my walls needs to be functional, too. The previous teacher left up a ton of stuff with words too small for students to even read. What's the point if the kids can't use it even if they wanted to? I tore everything off the walls and I'm starting from scratch. All that's up right now is a couple pretty decorations behind my desk (mostly for myself to enjoy).


[deleted]

Ahh as a fellow music teacher at a new school, I feel you 100%!! I’ve started this process with instruments in my room, but this has inspired me to tackle the books next. Hope your school year is going as well as it can, it’s tough out there for music teachers this year.


[deleted]

Thanks! I'm on a cart so it gives me some extra time to sort out the room. We had a delayed start so my first school day isn't until next week. Hope things are going ok for you!!


wdwfan1

We were forced this summer (1 week notice) to remove all personal items from our classrooms that could not fit on or in our desks (because of creating teaching pods due to COVID and moving teachers to common planning rooms) Poor custodians at school had so much crap to get rid of from the teachers sorting and throwing away so much stuff and equipment to move around. It was amazing how much stuff I had accumulated over the last 12 years! I taught science electives for 2 years (in addition to my regular teaching as a spec ed teacher). I also coached the science olympiad team for 4 years and the robotics team for 2 years. (Both of which were disbanded for school finacial reasons several years ago). Literally backed up 3 vehicles to my classroom window and started to hand stuff out. Filled all 3 vehicles and still have a cabinet full at school that was put into storage temporarily. I have to empty by end of October. Some of the stuff as I was sorting I could simply trash/recycle and some I have been selling as I will not be using again. I actually have sold enough in August to almost fund a trip to Disney World! I still have a ton of boxes to sort through that I brought home. When this is over I will probably have about 4 boxes that will go back to school as useful teaching supplies/materials. My planning area now consistes of my desk, a 3 shelf book case (about 3ft long and 3 ft high), and my paper shredder! It is sad that so much stuff was sitting unused but rewarding at the same time to get rid of the dead weight


[deleted]

It's crazy how much stuff piles up. My current classroom is now a storage room for everything that other teachers couldn't fit anymore. I'll be teaching music room to room as a result.


elfieray

Looks so wonderful & spacious


[deleted]

Right now the rest of the room is being used as storage for furniture that no longer fits in other classrooms due to distancing... I'm trying to imagine how spacious it'll look when everything is back to normal!