Back to School for Teachers

Hello Teachers!

Can you relate to this?  Boxes upon boxes waiting to be unpacked into a new classroom?

My brave teacher friend asked for help from her tribe of girlfriends and we were only too happy to oblige.  Asking for help when faced with this much work is a good idea...Always.

I am so proud of my friend for asking...and receiving.

We got right to work.  School is starting in a few days people!

There were 2 rows of cabinets like these and unfortunately, partially filled with a lot of unorganized stuff that belonged to the school, including 6 cabinets filled with old textbooks.

Now, I found that ironic.  Many schools today have students using chromebooks and smartboards. Who uses textbooks anymore?  But I digress...we had to keep them.

There was some cleaning to be done; wiping out drawers and shelves.  We used old socks - BRILLIANT.

Discoveries were made, like this box full of goggles that aren't being used anymore.

Sorting rocks.  I.Kid.You.Not.  There were egg cartons like these, FILLED with hundreds of assorted rocks.

We all had jobs to do.

And problem-solving.  

There were posters.  A lot of posters!  They were in a very large laundry hamper, but that wasn't very attractive or appropriate for a classroom.

Since they were organized into plastic garbage bags by category, it made sense to keep them that way. There was one cabinet tall enough...and these 2 boxes just fit to hold most of them.

I have some nice clear bags I intend to gift her because...who wants their beautiful posters kept in trash bags?

The coat closet!  The rest fit on top in a large box.  Phew! 

It was like a treasure trove unpacking the boxes.  

The samples this teacher friend has for the students are marvelous!

I just wanted to touch everything!  

So I did!

And I got to label!  Eeek, my favorite!  

Hmmm...my labels aren't very straight.  

And what the heck is a psychrometer?  

Done is better than perfect in most organizing situations.

I love these metal label holders, they were on every cabinet door and drawer.  Get your own 

here

.  I am imagining that these students will be able to put things away as well as my teacher friend being able to locate things easily and quickly.

We were done a few hours later, this is all that was left!  A couple of boxes of binders to be placed on a shelf.

And at the end, we found homes for everything in the boxes and all the things that the school said she had to keep.  AND there was empty storage leftover.

When does that ever happen in a classroom?

The only thing left to do is to put away the socks when they're dry.

There is a tendency when moving into a new classroom, to just shove everything in drawers and cabinets and call it done in the hopes of getting organized someday.  Teachers will tell you from experience (there were 3 helping on this project), that someday never comes.

If you need help organizing your classroom,

get in touch with me

 to set up a consultation and get a plan.  I promise I'll stick your labels on straight.

Leave a comment and guess what subject my teacher friend teaches.  

The winner gets a drink gift card from Caribou Coffee!

Got Powercords?

Hello Friends,

Recently we were looking for a powercord to a techy device in a client's home.  After a cursory search of a kitchen drawer or two, she yelled, "Be right back!" and disappeared into the black hole most of us commonly refer to as...the basement.

In a few minutes, she reappeared with this armful.

Luckily, the powercord we needed WAS IN THERE!  

Ah-mazing.  I love when things work out.

But, the real question is not "where is the powercord?"  It is how to keep powercords organized.

Get ready, it's really simple.  

Whenever a new techy device comes into your home such as a phone, a laptop, a camera, an ipod, a TV etc., simply label the powercords with the name of the device before you use it.  Make this a habit.

IT'S THAT EASY!

Now if you have a pile of cords and you're not sure what they go to, schedule a date night with your spouse and do your best to match them all up to the existing devices in your home.  What if you can't identify them all, you ask?  Then throw them all out and free up your brain and your space.

If you find in the future that you're missing a cord, it's 

Amazon

 to the rescue!  

Seriously everything you need can be found on the internet.

But back to labeling....

You can use masking tape or  

white address labels

, but my favorite way is by using a 

label maker

 such as this one.  

Be sure to buy the extra tape cartridges too!

There are many label makers on the market today, and clients often ask me to recommend one.  I say, simple is better, read the reviews, price out the tape cartridges and be sure to buy the label cartridges that have the split back.  

It can be quite frustrating not to mention time consuming to peel off the label backing from the end of the tape.  

Must have long fingernails!

 With split back label tape, you simply fold the label horizontally and the tape peels off from the center.  Easy peasy.

  Labeling can become addictive, so buy a few cartridges.

Labeling ideas for you:  

Labels come in different colored tape and print too!

  Yes, I know I'm a geek, but I have to label my cords with my name or a family member may abscond with one.

If you're frustrated by which side of your itty bitty metal phone charger goes into your phone, label it with

IN

so you'll easily always put it in right side up.  

Because who can see the little symbol when it's black on black?

After you're done labeling the cord, then wrap it in a coil and use a

binder clip

 to secure it.  These come in different colors and different sizes too!  Use the extra large size for the largest cords in your home.

Next on my list is to label this mess of stereo cords.  I want to be able to unhook my stereo and hook it back up without any help from my techy oldest.

 I'm thinking of using the alphabet so I can match up the corresponding letters on the cord and the back of the stereo components.  Hmmmm...

Where do you keep your powercords?

Have you ever thrown one out by mistake and regretted it?

I didn't think so.