Extreme Makeover... the Classroom Edition

Well, maybe the makeover wasn't extreme (unless you check the receipts), but it made this teacher EXTREMEly happy!  I spent until 8pm Tuesday night and 7pm Wednesday night wielding a hammer and screwdriver to put these bad boys together, then organize all the math supplies to put in the canvas totes.  Why is it that when you are organizing, you always end up with a HUGE mess in the middle, and then you just can't stop until it is all put away?  Once I got all that organized, it left a bunch of old storage containers now being empty, so what did that lead to?  More organizing, of course!  Anyway, I love that not only is there so much more room in my classroom and the supplies are now more accessible to me (and the kiddos), but it's just so much cuter!  I've already gotten some compliments, which makes the time and effort worth it, the kids are SO excited, and it just feels good to be organized.  Here are before and after pictures:

Table 1 at the front of the room... old Saxon containers serve to store new math stuff.

Next to table 1 we have more math stuff on wire shelves.

Table 2 with more math manipulatives.

  Originally I had these tables for centers, and then even when I didn't want them anymore, I had to keep them to have somewhere to stash my math stuff.  I hated, hated, hated it that stuff was crammed underneath.  I tried using those red and blue bins you see on top of table 2 to make things more accessible to the kids, but it just looked so cluttered and messy, so then I stashed it all away under the tables again.

Here is the new and improved classroom...

On the left is the podium from our presidential speeches... the back holds math stuff!  This is where table 1 used to be.

Where table 2 used to be...

And a full view!  Love it!

I have to say that being a blogger now has led me into so many classrooms virtually through blogs that I was inspired to fix my problem area.  There are so many great ideas out there for classroom organization and I am so glad I put the time in to make my space more manageable.  After all, I do spend quite a bit of time in my classroom!  I know that no one will enjoy this quite as much as I do, but I hope you enjoy it at least a little. This is where all my time went instead of blogging and grading this week!!!!  I will have to catch up over the weekend.