Guest Post from Queen G!

Hello to all you teacher-istas out there! I’m super excited to be guest blogging on First with Franklin. My name is Jonna, but my Kindergarten Pirates call me Ms. G. or Queen G. Hey, if the tiara fits, wear it! ;) I guess I should tell you this is my. first. blog. post. ever! Gasp. You would think with all the blog stalking I do, surely I would create my own, right?! Maybe with some begging and bribing, I might just give in!

I am lucky enough to work at a school that allows me access to my classroom anytime I want it…PTL. I spend 1-2 days (sometimes more) per week in the summer fancying (is that even a word?!) up my room. This year I will begin my fifth year of teaching Kindergarten. I thank the good Lord daily for blessing me with patience and a job that I love more than one should be allowed. ;)

My main focus this summer has been on ORGANIZATION. Ugh…even the word makes me cringe. I am probably the. most. unorganized. person. of. all. time!! This summer, I have cleaned out every single cabinet, drawer, file, tote, and container in my classroom. You name it, I cleaned it out! My rule this summer was, “If I haven’t used it the last 4 years then THROW IT AWAY!” Does anyone else have a hard time throwing stuff away? It seems like every time I throw something away I find myself a week later sitting at my desk with my head in my hands wishing I hadn’t. I heard Kim Adsit speak once at a Kindergarten Teacher Conference and she said, “I border on being a hoarder.” I knew this saying could very well define me if I didn’t part with some things, so I let the organization gods speak to me as soon as school let out! My main problem is that I can turn even the most useless items into something magnificent. Put something in front of me and I guarantee you I can tell you at least one way to turn it into something I can use in or for my classroom. With my latest addiction to Pinterest, I now seem to justify keeping even more stuff for those “just in case I want to ever make that cute thing I found on Pinterest” project.

Anyway back to my Journey into Organization…I found a bargain on 3-drawer totes at Walmart.com this summer. I found these pink (because everything is better in pink) and blue 3-drawer babies for $16 for a set of TWO! 

Can you believe it?! Plus my dad works there so an additional 10% off sure did make the final price look sweeter! My goal is to never again open a cabinet and have 50 million tiny items falling out at my finger tips.  I mean seriously…every time I opened my craft cabinet last year, pompom balls, googly eyes, buttons, pipe cleaners, sequins, and other crafty items were screaming “ORGANIZE US!” as they fell out onto the floor beneath me. Is it just me, or do other teachers have problems organizing their craft and art supplies? Thanks to Dollar Tree and Target Dot Spot, it seems I have accumulated more than the necessary amount of crafty items. For some reason I cannot say “NO!” when it comes to $1 items. Who can say "no" to a dollar? I have a little large weakness for Target and the Dollar Tree. Anyway, these 3-drawer god-sends helped me reach my goal of an organized classroom. I spent an entire week sorting pom pom balls, googly eyes, buttons, sequins, stickers, ribbon, glitter, accents, stickers, name tags, desk plates, and other art supplies. Do you even realize how tedious it is to sort googly eyes? You have teeny tiny googly eyes, tiny googly eyes, medium googly eyes, oval googly eyes, large googly eyes, so large you will never use them googly eyes, colored googly eyes, glow in the dark googly eyes, googly eyes with eyelashes…you get the point! I had all of these crammed into one bucket, so every time I did an art project using googly eyes it took me forever to find two that were the size shape and size. Just imagine me sitting in the floor of my classroom with a trillion googly eyes staring back at me to be sorted. All eyes were on me (literally – lol) and I kept thinking, “Ugh…what did I get myself into?!”

So, after a week of sorting and wanting to punch myself in the face for ever starting this crazy Journey into Organization, I can now sit here and say that I may just be the Queen of Organization. I categorized all my sorted goodies and put them into my 3-drawer babies and labeled everything nice and neat on the inside and outside of the drawer. No more supplies falling out of cabinets. No more cursing googly eyes in my head. No more asking myself “Now where did I put…?” Organization just makes me feel better! I can sit here and let out a sigh of relief knowing that I have finally found a way to organize my supplies, locate them easily, and make the most of the space I do have in my classroom. Organization has taken me by storm because last week, I bought two more sets of the 3-drawer babies to keep my students’ change of clothes, paint shirts, and gym shoes in. This way all of their belongings will be in one easy spot for them to find.

So my questions for you are, “How do you stay organized? How do you organize your teacher supplies, craft supplies, and other supplies that you use in your classroom? Do you ever find something buried beneath all of your junktreasures and think to yourself, “I have so many things that I just forgot I even had this?” Let me in on your Journey into Organization top secrets! I would love to know what works for you. I know the start to my journey seems small, but I already feel so accomplished. All this work and big accomplishments only means one thing…I think I have earned a trip to Target Dot Spot! 

- Queen G.