Sunday, June 16, 2013

3 Ways to Organize Now, for Next Year

I have found that it is much easier to start a NEW school year organized if I END the last year organized!
Here are three tips to help you get ready for next year, right now!

1. Plan out your projects for the year.

       I have a simple grid that I made once and just adapt each year. Its color-coded and allows me to see my entire year at a glance. Things certainly change and I rearrange/shuffle/insert/delete projects as I go, but this is a great road map to start the year with. The reason it seems to work is that I make this chart in the spring of the previous year. I can see what supplies I might need to order and it helps me see how the projects will flow from one to the next. And most of all, it makes me feel like I have most of my ducks in a row before the year even starts.



2. Organize your supply areas.

     I am blessed to have a large storage closet in my room, but come the end of the year, I just want to shove supplies in there, quickly slam the door and run out to greet summer vacation! But I know I will be so annoyed with myself in the Fall if I do that now. Go into your storage area, dedicate some time (30 minutes or so seems to put a nice size dent in such a big job) and just push through. When you find another chunk of time, clear out another section. It will be easier to come back to a clean, organized area next fall.

3. Make a Beginning-of-the-Year Checklist.

     There are so many things to do at the beginning of the school year and I don't know about you, but I'd rather walk around and socialize with all my coworkers and hear about their summers than stay on top of my to-do list. But all the fun stuff can still happen if you organize your to-do list ahead of time. Think of all the tasks you know you HAVE to do EVERY year: make seating charts, put up the calendar, type up class lists, decorate the bulletin boards, etc... Now, make a list of all of those things so that when you're done chitchatting and catching up, you've got a focused "plan of attack" for your art room. Here's an example of mine:
Beginning of the Year Checklist


Here's to hoping your school year has ended well and you're ready to rest and recharge so you're ready again next Fall.


~Amy

8 comments:

  1. Wow- I seriously HAVE to make a year at a glance now. Love it! I'm a visual learner so seeing your example really helped me!

    Kimberly
    The Learning Tree

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  2. This is AWESOME! What program did you use to make your Project Grid?

    Mrs. Flowers

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    1. It's just a table in MS Word. I messed with the borders and merged some cells as I needed. Once I got the format I wanted, it's easy to alter each year.

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  3. Love this, I teach middle school art and am going to try to modify this for a nine weeks course! Thanks! LKC @ www.cornwellfam.com

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  4. Hi. I am new to teaching art. Could you please explain your art book you use at the beginning of the year with kindergarten. Thanks.

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    1. I found an idea years ago and have adapted it for my students and my needs. The kindergartners create a portfolio of sorts, filled with their art from the year and we bind them into books. It's a great keepsake for the kids and their parents. Check out the original idea here: http://www.kinderart.com/artbook/

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  5. I absolutely LOVE your bulletin board planner! What a genius idea! Thanks for sharing. I love to be organized and your ideas are very helpful!

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