Supply Caddies and Two Freebies

I've always struggled with managing supplies, but this year I decided to create these caddies at each work station (table group).  In my classroom I have 12 work stations each with 4 desks.  In the middle of each station is the caddy with all the supplies.

Each caddy is numbered and all of the supplies in it have that same number.

The caddy contains 4 rulers, 2 Calculators, 4 pencils, 4 pairs of scissors, 1 tape, 1 stapler, 1 box of crayons, 2 CD's, 4 dry erase markers, 12 colored pencils, bottle or glue, and 11 colorful ink pens. Outside the caddy is a glue sponge, a tidy tub and 4 white boards. Clipped to the top of the caddy is a station number. (I've linked some of these supplies to the Dollar Tree because it's a great place to get items in bulk)

A few ideas for the caddies came from Pinterest and other bloggers:

★ Rowdy in Room 300 has a great post on Tidy Tubs - she even offers a free label.  For mine I just made sure the station number was on it.  These containers also came from the Dollar Tree: four for $1.

★ Teach Junkie has collected all the Glue Sponge Tutorials you'd want.  Again I got my items for this at the dollar store.  This has save me so much even with my 7th graders - and they love them.


★ Everyday with the Jays has a nice tutorial on putting pom-poms on the dry erase markers.  This saved me a step and an extra supply in the caddy.  They do need to be replace every so often though, depending on how much you use your dry erase boards in class. P.S. My dry erase boards are shower board cut in to squares from Home Depot.

★ One of the freebies I'm offering today through my TpT store is the station numbers that I put on the top of the caddies.  These have helped me to keep supplies straight... when there is a pen on the floor and it's labeled it's easier to put it back in the correct spot.  I've also noticed that when my supplies have traveled that other teachers will bring them back to me as well because they know it belongs to me.

★ A benefit of these stations has been the colored pens.  Students have made their notebooks and classroom work a lot more colorful.  This has given opportunity for great note taking, and added bonuses when they need to correct a paper.

Management:
I do a few things to keep this whole process in check.

1. I do have a "Supply Monster" come once a week - the kids don't know when, and that table group will get a prize if their supplies are all there, neat and their tidy tub is neat.  The second freebie is a Supply Monster Cards that I leave on students desks.  I have student exchange the card for a treat; usually a mint, smarter, or pencil.  My seventh graders love the supply monster and never let me go a week without awarding a work station.

2. I also have a poster (picture to come soon) in my classroom so students know what supplies are in the caddies and how they are organized.

I hope this helps you with your supply management!
Happy Work Stations!







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Painting... and Some Questions For You!

First of all... I know it has been forever since I've written on my blog. I am going to try to be more faithful to it, and hopefully when school start I will have a routine in order.

So... I have been in my classroom... painting. I had a nasty bookshelf that I wanted to bring to life. Here it is with the first coat. You can see the original blue color has dings and scratches and just needs a little life.

Sadly... painting is a whole lot harder than I imagined it to be.  I don't do it often enough, and every time I do it I think it's going to be this magical, fun event.  Yea.... no!  This book shelf needed like 3 coats of paint.  Here is the final last result.  I still have some more paint so I am going to do one more coat.

Like I said I think one more coat will make it look better.  The back panel is made from plywood so the paint does not get into all the groves very easily.  I'm not too worried about this because my book baskets will cover it up.  The next shelf was only $5 at the Re-Store (Habitat for Humanity).  I was so excited!  It was really gross and needed to be cleaned up.  I washed it down, took some of the hardware off and have plans to make a bench cushion for the top. (Like something I saw on Pinterest!)  I love the color, and will post pictures when it's all set up!

Okay, so here are my Questions for you!

1. I am currently reading the Daily 5 and I am trying to figure out how to incorporate it into a fifth grade classroom. I am looking for comments and resources from anyone who uses Daily 5/Cafe in the upper grades. 

2. In the Daily 5 book, it mentions getting away from having a desk. Has anyone gotten rid of their desk? I am seriously considering it.  I imagine all the space... and then I sit at my desk and look at all the little things on my desk. What do you do with all those things? Let me know if you've gotten rid of your desk, what do you use instead?