What are the Memory Books?

The memory books are an end of the school year packet that students can take with them and hold onto as a keepsake. They are a great way to engage students in a writing activity at the end of the year when their minds are on summer vacation, cold popsicles, and playing outside with friends.

What’s Included in the Memory Books?

Each of the memory books include the following resources:

• A memory book cover
• 30 Different memory book pages to choose from
• Teacher letter templates
• Top 10 list printable

5 Reasons Why Teachers Love Them

Elementary teachers loves these memory books because of the following reasons:

• They are a forever keepsake. Parent and families LOVE them and save them forever.
• Unlike end of year awards, EVERYONE is included and feels good about their project.
• They are a perfect filler for those weird chunks of time that start to pop up as your schedule gets taken over by field trips, field day, and all the other end-of-year activities that take over the calendar.
• The pages are print-and-go, which will save you lots of time planning and prepping at the end of the school year.
• They keep the kids busy with a quiet and meaningful activity while you finish up end of year testing, report cards, reading assessments, running records or small focus group instruction before school ends.

How to Assemble the Memory Books

Below are 3 simple steps for assembling the memory books for your students.

1. Download the resource.

Download the resource from my Teachers Pay Teachers store. You can purchase the memory book packet by selecting your grade level below.

• Kindergarten Memory Book
• 1st Grade Memory Book
• 2nd Grade Memory Book
• 3rd Grade Memory Book
• 4th Grade Memory Book
• 5th Grade Memory Book
• 6th Grade Memory Book
• Elementary Memory Book Bundle

2. Select which pages you want to use.

This resource includes 30 different memory book pages to choose from. You can pair the printable cover with any of those pages to create a fun memory book. After you select which pages you would like your students to create, head on over to the next step.

3. Print, copy and staple the pages to make packets.

Print out the pages you selected, which will be the memory book cover and a selection of other pages. Every school has it’s own type of printer and copier, but you’ll want to print the materials you selected, make copies for your whole class, and make packets by stapling them together to form packets for each of your students.

In closing, we hope you found this information about memory books for elementary students helpful! If you did, then you may also be interested in the following posts:

• End of the School Year Books for Kids
• 5 Things to Do at the End of the School Year to Prepare for Next Year
• 7 Teacher Relaxation Ideas (that Work!)

The post Memory Books for Elementary Students: A Fun Way to Practice Writing at the End of the School Year in 2024 appeared first on Clutter-Free Classroom | by Jodi Durgin.

3 End of the Year Activities

Below are 3 end of the year activities for elementary teachers.

1. Read Alouds

Read alouds are a great way to celebrate the end of the year. Your students will enjoy listening to the timely stories, discussing them, and reflecting on the school year. Some examples of quality books for this time of year are Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden, Lizzie and the Last Day of School, and Last Day Blues. Check out this full list of end of the school year books!

2. Student-Made Review Games

Student-made board games successfully engage students in learning, create an opportunity to practice and review previously-taught skills, and offer students time and space to use their creativity and problem solving skills to create something of their own. Learn all about student made board games!

3. Memory Books

Memory books are a great way to keep students engaged and continuing to learn at the end of the school year when their minds are set on summer vacation. Learn about my memory books for elementary students by selecting your grade level below. They are an end of school year activities year packet. Students can take them home with them and hold onto them as a keepsake.

We hope you found these end of school year activities helpful! If you haven’t already, I welcome you to join the Clutter-Free Facebook Group for Elementary Teachers. There you will find tips and ideas for how to organize your classroom, manage all those pesky piles of paper, set up and decorate your classroom for the new year and much more. 

The post End of School Year Activities for Elementary Teachers in 2024 appeared first on Clutter-Free Classroom | by Jodi Durgin.

As I gained more experience as a teacher, I put a lot of effort into finding ways to work smarter and not harder. Teaching is challenging. There will always be a list of things to do. However, over the years, I came to realize the importance of recharging and the value it had in making me a more effective educator. I found lots of strategies that helped me to reclaim my personal time. This helped me find a much better work and home life balance.

The end of the school year for teachers is very busy, but you’ll want to squeeze in the five things listed below. They will have you feeling more prepared for the next school year so you can enjoy your summer days more.

5 Things to Do at the End of the Year

Below are five things I started to do during my contracted teaching hours each spring. I used to do them during my summer vacations. Not anymore! They had me super prepared for the new school year in the fall.

1. Plan and Prep for the First Few Weeks

The first end of school year task for teachers to do is to plan and prep for the first few weeks of school. It’s important to collaborate with your teammates so that you are providing your students with similar experiences. This is not easy to coordinate when you are all on different schedules and spread out in different locations throughout the summer. As the school year winds down and you have all of your activities for the end of the school year ready to go (including this adorable classroom memory book), work together to set your sights on planning and prepping for the new year. 

We always planned our first two read alouds and related activities. My favorites in 3rd grade were Judy Moody followed by Charlotte’s Web. Scoop up these Judy Moody activities and Charlotte’s Web activities! I love the message of friendship as we build our classroom community and focus on developing a growth mindset. Scoop up these growth mindset activities too! We also would copy and staple our writing journals, spiral review morning work and homework, and a back to school booklet of activities. They were perfect for filling those random moments that pop up in the first few weeks. 

The best part of planning as a team is that each teacher can take responsibility for copying and prepping a specific activity for the entire grade level. I placed everything into a copy paper box and placed it on a shelf in my closet and was ready to go in the fall. No more waiting in huge copier lines with the back-to-school rush!

2. Try Something New

The second end of school year task for teachers to do is to try something new. Is there a teaching method or educational practice that you’ve had on your radar, but never tried? Teachers often think, “Maybe I’ll do that next year”. Why wait? Your current class has established norms and is up and running. They are the perfect group to try things out with because they know your expectations. 

When I first started using a Math Workshop with Guided Math approach in my classroom, I was going to wait until the new year for a “fresh start.” Instead, I introduced it in the spring. This was perfect because it let me iron out the details, figure out the best ways for traffic to flow in my classroom and get feedback from my students. It was fantastic! Not only was I ready to hit the ground running in September, but it enabled me to identify and fine tune the specific math skills each individual student needed before progressing to the next grade. 

What have you wanted to try? Think about things like book clubs, reader’s theater, paragraph of the week, socratic seminar, STEM projects or perhaps even alternative seating and jump in with your current cohort. You’ll be glad you did!

3. Prepare Your Walls and Bulletin Boards

If you are fortunate enough to be staying in the same classroom next year, then you may also be fortunate enough to take advantage of the opportunity to set up your wall space. I always recommend starting with a blank slate at the start of a new year. Hanging fabric and bulletin board trim on your boards will provide a colorful backdrop for the first day of school and make it easy to start displaying anchor charts and student work right from the start.

You can also set up your schedule area, birthday board, calendar and any other year-long displays. Some teachers enjoy having their current class create a “welcome board” for the incoming students. If you plan to decorate with a classroom theme, you can use the time to print and laminate materials and gather supplies. If you are looking for ideas on how to set up and decorate a classroom, check out these other posts:

• Elementary Classroom Decor Ideas For Elementary Teachers
• How to Decorate The Classroom of Your Dreams
• How to Create a Cohesive Learning Environment for Your Students
• 5 Tips for How to Create a Classroom Decoration Theme on a Budget
• 50+ Classroom Door Decoration Ideas
• 50+ Classroom Bulletin Board Ideas for Elementary Teachers
• 10 Cheap Classroom Decor Ideas to Help you Decorate Your Room (and Stay Under Budget)

4. Fine Tune Your Procedures and Routines

Strong classroom management is essential to student learning. The key to good management is to plan, practice, and implement classroom procedures and routines for everything. Think about how things are running in your classroom now and identify areas that could be improved. Experiment with new routines and traffic flows until you find the ones that are most effective. Prepare a classroom routines journal by writing all the steps for everything you do. Include photos or better yet, video your current class modeling those routines. Show those video clips to the new class as you teach the procedures. It will help them visualize the expectations and make them a habit.

5. Declutter Your Classroom

The last end of school year task for teachers to do is to declutter your classroom. Having an organized learning space will help keep children on task and focused. It will also save you time and money by enabling you to quickly find what you need. Students LOVE to help and are perfect for tasks like sorting, testing markers, sharpening pencils, etc. Just be sure not to use class time for these jobs. I suggest setting up a day to have your kids stay after school and help out. They will be thrilled with the privilege and you’ll appreciate the things they get done for you.

I have tons of ideas here on The Clutter-Free Classroom blog to help you get your classroom looking great and functioning effectively. I would love for you to stay for a while and look around!

I hope you found this post about making the most of the end of school year for teachers to prepare for the upcoming school year helpful! If you did, then I recommend clicking the button below to join my Clutter-Free Classroom Facebook Group! It’s a community of thousands of teachers who are eager to share ideas and answer questions. Head on there!

I’ve written a companion post to this one titled, 3 Boxes Teachers Should Pack Before Summer Vacation. You can find it on the the Upper Elementary Snapshots Collaborative Blog. My hope is that the combined tips shared will allow you to enjoy your vacation, recharge your teacher batteries, spend time with family and friends and then hit the ground running for the new year.

The post End of School Year for Teachers: 5 Things to Do Now to Prepare for Next Year (2023-2024) appeared first on Clutter-Free Classroom | by Jodi Durgin.

Even if you have the best intentions of engaging and educating those sweet little minds right up until the final dismissal bell of the school year, the nature of June in an elementary school makes that goal challenging. The kids are riding their bikes, swimming and doing anything else they can think of to simulate summer vacation after school and on weekends. You’ll notice that parents are sending in complete randomness in the lunch boxes. They are also done arguing with their offspring about homework and reading logs. The truth is they’ve checked out too. Your already more-challenging-than-almost-any-other-career-on-the-planet job gets 10 times harder during those last few weeks of school.

But the good news is this is the final sprint and the reward for crossing the finish line comes in the form of Netflix binges, lazy days by the pool and the rush that comes with shutting off your alarm clock until the fall. You’ve got this!

I’m not only writing this today to give you a pep talk. I’m actually here to help you make the most of the end of the year by sharing with you a list of 5 things you should take the time to clean out before this school year ends. These small actions will help with your classroom organization for the new year. Read the classroom organization tips for end of the school year below!

5 Things to Clean Out Before the Last Day of School

Below are 5 things to clean out before the last day of school, so you can start next year with a more organized classroom.

1. The Classroom Library

Go through all the books. Remove any that are damaged. Repair them if you can or recycle them if they have lived a full life and are not worth resuscitating. If you are changing grade levels, store or donate any books that won’t be needed. 

2. The School Supplies

First of all, if you have any supplies left at this point you should do a victory lap around the school. 

And if within the supplies you have left over, there happens to be at least one glue stick that

• A) has its original cap 
• B) is not disgustingly sticky on the outside
• C) has more than a centimeter of glue showing when you crank it all the way out 

Well, then you are fully entitled to yell some obnoxious, “Boo yeahs” and “In your Face” taunts at your colleagues while you make said victory laps.

Have your students inspect and remove things like 1 inch, wrapperless crayons, inkless markers and color pencils that looked to have been whittled or attacked by beavers. 

3. Puzzles and Games

There is nothing like spending 30 minutes working on a 100 piece puzzle only to discover it’s really a 97 piece puzzle. Have your kids assemble the puzzles to determine if they need replacing. Have them also assess the game piece situation. Is Connect 4 really Connect 3? Does the Aircraft Carrier and Destroyer appear to be lost at sea from the Battleship Game? If your free choice/ indoor recess supply is hurting now is the perfect time to send a note home to families asking if they have any games to donate to the classroom.

4. Math Manipulatives

By definition, “hands-on” math means the kids are touching everything. After 9 months of learning, those things are grubby! Need I remind you that those 9 months includes cold and flu season? Enough said. Have you students sort and organize them. Consider taking things like unifix cubes, base 10 blocks, counting bears, links, and anything else that can tolerate a good soaking home to run through the dishwasher or else wash them by hand. Use antibacterial wipes to wipe down the others. You’ll be all set for guided math workshop next year!

5. Arts and Craft Supplies

Do you have empty Pringles cans and egg cartons oozing from your closet? Do the watercolors have more empty spaces in the palette than actual colors? Pull out all the things you’ve squirreled away. In my experience I have found that a quick email to the staff and my students’ parents enabled me to stock up on as many toilet paper tubes and styrofoam trays I could possibly need for a project with very short notice. Your closet space is too valuable to serve as a glorified recycling bin. 

Make the most of the things you have by putting them all out and letting your class create something fun. It’s June. You can get away with that. Let them use the nubby colored pencils and crusty glue sticks while they are at it. If you must, then read them The Lorax and fill in your plan books with some learning goals about the environment.

We hope you found these classroom organization tips for the end of the school year helpful! If you did, then you may also be interested in my End of The Year Workshop for Teachers as well as these posts:

• End of the School Year Read Alouds for Elementary Teachers
• Class Memories Activity for the End of the School Year
• What Elementary Teachers Need to Do at the End of the School Year
• End of the School Year Activities for Elementary Teachers
• How to Pack Your Classroom at the End of the Year

The post 5 Classroom Organization Tips for the End of the 2023-2024 School Year appeared first on Clutter-Free Classroom | by Jodi Durgin.

Summer vacation is so close you can feel it! Many of you will LITERALLY feel it soon because your classroom does not have air conditioning. You’ll have a classroom full of hot and sweaty children who are just as ready for summer as you are. Sound familiar? When that happens, turn those lights off and put that little fan you brought from home on full blast. Those are the signs that you’re almost there!

As you try to survive the hustle and bustle of the end of the school year, remember to set aside time to pack up your classroom for the summer so you can leave on your final contracted day and get a jump start on your well-deserved summer vacation. Yahoo!

Over time, I have developed a 4 step system for how to pack up your classroom at the end of the school year. These simple steps will help reduce stress at the end of the year and kickstart your summer. Read below to learn more!

4 Steps for How to Pack Up Your Classroom

Below are 4 simple steps for how to pack up your elementary classroom.

Step 1: Purge Your Clutter Before Packing

The first step for how to pack up your classroom is to purge. The more you get rid of, the less you need to manage and organize. This will be especially helpful in the fall when you come in to start the new year. You want to start off recharged and refreshed and not frazzled and overwhelmed. As you go through the items, don’t look at the items you have with “retail value” eyes. 

Instead, look at them as “what value do they have to me?” An item that is free may actually come at a price, that price being your sanity, your space, or your time. 

When someone gives you something and it’s in perfect condition, it can seem like a waste to throw it out. It’s hard to part with it. However, it will be a burden if you don’t use it. If you are on the fence about parting with something, consider giving it to a colleague who can use it and borrow it from them if or when you need it. Chances are you won’t.

Below are some things to consider when you pack up your classroom.

Get containers for the items coming home with you.

This would include personal items that you want to keep safe along with curriculum you may want to use for planning over the summer. I recommend clear, plastic tubs because they are sturdy, offer a defined (translation: limited) amount of space and you can see inside easily. Put these items into the designated tubs as you come across them. You won’t lose them in the shuffle as a result.

Get big, sturdy, trash bags.

I like the contractor bags from Home Depot. You may be placing heavy objects inside and you won’t have time for picking up the contents of ripped bags.

Gather boxes for donations/giveaways.

Copy paper boxes work well. They are uniform in size and have lids. You can easily stack them because of these characteristics.

Talk to your principal about designating a space for giveaways.

At this time of year, many teachers are purging. See if you can set up a table outside your classroom for other teachers to pick from or perhaps even in the teacher’s room or work room. Send an email to the staff letting them know that there will be items available throughout the week.

Set aside extra time in your schedule.

If you can, go back to the classroom to work at night or extra early in the morning. Your mind will be clear and you will have less distractions.

Enlist the help of a “runner.”

This can be a friend, former student, etc. Have that person take the items from you to their new spots (trash, recycle, donate, take home, etc) and scurry back to you for the next item. This will save you lots of valuable time because you’re attention can remain focused on the act of purging while your runner can be in charge of simply moving things along. 

Pick a starting point and quickly work your way around the room until you get back to the starting point.

Be brutal about what you choose to keep. Remember an item is only valuable if it is of use to you and your students. If you come across an item that is a duplicate to another you already own keep only the better one.

Go around a second time once you make it all the way around.

This time will be faster, but you’ll find that you will want to get rid of things that made the “first cut” after giving it another glance.

Remove the unwanted items from your space immediately.

As soon as a container is filled, remove it from your space immediately. Again, this is where having a runner will save you lots of time. As your space becomes cluttered with boxes/bags you’ll feel more overwhelmed. Keeping the space as clear as possible will help a lot.

Break the room into zones and set time limits.

You can break is down to one wall or even one shelf. You can decide what works best for you. Work to music and challenge yourself to finish before a song ends. Set a timer and “beat the clock”. The need to move fast helps keep the overwhelmed feeling away.

Step 2: Pack Up the Materials

The second step for how to pack up your classroom is to pack up the materials. Packing up for the summer is one of those topics that I find varies greatly by school. I am fortunate that my classroom remains mostly intact. The summer cleaning crew does remove all the furniture to clean the rugs and floors so I usually move all non-furniture items up onto counters and shelves, but otherwise my stuff can stay put. However, I know many teachers who have to pack EVERYTHING into boxes that are in storage for the summer. I have even encountered teachers that take it all home. Pick and choose from the ideas below for how to pack up your classroom so that you can find what relates to your unique situation.

Snap photos.

If you are happy with your classroom and intend to set it up the same way in the fall, be sure to take pictures before you begin packing things up. Take them from all angles. Document the placement of items on shelves. Make life even easier by keeping them on your phone so they are easily accessible when you come back to set up. Do this before you pack a single thing.

Use clear tubs for take-home items.

I always recommend packing the items you’ll be taking home for the summer (curriculum to use for lesson plans, personal items, etc) in clear, plastic tubs. It’s easy to see what you have. They are sturdy. You can reuse them. Most importantly, they are much better at keeping moisture away and protect the contents than boxes or open crates. This is important because although you pack it up with intention of getting lots done in the summer, these boxes often find their way into basements and garages and are forgotten until the fall. You want to be extra careful with district-owned materials.

Create a “need right away” box.

Make the box easy to find by using bright paint or paper on it to stand out. Put in only those items you’ll need when you initially walk into your classroom to start setting up in the fall (staples and a stapler for bulletin boards, scissors, things you’ve bought to decorate the classroom, etc). You may want to include cleaning supplies in this box.

Create a “personal” box.

Use it to house all of your photos, knick-knacks, etc. Put it somewhere safe and out of reach. 

Think about how your classroom will be used.

Will your room be left alone in the summer? Will another teacher be using it for summer school? Is it possible that people will have access to your things? This will determine how much you need to pack away. If you have anything of value, you’ll want to find a place to secure it. If you are just concerned about others “borrowing” your things, you can simply put them in a box and secure it with duct tape or tie it with string that would need to be cut to access. This will deter unwanted borrowing.

Take inventory.

Be aware of what you have and what you’ll need more of. I created a FREE resource a couple years ago for my blog readers and TPT store customers titled The Ultimate Back-To-School Shopping List. Feel free to print it and keep it handy when packing so that you are prepared for the summer sales.

Keep like items together.

You want to be efficient when you set up your classroom for the new year. Don’t make your future days more challenging by shoving things into random boxes now. Have a plan. Pack with unpacking in mind.

Label and color code your boxes.

When my family moved to our current home, I purchased colored packing tape that was labeled with the words designating their destination (bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, etc). Awesome invention! Use colored tape, paper or paint to mark your boxes. This is especially important if you are moving classrooms or schools. 

Number your boxes.

Record a number onto each box and quickly jot down the contents. I recommend using a computer or notes on a tablet or phone. This will make it easier to prioritize your unpacking.

Keep district-owned materials in one location.

In the unlikely event that something prevents you from returning to the classroom in the fall (unexpected illness or accident, spousal job transfer, last minute school/classroom change), it will be helpful to have everything that belongs to the school separated from your own materials. This is especially important if you are one of those teachers who needs to pack EVERYTHING before leaving.

Step 3: Get the Classroom Ready for Summer Break

The third step for how to pack up your classroom is to get the space ready for summer break.

Leave a map.

Avoid having your cleaning crew drag all the furniture into the hall and then just plop it back in anywhere by leaving a map or pictures. They clean lots and lots of rooms and I’m sure to them, they all start to look the same. If you want the furniture returned to your choice location, draw an easy-to-read map and/or leave photos. I’ve seen teachers sketch it out on the whiteboard, but I think taping them to your door is the best place to leave them. 

Leave your photos.

One of my tips in step two was to take photos of your classroom so you can see where everything goes. These pictures can be helpful to the custodial staff as well. Print them and hang them on the door. Don’t forget to include a note of gratitude.

Label.

I love labels in any situation, but when it comes to summer at school it is extremely important. Oftentimes, the cleaning crew drags everything into the hall from several classrooms. They do this so they can clean many rooms at once. Increase the likelihood that you’ll get back your own tables, chairs and other furniture by labeling each piece. Painters tape works great for this because it peels off without residue. I recommend labeling it with your name and room number.

Clean.

You’ll need to “reclean” in the fall, but a quick dusting, wipe and shine now will make that process easier. Be sure to remove any food items from the classroom to prevent unwanted pests. This especially applies to lockers, cubbies, desks and any other nooks and crannies of the classroom where your little cherubs may have accidentally left a snack.

Pull the shades.

If your classroom will not be in use over the summer, pull down your shades to keep the sun from fading materials.

Store cords and cables.

The cleaning crew may need to move computers and other technology around. Avoid losing important pieces by removing them and storing them together. You’ll want to store the pens and eraser from your interactive boards in this location as well.

Move everything off of the floors.

Use counter space to hold baskets and smaller furniture items. This will make the cleaning crew’s job easier. Your belongings are also less likely to break or go missing.

Roll up rugs.

Secure the rolled rug with duct tape. This ensures it doesn’t come undone when it is moved.

Team up with a friend.

Many things are easier moved and prepared with extra hands. Have a colleague work with you in your room and then return the favor in their room.

Protect student confidentiality.

Make sure student records, reports, notes, tests, etc are all relocated to a safe and secure location. Shred documents that can be shredded. 

Cover boards and open shelves.

Prevent damage and dust by covering open shelving and displays before you leave. Plastic trash bags are a great option to use for this task because they can be reused for their intended purpose after the summer.

Step 4: Prepare for Next Year

The final step for how to pack up your classroom is to prepare the space for next year. If you’ll be returning to the same classroom in the fall, there are several steps you can take if you have the time that will make things easier when you come back. 

Prepare bulletin boards

Hang fabric and borders. Having fabric and border will make the classroom look neat and ready.

Take measurements

Measure shelves, tables, closets, desks, boards, wall space, etc. Keep these measurements handy, such as in your purse or on your phone so you can use them during the summer. They’ll be useful for planning how you want to set up your room and also for when you are out and about looking to buy containers or make projects.

Label

If you have a class list before you leave, you can prepare name tags, cubby labels, and any other items that you’d like to label with names. Even if you don’t hang them it will be nice to have them in the room and ready to go and not cluttering your house all summer.

Create files

I always encourage teachers to use a number system instead of student names where appropriate. Obviously you don’t want their cubby reading “Student #19” as that seems extremely impersonal and unwelcoming, but your files, student folders, book bags, parent communication note files, etc, can be set up with numbers. Go ahead and do that now.

Copy and prep

Beat the crowds at the copiers and laminators. Make copies and prep materials for next year. Take advantage of parent volunteers who have proven to be competent and helpful at tasks like these and ask them to lend a hand. This is especially useful if you have taught the same grade in the past and know what you’ll be using.

Enlist student help

Have some student volunteers stay after school to help with some off jobs. Kids are great at checking puzzles for lost pieces, organizing craft supplies, testing markers, sharpening pencils, and completing similar tasks.

20+ Tips for Packing Up Your Classroom

I hope you found the 4 steps above for how to pack up your classroom helpful! Below there are a compilation of ideas. Readers generously shared them through the CFC Facebook Page. I always love reading the responses to the questions over there! It’s amazing how different teaching is in different states and districts. The tips below were in response to a question about packing and moving a classroom.

1. “Our district’s teacher’s union is doing a “free to new teachers” garage sale. They are collecting anything any teacher doesn’t want at the end of the year and housing it until early August when they are inviting new teachers to come shop for FREE. I think this is a great idea.” – Anne
2. “A lot of good advice here, but be careful about the students you ask to help and make sure you give them clear instructions or else you’ll be REDOING all their work! I have learned this the hard way.” – Jennifer
3. “Get the BIGGEST plastic tubs you can find and label, label, label. Middle school kiddos love to help & LOVE movie gift cards.” – Mike & Mary
4. “I had a week to go through floor to ceilings of what a retired teacher left me. Save yourself and label boxes once packing is done. While going through items now, get rid of whatever you won’t use. It will save you time in those 3 days. If you can’t get through box, store it up high and get to it when you can.” – Alana
5. “Labeling, Colored dots to indicate subject areas, something to indicate whether boxes are priority (teacher’s desk, things for back to school), everything that is not used at beginning of year goes home. Everything that you need to sort out goes home. Only 1-2 hard copies of any papers. Do it gradually if possible – I stayed after school 2 hours a night for a month so that I would keep my sanity and stamina. Give yourself rewards for doing this hard work. Use one or two really good helpers. Have lots of tape and lots of sizes of boxes and tubs. Good luck!!” – Mary
6. “After 39 years of teaching I just do my best. Sometimes I have loaded it up and gone through it at home. Not my husbands fav but it saves my sanity! Good luck!” – Eileen
7. “I helped my mentee clean out his room by emptying all his cabinets into piles in the floor by subject. We then sorted trash and give-aways to other grade levels, then put everything away in a place that makes sense. I think it had been at least 10 years since some cabinets had been cleaned out!” – Stacy
8. “I’ve moved a lot over the yrs too, plus having to pack everything & store it elsewhere while walls were being built in our Pod (finally- a classroom with 4 walls after 16 years!). We did all that was previously mentioned, but there are custodians in our buildings all summer painting and doing repairs, so we can get in if we really need too. She should go to her union… 3 days is not enough time and she’s doing it for free, to benefit the kids! They should be able to give her extra days, just ask!” – Rebecca
9. “My administration made lots of changes for the comming year. What we have done is band together and work together and WORK to get all of this done. We have one teacher who refuses to move, though. A small group is moving her, while the rest of us move each other.” – Katherine
10. “I had to move grade levels and buildings within my district last year this time. We had to pack my entire classroom before the end of the school year. I was lucky to have two instructional assistants who literally saved me!! I cannot believe how many boxes we packed by the end of the year. It was a wall of boxes. My kiddos did great with it, we didn’t start until the last two weeks of the year. And in the summer I did a lot of the initial unpacking so I could put stuff where I thought I wanted it. But I enlisted help from former students (middle school age) who spent a day unpacking, sorting, labeling things. They were happy to help and enjoyed a pizza lunch on me. I have throw out and purged a lot this year and now I will have to do it again as I clean up and get ready for year two in the new bldg next year.” – Jennifer
11. “I use bins from home depot that are strong and sturdy and can be nested once empty. Also I can zip tie the top so no one can get into it. I love to get curriculum items and then redirect them to the grade level that needs it.” – Genevieve
12. “I sought help from my personal children and school children the last two days of school. My school children really liked helping move books, count textbooks, and sort school supplies. My personal child liked getting to come to school (she was out) and helping organize. All of my school belongings are now packed and ready to move-but I have to wait for floors to be refinished before moving.” – Jennifer
13. “I have to wonder, if she’s a 20 year veteran herself, how much of these materials will she actually use? She most certainly has her own stuff, and a way of doing things that works. I started going through every page of materials left by a teacher who died suddenly. It felt disrespectful to get rid of it, but at the end of the day, I have my own things I haven’t used in years, and I wasn’t going to abandon what I was doing and start using what she left. I kept a few things as memories of her, left things out for a few days for others to take if they wished, and then made lots of trips to the dumpster.” – Heather
14. “I took stuff home  I’m moving classrooms and wanted to organize everything I had… Much more work, but when I return in the fall, all ill have to do is put items back on the shelves- shouldn’t take too long to set back up.” – Courtney
15. “Plastic bins are king! We have to pack up every last paperclip each year. I would say sort first like items and then toss into bins what you want. Toss what is junk or outdated (there is always some) and then leave what’s left and send out an email to everyone to come and get or it’s going to goodwill. Or into another classroom that is getting a new teacher as a surprise?” – Kim
16. “The retiring teacher in my building opened up her room and said take what ever we wanted. She cleared a lot of the big things out just by doing that.” – Heather
17. “We have to pack our entire classroom up every year and bring what is ours home. It cannot be left. And we are not allowed to start until the kids leave for summer- then we get 2 days. It can be done just label everything!” – Pam
18. “Our high schoolers need Community Service points. I’d call and enlist a few of them.” – Eileen
19. “Host an open house for new teachers in the district to come in and grab what they want.” – Susan
20. “As a ping pong ball that moved every year. I would get the older kids to help. Paid them with junk food. Also I got teachers kids who were in high school. They will do a lot for 20 bucks. It’s movie money.” – Julie
21. “Many of the parents in my area do not have money to give a gift for the end of the year. I spoke with our room parent and asked to send out a letter to parents with the option of the end of your gift to me being 2 hours of help after school during that week. I organized myself with a list of tasks I knew would take 2 hours… Several of these parents even take the things home that I want to toss for their own kids. It’s a win-win!” – Gretchen
22. “Last year over 70% of our elementary staff were reassigned to different grades or buildings, but we knew on May 11 that we were moving. Students love to pack… Are there any students in the building that can still help. My husband and inlaws helped a lot too. The hardest part was I had to move all my stuff home. Our dining room was filled all summer. Then the fun was moving it back in! Ugh! Having boxes for specific items helped… Professional books, phonics resources, comp resources, office supplies, decor, etc.” – Jaclyn
23. “Gotta be honest, most of that stuff is just that…stuff. Depending upon how long she’d been there, how long at same grade, etc, more than u realize can be purged. Get a GIANT recycle pile/box and get to it. If it’s older than 2000 (& that’s reaching), its probably too old to use & not in line with best practices with kids. Get rid of it! Most posters, etc, can be remade with kids (& they take more ownership of learning &using it if they help create it). If u can’t, keep ONE copy in a labeled file, group together by subject/theme. If u don’t use it in a year, get rid of it (donate, recycle, whatever!). I agree with someone else who said take it home, organize, bring back. Purge until the take home pile is feasible.” – Barbara
24. “enlist help. pay for help if need be? graduating seniors that need money for college might be willing to put in a full day’s work for forty bucks, maybe? If it is an entire classroom full, it is certainly worth many many times that! Also, PURGE! A classroom full is not worth the clutter if it won’t get used. Or box it all up and take it home with you, sort through it at home and have a garage sale for all the stuff you don’t want to save. Many new teachers would love to find teaching stuff at a garage sale!” – Jessica

In closing, I hope you found this post about how to pack up your classroom helpful. If you did, then you may also be interested in our End of the School Year Workshop, as well as these posts:

• Spring Cleaning Your Classroom in 5 Easy Steps
• End of the School Year Read Alouds for Elementary Teachers
• End of the Year Activities for Grades 1-5 Teachers

The post How to Pack Up Your Classroom at the End of the Year in 2024 appeared first on Clutter-Free Classroom | by Jodi Durgin.