Susan Riley | March 2013

Classroom Organization Checklist

Need a way to make sure you get everything done as you end the school year?  A classroom organization checklist can be a lifesaver.  Between all of the end of the year activities, teaching and grades, it can be difficult to remember everything you need to do.

To help make this easier, try this simple printable checklist.  There are 20 boxes on this form (perfect for a month in the classroom) and in each box is a task that will take you only 15 minutes to do.  At 15 minutes each day for 1 month, you’ll have your whole classroom organized, files cleaned up, lessons refreshed, sub plans created, and materials collected and ordered.  It’s just like a fresh new start for the spring!  Additionally, at the bottom of the checklist is a space that you can write notes for yourself on other items that you may like to purchase or ideas you’d like to try for organizing your classroom throughout the rest of the school year.

classroom organization checklist

There are 5 areas we’re tackling throughout the month:

  • Lesson plan cleanup
  • Emergency lesson creation
  • Filing
  • Material cleanup
  • General Cleaning

Each day focuses on one of these five categories and you’ll do 1-4 items each day so you can make real progress. Remember: just do one task each day for 15 minutes or less.

The trick is in taking small steps to accomplish a big task.  Whatever you do, don’t put this off! It will leave you stressed at the end of the year to try and do everything all at once.

Hopefully, this organization resource will help you to feel less overwhelmed and more empowered to take charge! As an added bonus, you’ll be the most organized teacher on the block.

Do you have any organization tips that work well for you?  You can start your own list of tools and tricks to spruce up your classroom. We can dust off our workload and make the rest of our school year more manageable.

About the Author

Susan Riley is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM. This is the world’s largest online resource for educators interested in integrating the arts. She has presented at events and authored articles for many educational organizations including The US Department of Education, Palmetto State Arts Education, Edutopia, Education Week, Americans for the Arts, ASCD, and NPR. She regularly presents at national and international events each year. She is the author of three books and is a sought-after collaborator for innovative educational projects around the globe. Susan brings creativity, practicality, dedication and passion to the education landscape. She is well-respected for her pioneering work in the fields of Arts Integration and STEAM education with a standards-based approach. As an educator who taught for 10 years in public schools, as well as served in central office leadership, she understands the fast-paced change, challenges and promise of 21st century schools. As an entrepreneur, she has successfully taken what was once a simple education blog and developed it into a rapidly-growing and highly-respected educational institution. Her team of 15+ teachers, leaders and coaches support over over 500,000 educators each month worldwide. Susan holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the prestigious Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ and a Master of Science in Education Administration from McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. She lives in Westminster, MD with her husband and daughter. Email Susan