Ms. M and the Color Coded Classroom

After teaching 4th grade for a number of years, my first experience outside of 4th grade was in Middle School. I taught an 8th grade block class. I had three, 90 minutes block classes teaching language arts and social studies. I thought I did pretty well organizing the hundred plus students I was working with but that was until I substituted for Ms. M's 7th grade social studies class. She definitely takes the gold in organization! She has a grand total of 163 students separated into 6 different classes. Her classroom organization is AMAZING!

The very first thing I took note of was her folder...

As a substitute I absolutely love having this as a reference. In addition to a detailed lesson plan and prepared materials for your sub, you NEED this reference! It helps big time! Ms. M's Seating Chart and Class Lists Binder is above and beyond, it no doubt took her a few hours to organize, but well worth the time! I believe this is a great resource for middle school teachers as well as elementary teachers. Elementary teachers...this won't take you hours! :) Included below are photos and a few notes for creating a Seating Chart and Class List Binder like Ms. M's! 

1. Print out a picture of your classroom layout for all classes you teach.


2. Label each classroom layout. The "4" you see in the pictures represents 4th period. For elementary teachers, this will only need to be done once.

3. Assign a key in the bottom left corner that you can highlight. Some options may include IEP, ESL/ELL, TAG, + (for medical notes), Resource, etc.

4. Laminate the classroom layouts.

5. For each class, print out a class picture roster. Cut out each picture so the name is included.

6. Label each student's picture. Highlight first names according to your key, use white out to write your notes. Ms. M wrote everything down from how to pronounce names to what the student is allergic to.

7. Place a 'peel and stick' glue dot on the backside of each picture. They stay on the paper, but allow you to move students on the laminated layout to create new seating arrangements.

8. Arrange all students on the layout.

9. Buy the heavy duty sheet protectors and place each classroom layout inside... the fancier the better, you'll be flipping through these a lot!

Back to the title of this post... 

...Ms. M's color coded classroom! She begins with color coding her classes, then has those colors match color coded schedule posters, assignment collectors/returns, assignment organizers, Popsicle stick containers, and even magnet clips! Take a look below how color coding can help 6 different classes stay organized!

One last note, Ms. M taught me something about her Popsicle stick containers. She told me that on the top and bottom edges she put a mark on a student's Popsicle stick if he or she should not be called on to read aloud. She said she shuffles them around, grabs two or three, then drops the one that has the color. Students who feel uncomfortable reading in front of the whole class, have a speech IEP, etc., will not be accidentally called on, which is great...and you won't have to explain why a student  was "skipped!"

So many little things learned from Ms. M's classroom that have added up to ONE BIG Blog post! Thanks, Ms. M!