Smart Paint Storage

Are you one of those teachers that teaches EVERYTHING like me?  Reading, writing, arithmetic plus art, music, physical education, technology etc...  Sometimes it really is enough to make your head spin.  The key to success is to be super organized!  My wonderful art teacher sister gave me this smart idea to store tempera paint.

Paint stored in covered condiment cups

This week my class is going to mix primary colors to create colorful paper that we will use in another project.  Do I need to spend hours setting up the classroom for painting?  No!  I have these lovely primary colored cups already in trays (foil muffin tins) stored in paper box lids  all ready to go in my closet!

My students love to paint so I am so excited that everything they need is just a few steps away! 

Can't wait to create!

What organization tricks do you have to save time?

Amy

Smart Science Vocabulary Foldables

Do you take an active hands-on approach to science?  I love NOT using a textbook and using fun and engaging activities for student to explore science. I have found, however, that students need an organized system for keeping key notes and concepts.

I love interactive notebooks, but since I use them for ELA, Math and Religion choosing an interactive notebook for science would be a little over the top for my class.

Instead I create ways for students to compile key concepts and vocabulary a unit at a time.  In our animal adaptation unit we are making these foldables.

Students write down the key concepts and vocabulary as we study them.   They research to find examples and the next class period they share their findings.

I store these foldables in a dishpan in my classroom to help avoid the dreaded, "I can't find mine."

What ways do you use to keep students organized in science?

Here are some animal adaptation products in my store.

Amy