A Great Organizational Tool For Classroom Management
By Ron McDevitt

Sometimes we can find excellent solutions without having the high cost of purchasing technology for the classroom.  I found just such a low cost, low tech solution for distributing student materials.  I decided to write about this simple solution because it took me three years to come up with it.  Yes, three years!  I feel almost silly admitting that it was a three year journey because it seems so obvious.  However, sometimes the best ideas are the ones that are the simplest.

So here was my challenge and maybe one of yours:

There are classroom materials that my students use on a regular basis, for instance warm-up packets.  Each day students have to get up and go get the classroom materials and then put them back.  While this doesn't seem to be a big deal it has its challenges and is time consuming.  Students meander, materials are misplaced, there is waiting involved etc.  I am always looking for ways to make my classroom run more efficiently so I came up with the perfect low technology classroom solution. 

The desks in my room do not have any storage.  I decided to attach a storage device to the side of the desk.  My desks are in rows of three so I could put one basket at the end of the row and the student on the end could pass them out while staying seated.  They can also easily put away the materials.  Easy enough and it works great.  

But what type of storage device do I use?

I started out by taping paper folders to the side of the desks.  A low cost solution, but they all ripped and didn't last the year.  So I upgraded to the soft plastic file folders and used tie straps.  They also ripped and didn't last the year.  Then I went big time, handed over the cash and purchased the solid plastic file holders that you attach to a wall.  They cost me over hundred dollars but I figured I would be using them for years to come.  Believe it or not they all cracked where the screw held them to the desks. 

Hey, it took Edison ten thousand tries to get the light bulb working so I wasn't giving up. 

I saw some chicken wire and decided to fashion my own basket, O.K. I was getting creative.  There was lots of time involved but it was cheap.  I was very happy with my baskets and they appeared indestructible.  One un-foreseen problem - sharp edges.  Kids were afraid to reach in and get the papers in fear of getting impaled by the sharp edges of the chicken wire.  It didn't seem that sharp to me but I was a little worried.

"Mom, I cut myself on a math problem today."


Also my students found it fun to mold them into different shapes so my baskets became all kinds of creative designs that didn't lend to storage.

I  decided to take a stroll up and down my local Home Depot hardware store aisles looking for a solution. 

Then I saw them and they were cheap!  Could they work?  They just might.  I went for it and haven't looked back.  They have been working perfectly for years.

So I share my simple classroom management solution that only took me three short years to discover.  Below is a picture of the perfect low tech classroom management material distribution solution:
Small trash cans attached with two small wood screws to the side of the desk.  The screws were about 1/2 to 3/4 long. 
I just held the trash can up to the edge of the desk and used a screw driver to screw the trash can onto the side of the desk.  In the picture it looks like it is drilled into the top but it is actually the side.  I just went right through the inside lip of the trash can. 
They are large enough to hold all kinds of materials, they are flexible so they give with the constant curiosity of kids, they are cheap, and they work marvelously.  It seems so obvious now, but who would have considered trash cans on the side of the desks.  By the way I don't call them trash cans I call them i-cans.  Because anything that I put in them the kids can say i-can do that.  O.K. it's corny but it gets them thinking positively.  I hope you find a use for this perfect low cost solution in the classroom. 

For more great advice about being successful in the classroom listen to our expert audios or check out some of our excellent recommended teacher reads and don't forget to sign up for our great teaching tips newsletter.  The best way to have a rewarding and successful career in teaching is to always keep learning.

Have a great school year!