Book

Classrooms are busy places full of people, activities, and materials. Keeping them organized can be a challenge. But an organized classroom is essential and allows students and the teacher to fully focus on learning by eliminating distractions.

Organized Teacher, Happy Classroom provides practical, proven methods for maintaining an organized classroom throughout the entire school year.

Inside you’ll find:

• Support to simplify your classroom
• Efficient storage solutions for all teacher and student materials
• Plans for arranging a classroom that promotes positive student participation
• Strategies for managing students’ papers, curriculum material, and essential paperwork
• Time management tips to maximize your instruction time and lesson planning
• Checklists for starting and ending the year well organized
• Organizing systems you can teach your students to improve self reliance and accountability
• Helpful forms and templates you can use in your classroom

Whether you teach primary, intermediate, middle school or high school, this book will help you organize your time, paperwork, and classroom spaces.

Organized Teacher, Happy Classroom is a must-have resource for every educator who wants to create and maintain an orderly space. Author Melanie Unger is not only a professional organizer, but a fifth-grade teacher as well. So she really understands the struggles and challenges faced by today’s teachers. From purging excess supplies and papers to finding appropriate storage options for student materials and teacher resources, she offers a variety of suggestions in this book to make each classroom a success. This book will help teachers of all organizational levels, whether they need the basics (such as creating “zones” within the classroom) or are ready to move on to more advanced techniques (such as managing technology). In addition to teaching how to organize a classroom’s “stuff,” there are great tips to help teachers manage their time and tasks, as well as how to help students to be at their organizational best at school and home. I highly recommend this book to any teacher or anyone who appreciates and loves a teacher!”

- Sara Pedersen, Professional Organizer, Time to Organize

Melanie has touched on so many practical pieces of advice in her book.  In Chapter 7, I found it helpful on the topic of separating your “piles” of paperwork.  She addressed useful information on managing all of our paperwork.  An easy to read, good layout of advice kind of book!”

-Rosanna Carr

I read this book over our winter break from school and I can honestly say I cannot wait to get back into the classroom just to organize! Now that’s saying something! I found myself extremely motivated while reading this book, making my own, “Organization To Try” list:)

In the teaching profession, one that often times feels far too overwhelming for words, the author Melanie Unger did a wonderful job at delivering unique, quality ideas, techniques, and tips on how to get and stay organized in a motivating, encouraging, non-overwhelming way. I so enjoyed reading this book because you could tell that she relates to what all teachers are trying to manage, all her ideas were very applicable and do-able, with time.

I smiled many times as I was reading, shaking my head in agreement, as she was addressing and problem solving my weak areas of organization, due in part to so many other responsibilities we have as teachers. I also appreciated as a teacher and a reader that she continually encouraged taking risks with trying out different strategies she writes about, modifying what doesn’t work, but always doing what works best for you in the end.

The book itself is also well organized. Just like a teacher would ask her students to summarize the chapters of a novel, Melanie summarized each chapter for the reader as each one came to an end, which I greatly appreciated.

I hope to read this at the beginning of my next school year too so I can try out more innovative organizational ideas and to stay motivated as well.

Sharon C.