Sunday, July 7, 2013

Show Us Those Piles... Linking Up to Share the Truth!

Today I am linking up with Christina Bainbridge for a linky party to confess the obvious: Teachers tend to create piles of belongings wherever they are!

I have to admit I'm a little starstruck. Christina was one of the first bloggers I ever followed (when she had bunting in her classroom, but not in her blog title!). Even though she teaches younger kids than I do, she has wonderful ideas for classroom organization and design and I always get great ideas when I visit her blog.

Everything Christina does is cute! Look at that button. So CUTE!


So here we go...

I have always been a... "collector" of all things school-related. I have hundreds (maybe even thousands!) of books and I cannot resist an office supply store. (I even visit them on vacation!) I always have ideas in my head for projects which seem to get started (and rarely finished) usually on my dining room table. I love creating and planning on my own time, at home, so let's just say I need to have a lot of things at home to get things done. How's that for an excuse?

This linky party invites us to show off the piles of "school stuff" that have accumulated during the summer. For me, this means that the piles have spread to other rooms!

Here is a pile ready to go to the garage. The blue box is full of things to shred, the pink box holds the leftover beads from a craft project, the spirals were a donation and the binding machine just looks dangerous! (But having one of my own means that I can finish a project at midnight in my PJs!)


There are always boxes of books at my house. Increasingly, these books have Common Core in the title... Currently these are in front of the door to the patio!


At the moment, there is a pile of items sitting next to the dining room table. I have to sort through the boxes of math manipulatives. It's amazing the things I find in there: erasers, old assignments, an occasional love note... It's always an adventure! I'm not sure what is in the other box... aside from the laminator and the stuffed pig (She's our mascot for a math game... and is currently in need of some sort of cleaning!)


Sometimes I try to "sneak" piles into corners. As if anyone sitting in (or near!) the rocking chair isn't going to see the pile of boxes from my literacy centers. These need to be readied for back-to-school. I'm just not mentally ready to tackle that challenge yet!



Doesn't everyone have nine plastic milk crates taking up half of the space in their guest room? These house the math tools and other center materials in my classroom. I'm going to try to sneak them into school tomorrow. (Sshhhh. Don't tell.)


An hour before this photo, they were found here...

Yep! That's the bathtub! My room has the playground on one side and a dirt field on the other side. Needless to say, everything needs to be dusted, vacuumed and or washed... often!

So that's how things look in my house. Halfway through summer I am always dying to take a few car loads to school just to free up some space. However, once I arrive in my classroom, I often find something else to bring back home!

So, what about you? Are things piling up in your house? Do you have a laminator, a binding machine or a paper cutter somewhere other than your classroom? Have you hit the back-to-school sales and started piling up plastic bags in a corner?

THAT'S OKAY! You are not alone! And no one is going to call the Hoarders Hotline or stage an intervention. (That's another great thing about the blogging community: We don't judge--We share!)

Come on! Join up! Click HERE or on that sweet button above and head over to Christina's blog. Then grab your phone or a camera and share some photos. You'll be in good company--and you might make a new friend while you're there.

Sending you wishes for happy sorting, creating and organizing...






20 comments :

  1. Your piles look much more organized than mine. :) I wish I had neat piles.
    ~Brandee
    Creating Lifelong Learners

    ReplyDelete
  2. My crates are FILTHY! Any tips on cleaning them (besides putting them in the tub), especially those annoying cracks and crevices? Thanks!

    Upper Grades Are Awesome

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your piles are so clean and organized! I'm jealous!

    Thanks for linking up and for the kind words about me! I'm almost blushing! ;)

    Christina
    *Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge*

    ReplyDelete
  4. I actually have zero piles except all of the stuff I had to bring home from my classroom because I have to move schools/grades/who-knows-what :)

    I haven't bought a single thing for next year :(

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am reading exerts of your blog out loud to my son and his is laughing asking, "Are you writing this??" It all sounds exactly like me!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the crates in the tub! Now that is teacher dedication!

    Kim

    ReplyDelete
  7. The amount of piles does not surprise me at all, nor the fact that they seem to migrate throughout the house. What I am focussing on is the brilliant idea to clean your crates in the tub. I struggle to clean them at school all the time and it is impossible to get the dust and dirt out of the nooks and crannies - the bathtub is brilliant!!

    Looking From Third to Fourth

    ReplyDelete
  8. My dining room is full of school supplies! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. We all have piles of some sort...I have had fun shopping for next year!
    xoxo
    Vicky
    Traditions, Laughter and Happily Ever After

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am laughing soooo hard about the piles! My house is nothing but piles, piles of things I'm working on for school, piles of things I brought home from school, piles of things I need to take to school, and piles of things that I don't have space for because of all the school piles. I really should take pictures and link up. Except I probably won't be able to find my camera for all the piles. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I can so relate to these piles. Right now the piles are out of hand, but during the school year I have loads of little piles.

    Sally from Elementary Matters

    ReplyDelete
  12. Those are some very organized piles :) You don't even want to see mine...not quite as pretty as yours!

    Stephanie
    Teaching in Room 6

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh Kim,
    You are WAAAAY neater about your piles than I am. I'm very impressed! Organized piles!
    Marion
    MentoringintheMiddle

    ReplyDelete
  14. I am so happy that I am not the only one with a "unique piling system." Thanks for normalizing my behavior. Now ... if only my piles were as neatly organized as yours ... Impressive!

    Barbara

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh my gosh, your piles are so tidy! I am so embarrassed by mine - I should've checked out the other posts before I shared my hideous pictures!!

    Buzzing with Ms. B

    ReplyDelete
  16. I wish my piles looked like yours! I am also embarrassed by mine too :-( lol Maybe I shouldn't have shared mine lol

    Justina
    The Very Busy Resource Teacher

    ReplyDelete
  17. My pile is still pretty small. I've been avoiding looking at the staples circular...and Target doesn't have a back to school section yet! :-O

    Sarah (newest follower!)
    MissKinBK

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love your blog it is so interesting! Love it!


    -Hydra

    ReplyDelete
  19. My family is always happy when the school reopens so I can take piles of books off the dining room table and create more piles at school!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I have huge piles of classroom "stuff" all year round! lol I take things back and forth to my classroom...just never have enough room for everything. :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading this post. Comments bring me JOY! Please share your thoughts and join the conversation...