Classroom Supplies Organization

      Summer is going by so fast!! I can't believe it!  My husband and I just celebrated our 1st anniversary yesterday.....yay!  We had a great time eating our wedding cake and thinking back to all our fun wedding memories.  Anyway...now I've kind of taken a break and taken care of "home" stuff and am ready to get back to thinking about school!  

     One of the things that I think all teachers have a strong opinion about is how they organize their classroom supplies.  EVERY teacher does it differently it seems, and different systems work better for different people.  Over the last 4 years of my teaching, I have found that doing community supplies works FAR better for me, minimizes organizational issues because supplies are stored out in the open and not tucked away in individual student pencil boxes or desks, and I am able to easily monitor when supplies need to be replenished, etc.  Up until 2 years ago, I had bought several different materials organizers, none of which I LOVED....  so finally during my 3rd year of teaching I decided to make my own organizer that met my own needs, and this organizer is what I came up with.  It truly gives me the best of both worlds.  The center four sections has room for supplies that are community (scissors, pencils, dry erase markers, glue, rulers, etc), and the outside sections have individual supplies (crayons or glue sticks.... since some kids are picky about how neat they keep their crayons and glue and don't want to share with others....totally understand!!).  To make the organizer, I bought craft wood from Hobby Lobby/Michaels and cut it using a small saw, then glue the pieces together using wood glue.  Then I spray-painted them.  They measure 12" x 12". They were time intensive....but if any of you ladies have a handy hubby, I'm sure you could get them to make you some!!  If any of you have other ideas for materials organization, I'd love to hear from you!!
     - Beth