Where Do Students Keep Their Stuff???

If you have had a chance to look at my previous post, you would see that there aren't enough desks in our room for all of the students that are in the class.  But Ashley, where do the students keep all their stuff????

I know.  That was the first question that arose when I decided to change our space.  

This is a picture facing our Listen to Reading station.  Here, students have access to audiobooks and their companion books.  I have found that many students who are not at a level where they can read chapter books or novels love this station.  They simply track the story in the companion book.   But I digress...

The part I would really love to draw your attention to are the bins you see in front of the table.  At the time, I had 18 students.  I would have loved to allow each student to have their own bin for them personally, but I just couldn't afford it!  So I settled with giving the students a bin buddy, which I decided wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

The smaller bins are used to keep pencils, erasers and pencil crayons.  That is it.  Any extra materials they have are kept in their pencil cases in a drawer they can access easily if they need it.  The larger bins keep their notebooks which have all been labeled according to subject.

The small bins have been numbered 1-27, and the large bins have been marked the same.  But there are only 2 students for every bin.  In other words, there are no students assigned every third number.  I did this in case I had another student come later in the year who would need to be assigned a bin number.  Also, I have a couple students who I wanted to have their own bins, mostly because I knew that they are not the organized type, no matter what I do.  ; )  

When it is time for students to get their materials, one of the bin buddies is responsible for getting books and materials.  They take turns doing this throughout the day, but figure that schedule out themselves.  The bin buddy who does not get the materials is expected to say thank you, and the students hold each other to that.

This is also a great set up for when a student is missing.  Right now I have the bin buddy putting papers right into the books of the missing student.  While this is ok, it's not the most efficient.  In the future I envision doing homework folders, or something of that nature instead, and giving the folders a table where the bin buddy will make a quick note about the class(es) the student missed and what the assignment was.  All papers would just go into the folder.  (That's been in my head a while.  Better make an actual note about it...)

We started out in this new space with the bins set up exactly like this, and it wasn't long before we realized that they could not be so close together.  In fact, one of my students came to me and said, "Um, you know what we should do?  We should move those bins around the room so we aren't so crowded.  It's a little crazy trying to get our stuff."

I told her she was absolutely right, and that I would take a day to think about the best place to put them.  Then she said, "Yeah, probably we should put them here along this wall (as she pointed by the whiteboard at the front of the room), and there by your desk."

So we did.  That recess.  And they sit there still.

Some people have asked me about time.  How long does it take for students to get their materials and sit down.  Really not that long.  For the most part, only half the students are going to the bins to get materials, the other half are already sitting in our Instructional Space at the front of the room.  (You can read more about that space here.)  And since we've spaced the bins out around the room, it actually takes even less time for them to grab their things.  We have also worked hard to learn how to move quickly and efficiently during transitions, but sometimes, a little friendly competition is needed, and nobody wants to be the rotten egg!  I have thought about getting enough bins for every student to have their own, but I'm thinking now that I might have more problems with transitions if I do, not to mention I'd have to use precious space for more bins!  We'll see...

So that's it.  Bins.  I guess that would have bin the short answer.  Sorry.  Couldn't resist.  It's bin a long day.   Ok.  Now I'm done.