Last year, my storage idea just didn't work. I had a bookshelf at the front of room and a bookshelf at the back of my room. Because there were no divisions in the shelves, the books were thrown in them every which way. Being the organizational freak I am, I absolutely could not stand the way they looked or the amount of time some students had to look for their notebooks at the beginning of class.
This summer, I was browsing my favorite deal site - slickdeals.net (you should check it out), and I saw that ClosetMate stackable shoe organizers were on sale at WalMart for $21. $21 bought you a 3'x3' organizer. I wanted to have 6 rows, so I bought two and stacked them. I also went to Lowe's and had a sheet of plywood cut into 2 3'x3' pieces. I then painted the plywood to color code it by class before attaching it to the back of the organizers. My class INBs already have a piece of duct tape on the spine to color code the books themselves.
In the end- I LOVE it! It fixes ALL of my storage issues with INBs, and it looks really great - at least I think so.
P.S. If anyone is at the Dollar Tree and sees those little pails in yellow - I need a set desperately. The random green one in the yellow row is KILLING me.
First of all, I love your color-coded spines on the books. I had my tables organized in a rainbow when I had a classroom and it worked so well for me. I never thought to color code students' notebooks, though. Smart!
ReplyDeleteHow big is the yellow container? Is it oval and about 7 inches on the long side? I'll keep a lookout for you, but they don't often have yellow except possibly in spring. You said "set" so how many do you need?
Yes. It's ovular and about 7", if I had to guess. I just need 1, but they are usually sold in sets of 2 for $1.
DeleteI'm in DT often, so I'll let you know if I find them. Have you ever tried the spray paint meant for plastic? I haven't, but I nearly used it last year when I couldn't find a yellow 3-drawer cart to match the others. That might be a decent back up idea if you're willing to invest the $4 in the paint.
DeleteHmm. That's idea. However, those poor buckets get used almost daily (they have glue sticks in them). I'm afraid spray-painted items wouldn't hold up.
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