The Organized STEM Teacher: Essential Tools for STEM Classroom Organization
An organized STEM teacher is a HAPPY STEM teacher!
After many years of teaching STEM to multiple grade levels, I’ve learned lots of tips and tricks to help save me precious time, reduce stress, and keep my classroom materials organized and easy to access. Truthfully, staying organized as a Gifted and Talented, STEM, and Enrichment teacher has helped save my sanity, especially when prepping lessons and storing materials for many different classes and activities. Below is a list of my top 5 favorite STEM classroom organizational tools. I’ll dive into each tool in detail throughout this post and show you how I utilize each one in my classroom:
Project Case Organization
I started using Project Cases almost 10 years ago in my classroom when I became frustrated with my messy binders and hanging files and was ready to completely overhaul my system. I absolutely LOVE these project cases and I have one for each month of the year, with file folders inside for each one of my enrichment classes. They hold all my master copies, center cards, vocab cards, etc. so when I’m ready to make my copies for the week, I pull out my monthly case, pull out my master copies, and head to the copy machine! They store vertically on my shelf and they’re easy to pop in my teacher bag if I need to bring them home for planning. You can read all the details about my Project Cases in the blog post below.
The thicker project cases shown on top are for additional units of study and bulkier materials: Hop Scotch Coding, Robotics, Math Enrichment, P.E.T.S. Materials, Book Club Materials, and Readers’ Theatre Materials.
STEM Material Organization
One thing that I learned in my first years as a STEM teacher is that it paid off tremendously to prep all my materials about a week in advance. You can choose whatever prep day works for you, (for me, it’s Tuesdays) but on that day, make all your copies, pull all your read alouds, sort all the STEM materials that you can, and I PROMISE….your future self from next week with thank you over and over!
Another thing I quickly learned is that I needed somewhere to store all of those pre-prepped materials, because on top of my desk and on the floor around my desk was really stressing me out and making my workspace feel cluttered and cramped. One summer, I decided to completely clean out a large wardrobe cabinet behind my desk to designate as my “Prepped Materials” cabinet. This was a game changer! This cabinet now keeps all my prepped materials out of sight where they can’t be accessed by kids until I’m ready to pull them out. You can do the same with any empty shelf or cabinet in your classroom!
The baskets on top are reserved for prepped materials and are labeled for each of my classes. The large white caddy in the center is for my push-in lessons for Kindergarten. I place my read aloud, copies, and building manipulatives in this caddy to take with me to Kinder classrooms for weekly lessons. The black hanging closet organizer on the left side is for my never-ending piles papers that I need to turn-in, copy, file, and prep. (Again, this keeps them off of my desk and my workspace clear.) The plastic drawers on the right side are for Maker Mats for Makerspace, testing forms, and PD materials. I even have some extra storage on the bottom for decor, keepsakes, and Keurig pods, with the locker shelves on the right reserved for my personal belongings. There’s pretty much a place for everything! And the BEST part is that I can close this entire cabinet up so it’s entirely out of sight and clutter-free when I’m not using it!
Since I have limited time between classes and have to shift between my lessons quickly, these file folder bins on the end of my desk are a LIFESAVER. I have one bin labeled for each class, and I have my read alouds, master copies, and teaching charts right at my fingertips and ready to pull out. Remember when I said that I do all my prep and copies a week ahead?! This is where I place all those materials once they’re ready for the following week. And when I’m finished using them for the week, they go back into my monthly project cases.
STEM Baggies
Another STEM prep lifesaver for me are gallon-sized baggies. When simple STEM activities allow, I prep all needed materials into baggies for partners and store them in large plastic tubs above my lockers. This makes it SO easy for me to reuse with multiple classes for many years. Plus, it makes clean-up quick and easy because students simply put all their materials back into their baggie. If you are a traveling STEM teacher, these baggies are ideal to prep once and take with you to use with multiple classes!
The STEM challenges shown below are from my STEM All Year Bundle, my go-to seasonal STEM activities for Kindergarten through 5th Grade. Oh…and did I mention they are all LOW PREP?!
STEM Station Trays
STEM Team Building Stations are a HUGE hit in my classroom! We take every opportunity that we can for collaboration, simple engineering, and purposeful play. We love these colorful plastic trays because they make prep and clean-up a snap. The stations shown below are designed for the 100th day of school and are always a huge favorite! If you’re interested in more STEM Stations, check out my Seasonal STEM Bins Team Building Stations Bundle.
Storing Work in Progress
Another VERY helpful use for those same plastic trays is for storing work in progress! My students place their creations, blueprints, and extra materials right on their trays and store them on an empty shelf to return to the following week.
STEM Supply Organization
For STEM and Makerspace materials that students have consistent access to, sturdy plastic tubs and baskets are the way to go! They’re quick and easy for students to take out and clean up. I love these Sterilite tubs and woven baskets, and they’ve lasted for many years in my classroom.
Of course, our favorite bins are by far our hand2mind STEM Bins! Check out the blog post below to learn more about these amazing engineering tools!
Student Supply Organization
For everyday student supplies, I keep only the essentials on tables for my kids to share. These divided table caddies are sturdy, hold plenty of materials, and don’t take up too much work space. If you’re looking for sturdy, SUPER long-lasting pencils, these Ticonderoga My First Pencils are the best I’ve ever used in my classroom.
STEM Read Aloud Organization
Read alouds are an essential teaching tool in my classroom, and one summer, I decided to organize them to make it easy for me to find my monthly and seasonal favorites. These monthly dividers are FREE for my email subscribers in my Free Resource Library!
I keep all my seasonal favorite read alouds on display for my students to access, and I rotate these books out regularly.
Check out my ever-growing list of favorite STEM read alouds at the link below:
STEM Teacher Planner
My STEM Teacher Planner is where I keep all my lesson plans, to-do lists, calendars, class lists, schedules, and so much more. I also organize many of my plans and records digitally and update them from year to year.
You can also grab my STEM Teacher Planner in my STEM Teacher Essentials Bundle! It includes a STEM Classroom Management Toolkit with digital and printable components, tools for introducing STEM and the Engineering Design Process to your students, and 8 simple STEM Activities to supplement favorite read alouds.
