It’s time to change out math stations, and since I get so many questions about how I organize and store my station materials, I thought I would do a quick and dirty post of how I keep it all together for a quick change over.
As I begin to breakdown stations, I remove all my materials and rubber each tier of the activity so I can keep them separate and also so that when I pull them out next year, they are already organized and ready to go.
Once rubber banded, I make sure that I have the ‘I can’ or student instruction card placed on top of the activity
and then place all the items, including the activity cover in a ziploc. Can I just say, plastic bags are NOT my favorite and are NOT what I use to organize my stations when they are being used, but for storage, they are the simpliest and cheapest things to date that I have found.
These things all go into a container along with the other math items for that theme.
They’re labeled and stored just like these Gingerbread Stations. By the way, if you need labels like these, you can click HERE to get some. They’re free.
My containers were kept in my room all together and labeled like this last year. This year, I still have the same containers and labels, but I only house my current theme’s containers at school. All the other ones are kept in the storage unit at my house. I like these containers, because with their handle, I can just grab and go. They are also the PERFECT size. If you’d like to get your hands on some this size you can find their description HERE.
How do you store and organize your station goodies for easy change over? I’d love to hear from you.
Do you do your Language ones the same way or do you have them organized differently?
I’ve had the containers with the blue lids for about 10 years. They hold a lot of materials and are very durable.
Is this system just for your centers or are all resources with that theme in the same container?
How do you store things that are not thematic so that you can find them easily? And how do you keep track of what you have so you don’t over-do one concept and neglect another?
How do you store each level in the drawer? I’ve been using baggies but would love another idea to make it easier for groups to grab and go. I also seem to be spending a lot of time teaching centers to each group to get them easy to work. How do you intro new centers and how much time does it take you?
Thank you for sharing your talents,….your wealth of ideas and knowledge.
I would love to know where you bought your aqua color chart holders. I just love them and am determined to change from royal Blue! I am on the hunt. Any help would be wonderful.
Thank you very much!
Target dollar spot last year.
What great ideas you have! Thanks for sharing! I was wondering where you found the turquoise pocket charts, as I’ve never seen them in that color before.