14 Totally Genius Classroom Organization Ideas 

Your classroom is a special place. ❤️

It’s the home base that holds you and your students for the entire school day. 🥰

This also means it needs to be home base for all of the supplies, papers, resources, and manipulatives EVERYONE needs each and every day. 

So, you’re probably looking for some new ideas on how to keep everything straight and in order. 

Here are 14 classroom organization ideas that will keep your room running smoothly all day. 

1. Student Lunch Choice 🍱

Keeping track of how many hot or cold lunches you need to report for your class is a lot. 

Use an organized system to help your mornings flow a little more smoothly. 

Photo Credit @jordyneberger on Instagram. 

Jordyn uses a caddy with five or more different sections for her lunch system. (See the white caddy on top of the rolling cart?) 

Each popsicle stick represents one student. 

You can ask for a show of hands & place that number of popsicle sticks in the corresponding section. Or, have students find their popsicle stick & move it to the lunch choice they are having that day. 

Photo Credit @tara.phillips1 on Instagram. 

Another option is to use editable labels to create a portion of your whiteboard to do the same task! 

Tara placed student numbers on small, circular magnets. 

Students can easily move their number to their lunch choice for the day. 

Either system allows you to spend your morning focusing on taking attendance and connecting with your students. 

2. Section off your Whiteboard 🔔

An easy way to organize your whiteboard is to use bulletin board borders to split your giant whiteboard into different sections. 

Photo Credit @misslewislittles on Instagram

Add magnetic tape on the back of your favorite borders to easily put this idea into practice! 

3. Organize your Bulletin Board Borders 📌

Buying bulletin board borders from a store is great, until you are left with a bunch of half-opened packs of border. 

If you shove them in a closet, they will get funky, warped, and won’t lie straight anymore. 

Fix the issue by storing them upright in a closet with pushpins and binder clips! 

4. Binders 📄 

A well-organized and labeled binder is the PERFECT spot for keeping papers in one place. 

Whether you need a place for your sub plans, lesson plans, testing materials, or student data to go, using binders can be a game changer for you. 

Make sure you have a binder spine label in addition to the cute cover. That way you can easily know what is in each binder when they are stored on a bookshelf. 🙂

5. Student Passes 🏷️

Where is everyone? 

Use a small whiteboard and circle magnets to create an “In” and “Out” system for your classroom. 

When students are out of the classroom to go to the bathroom, check in with another teacher, or grabbing something from the office, they move their number from “in” to “out”. 

I cut the numbers and words out of vinyl with my Cricut to make this board! 

6. Storing Papers 📃

Typically, one of the largest culprits to a messy classroom is the papers that end up everywhere. 

I’ve put together a group of classroom organization ideas so you can find the exact ones to help you clear up your clutter!

10 Drawer Carts are one of my favorite organizational tools. 

These labels are the Calm Colors 10 Drawer Cart Labels on my TPT store. 

Use these drawers to sort out the copies you need by day of the week or subject, or make an easy collection spot. 

Photo Credit @jordyneberger on Instagram 

Or, use the rolling carts to separate your copies and papers by subject and have larger boxes to hold the materials and extra supplies needed for each day. 🤩

If you are looking for smaller ways to store papers, check out these Sterilite 3 Drawer containers.

The 10 drawer cart labels fit the Sterilite drawer containers perfectly! 🙌

Photo Credits @hellomrs.snyder (left) and @miss.collins.class (right) on Instagram 

Add some custom labels to them and you have the perfect, compact paper storage option! 

Not sure exactly which paper organizer to pick? Read more about the different paper storage options here! 

Photo Credit @valentina.felizzola on Instagram. She used the editable labels in the Simply Neutral bundle. 

Add some editable labels to trays to create an easy, but clear turn-in area for your different subjects! 

7. Shared Group Supplies 🖍️

Finding smart ways to keep shared supplies easy to access for your table groups but not taking over the classroom is tricky. 

These labels are from the Tropical Vibes decor bundle. 

I LOVE seeing teachers use these larger, 3 drawer bins alongside their students’ desks or table groups. 

This organizational idea gives you a larger gathering space for three different subjects so students can keep their larger workbooks, textbooks, or materials here rather than in their desks. 

8. Classroom Materials 🎒

Your elementary classroom is filled with markers, crayons, construction paper, glue, and SO many more materials. 

Having clear, labeled places to store them is HUGE. This reminds your students (and yourself) where each material lives so your classroom is able to stay neat & tidy. 

Use larger rolling carts with additional buckets as craft stations or a place for center materials. 

Photo Credit @colbyshae_ on Instagram. She used the Calm Colors editable labels to create these genius labels to separate the types of paper. 

These Sterilite 3 Drawer containers are the PERFECT size for storing papers. 

Photo Credit @jordyneberger on Instagram. 

This teacher has GENIUS classroom organization ideas.

She found clear, plastic containers that fit in the drawers she has in her classroom to hold a bunch of different classroom materials. 

Then, she used the Calm Colors editable posters to create cute, helpful labels for each one! 

Simple, easy & SO convenient. 

9. Manipulatives 🧩

Similarly to materials, your classroom is probably overflowing with manipulatives. 

When I did a makeover for a 1st grade classroom, here is the organization idea we used. 

We took clear, plastic bins with lids and sorted the manipulatives. 

Then, we created labels using the editable files in the Tropical Vibes classroom bundle so the teacher knows exactly what is in each box. 

Now, she is able to grab the box she needs from her large closet & leave the rest of the manipulatives put away. 

10. Organizing Weekly / Monthly Centers 🌟

There are some items in your classroom that you only need for a certain part of the year. 

Maybe you have fun activities you do during each month based on the weather, holidays, etc. 

It can be a hassle to go through your entire pile of teaching resources to find the exact thing you are looking for. 

Steal this classroom organizational idea ⬇️

These labels are from the Tropical Vibes decor bundle. 

Use flatter clear boxes (or binders again) and sort your resources (or special picture books or center activities) by month. 

11. Storing Student Books 📚

Another great classroom organization idea is connected to the books your students are reading. 

We want our students to be reading books….but where do they put them? 

Book bins might be the perfect answer! 

Labels are from the Tropical Vibes decor bundle. 

Bring these into your classroom to provide some extra storage for your students. And maybe help keep those books in slightly better condition too. 🫠

Photo Credit @jordyneberger on Instagram. She used the editable labels included in the Calm Colors bundle for her bins. 

There are SO many different types of bins you can use. 

My biggest tip is to label them with class numbers. 

Then you can use the book bins (and labels) over and over and over again. 

12. Classroom Library 📖

Keeping those books organized in your classroom library is a huge feat. 

Grab some baskets or buckets that fit a lot of books, and add some labels. 

This helps your students (and yourself) create a system where you can find the books you are looking for! 

I love how this teacher uses different colored buckets as well! Use different colors to make it easier for your students to differentiate between fiction and nonfiction or other categories in your classroom! 

13. Teacher Toolbox 🧰

Is your teacher desk filled with paperclips, staples, pens, highlighters, pushpins, and sticky notes? 

A teacher toolbox is a GREAT way to keep these little essentials organized without losing your brain. 😅

But you can’t stop there. You also need to make sure you label your toolbox so you can remember where to put those tiny little push pins. 😂

I love the toolbox style that has two different sized drawers to keep small things and some larger items. 

Photo Credit @molding_little_minds on Instagram 

There are many different styles of toolboxes that work great for teacher supplies! 

If you find a style you like, but don’t love the look of it, follow my guide here to give your teacher toolbox a makeover! 

14. Pencils ✏️

Create a space in your classroom that is devoted to keeping your sharpened pencils separated from your dull pencils. 

Photo Credit @miss.collins.class on Instagram. 

Using these little metal buckets is a fantastic classroom organization idea! Adding custom labels makes this idea even more genius! 

This teacher used the custom labels included in the Modern Calm Colors bundle. 

Finding creative classroom organization ideas that work for your space will make your classroom feel SO much larger. 🤩

Mostly because you aren’t stepping over or picking up materials, supplies, books, and backpacks all day long. ❤️

Take the organization ideas you love to create the organized classroom of your dreams. 🥰