Being a teacher requires patience, creativity and stamina to create a healthy learning environment while having fun with your class. Staying organized can be a full-time job in itself, but having a rolling cart can help in a variety of ways. It’s a blank canvas to fill with the exact supplies you need in your classroom. Here are the top six ways teachers use carts in the classroom to stay sane.
- Organize Papers
There’s no getting around the sheer amount of paperwork that gets transferred between teacher and student. Your cart on swivel wheels will allow you to have one space for all the paperwork to collect. Add folders for each subject or each child so you can quickly grade and return each assignment.
- Use One Cart Per Subject
If you like to keep all similar items together to stay organized, rolling carts can help you. Have a cart for math where you can keep your teaching textbook, manipulatives, clipboards, folders and paperwork. Use another cart to keep science materials together and another for literacy. When it’s time for each subject you can easily roll one cart out of the way and grab the next one.
- Add a Wooden Top
To create a mobile desk space, place a piece of wooden board on the top shelf. You’ll still have storage space beneath the board, but a desk space will give you the ability to move around the classroom to help each student individually.
- Use For Learning Centers
Another area that can get disorganized quickly is the learning center. With a cart you can keep all the guided reading materials, white boards, markers and other supplies together. Teach students to return items to the exact place they grabbed them from to prevent a mess on the cart.
- Store Technology
Technology is now common in the classroom and, if you need a place to store iPads or laptops when charging, a cart can be useful. Have students use one shelf to place items that need to be charged. When you charge them, move them to another shelf so students know they’re ready to be used.
- Create a Library
A classroom library can also be organized on a rolling cart. Provide leveled books for the students in your classroom to choose from for silent reading times or to borrow and read at home.
How will you use your next rolling cart in the classroom?