Are you struggling to organize the hundreds of schedule pieces you use in your special education classroom? That was me! My students would lose a schedule piece, and I would be scrambling to find a replacement. I had to find an organization system. Let me show you how I organize my schedule pieces.
Schedule Piece Organizer
I found this organizer deep in a cabinet in the classroom I inherited. It was filled with letter cards, but I had a different vision for it after the fiftieth time I could find a schedule piece I needed. I decided to make a schedule piece organizer. I organized all my extra schedule pieces into the drawers of this small piece hardware organizer. You can find a similar organizer here (affiliate link)!
Drawer Labels
To label each drawer, I take one of my schedule pieces and trim it to fit on the front of the drawer. I Velcro the label to the drawer front so I can easily change out the label if I want to store different pieces in it. For the large drawers, I will sometimes put two types of schedule pieces in the drawer and put both labels on the front. I do this to make the most of the space I have in the organizer. The schedule piece organizer I linked (affiliate link) has more drawers, so you may not have to do this but you can if you need more labels.
This system makes it simple for me, my paras, or any related service providers to grab a schedule piece if we need it. It also eliminates the distractions of us asking each other if we have seen a specific schedule piece.
Prep Schedule Pieces in Bulk
Another way I stay organized and on top of my schedule pieces is to prep IN BULK in the beginning of the year. I prep lots of extras at the beginning of the year, and even more of frequently used and lost schedule pieces. It may feel like more work at the time, but it saves me tons of time prepping schedule pieces all the time throughout the year. As I see a drawer running low, I’ll prep more of that type as needed. I only have to bulk prep once in the beginning of the year.
My last tip for bulk prepping schedule pieces to store is to velcro before you cut. It saves lots of time when prepping lots of schedule pieces! You’ll thank me later for prepping in bulk and organizing!
How do you organize your schedule pieces? Do you have an organization system or is your system organized chaos? I’ve been on both sides, so no judgement here!
Read more about the student schedules I use in my classroom here.
Grab Alyssa’s Schedule pieces set here in the shop.
Grab Alyssa’s Schedule Pieces set here on TPT.
