Organizing the classroom library and a newbie blog hop.

So I went into my classroom today to start checking things off the list. Today's agenda was the library.

Let me tell you, my classroom library was a mess! I took all the books off the shelves in order to re-organize them. Here's what I was working with.

I have a ton of books, and last year I didn't have a very good organization system. Most of the books were labeled with stickers, but I got a lot more books through books fairs and donations, and in my rush I just put them in the library without putting stickers on them. 

Of course the kids didn't know where to put these books without stickers so they just put them in any 'ol box, and led to kids not putting any of the books back properly, and suddenly my library was a disaster. 

Anyway, my goal this year is to have the most organized library I can. That means EVERY book will have a sticker. I will not put any new books in the library without a sticker. 

So Here's the final product!

Fiction on the left and non-fiction and the right. I wish I had enough boxes to be match-matchy but I don't, one day.

Here's an up close picture of the books without a bin in the first picture. Many of the books in my classroom were mine as a kid. I was OBSESSED with this series when I was young. Many of the books have my name signed in them in my little kid handwriting, and the kids love that. Any information that gives them a glimpse about what I was like as a kid is fascinating to them. 

Here's a fun fact. When I was about 13 this series ended and I had pretty much outgrown them. I boxed them all up and put them in the basement. I told my mom I was going to save them for when I became a teacher someday. I love that it actually happened :-) 

Here's the rest of the books. These are mostly fiction. Once again wishing I had matching book boxes. 

Here's the backside of that shelf. 

So I still have to finish labeling all of the book boxes. I use the library labels from lakeshore, but they don't have a category for everything I need so I've got to make some of my own. 

So I did not come up with this idea. I saw it on another bloggers site. However I can't for the life of my remember who it was. If it's you, or if you know who it is please let me know so I can give credit. 

Her idea was to give the kids a little arrow to place on the book boxes when they check out a book. That way you can see at a glance who has a book out. I downloaded the arrows from her and wrote up that little sign. 

Here's how it will look when the students check out a book. 

So whoever you are thanks for giving me this idea! I'm think it's really going to help keep the library organized and prevent the kiddos from sticking the books in their cubbies and forgetting about them. 

Okay So I'm linking this up to the newbie blog hop over at Third Grade is the Place for Me. Go check it out if you want to join in! I've been blogging for just over a month so I definitely have a lot to learn. 

1.  what state you are in

2.  when you started blogging

3.  your current teaching position

4.  your teaching experience

5.  share a blogging tip / blogging resource

1. I'm in California! West Hollywood to be exact.

2. I started blogging at the beginning of June

3. I currently teach 2nd grade. I teach on a loop though so next year I will teach third and then go back to second. 

4. I graduated from my teaching program in 2009, and got my first job the following fall. It was a intern position and I taught a literacy block in first grade. A second grade position opened up the next year and they gave it to me! Yay! I completed my first loop and I'm excited to go back to second. 

5. Here's my tip- Join the linky parties that interest you. You don't need to try and do them all, but they are a fun way to get your name out there and find new blogs.