Bursting at the Seams?

Bursting at the Seams?
Organize Your
Classroom Supplies
An organized classroom is a wellrun classroom. A well-run classroom
is a happy classroom. Use these
suggestions to bring order to your
classroom supplies!
Office Depot Brand Clear Plastic Storage Boxes
You’ll be thinking clearly when you select Office Depot Brand Clear Plastic Storage
Boxes or the Iris Modular Clear Box for organizing math manipulatives, game pieces,
craft materials, and other small supplies. There’s no need to guess what’s inside
these transparent boxes; the answer is always clear! Each box comes with a lid that
fingers of all sizes can snap in place. And the boxes are stackable, which means
you can maximize your storage space. Attach matching labels to the front and back
of each box so that, no matter which way you slide it onto a shelf, you and your
students can see what’s inside.
Featured Products: Office Depot Brand Clear Plastic Storage Boxes (Office Depot item #773118),
Iris Modular Clear Box (OfficeMax item #20180572)
Filing/Stacking Crates
Lightweight and portable, Office Depot Filing Crates or OfficeMax File
Crates are great for organizing classroom supplies. Use them as collection
bins for student workbooks or math journals or as storage bins for puzzles and
games. The crates are a perfect fit for letter- and legal-size hanging file folders,
allowing you to organize your teaching materials by subject or by day. Easy!
Featured Products: Office Depot Filing Crates (Office Depot item #430669 or #430723),
OfficeMax File Crates (OfficeMax item #21894032 or #21894023)
Decorative Masking Tape
Organizing by color is a great idea. Try using Scotch Decorative Masking Tape
or Chartpak Deco Bright Decorative Tape to color-code supplies. Simply pair a
color of tape and a category of classroom supplies. For example, to color-code the
books in your class library, assign one color to fiction and another to nonfiction and
then attach a short strip of tape to the spine of each book. Or to designate which
items go on a particular shelf, attach a piece of tape to the shelf and a short strip of
the same color to each item you want stored there. The possibilities are plentiful!
Featured Products: Scotch Decorative Masking Tape (Office Depot item #280366, various
colors available), Chartpak Deco Bright Decorative Tape (OfficeMax item #20702759)
You
Said I t
!
What area of your classroom presents the biggest
organizational challenge?
39.5% of teachers surveyed admitted that their own
desks were the major problem spots. (Is your
face red?)
—Office Depot & OfficeMax 2014 Teacher School Supply Survey
©2014 Office Depot, Inc. Text and design by The Education Center, LLC
First Day of
School
Welcome your new group of
students with confidence and
a smile!
Avery Removable Round Color-Coding Labels
The first day of school means plenty of new faces and names to learn. While you
are putting these names and faces to memory, use Avery Removable Round
Color-Coding Labels to assist you with some first-day tasks. For example, if
you teach young students, use the dots to identify end-of-the-day transportation:
yellow for bus riders, blue for car riders, and green for walkers. Reserve red dots
for special circumstances. For older students, attach a dot to each nametag
or desktag and refer to the color when forming groups, making classroom
transitions, and lining up. Now that’s a colorful solution to first-day concerns!
Featured Products: Avery Removable Round Color-Coding Labels (Office Depot item #191304,
OfficeMax item #07002183)
Clasp Envelopes, 10" x 13"
There are always surprises on the first day of school. Here’s one surprise you can
be ready for! As you prepare desk nametags, first-day paperwork, and homework
folders, make a few extra sets and store each set in a Clasp Envelope, 10" x 13".
If you don’t use the welcome supplies on the first day of school, keep them on
hand to welcome new students throughout the school year.
Featured Products: Clasp Envelope, 10" x 13" (Office Depot item #330888,
OfficeMax item #20170306)
Index Cards
You’ll want to have a few get-acquainted activities for the first day of school. This
activity is easy to prepare and can be used at a moment’s notice. Label individual
Index Cards with different get-acquainted topics, such as a favorite food and a
favorite outdoor activity. Keep the cards handy. When you need a quick activity,
lead the class in chanting “Hip hip hooray! Give a cheer! We’re ready to begin a
new school year. We need a topic to discuss so we can share some things about
us!” Then read a question card and give each child a chance to share his or her
answer. New friendships will form right away.
Featured Products: Index Cards (Office Depot item #757750, OfficeMax item #20740227)
Looking for a fun display to start your school year?
Try these!
• Carson-Dellosa Decorative Bulletin Board Set—Dive into Learning
• Edupress We’re Smart Cookies Bulletin Board Set
• Scholastic Welcome Back Team Bulletin Board Set
©2014 Office Depot, Inc. Text and design by The Education Center, LLC
Creating a Positive
Learning Environment
Self-Stick Easel Pad
If you and your students have been
making anchor charts on bulletin board
paper, it’s time to invest in a SelfStick Easel Pad. It takes less than
a minute to remove a sheet from the
pad and press it onto your whiteboard,
bulletin board, or wall, making your
transition into chart-making mode
seamless. Better yet, the paper stays
put while information is being added.
And another benefit? You can keep
more anchor charts readily available
to students. The self-stick top makes
it easy to stack charts one on top of
the other, which means that you or
your students can flip to a recent chart
quickly. That’s a lot of visible learning
within your students’ reach!
Use these tips to keep your
students’ learning visible in
the classroom—a key factor
in creating a positive learning
environment!
Watercolor Markers,
Scented Assorted Colors
Write a weekly list of learning goals on
chart paper. Then have each student
use Watercolor Markers in Scented
Assorted Colors to sign the paper.
Post the declaration of learning in the
classroom or hallway. What a colorful
and fragrant reminder of the goals
students have and the learning that’s
taking place!
Featured Products: Watercolor Markers in
Scented Assorted Colors (Office Depot item
#203034, OfficeMax item #11001382)
Featured Products: Self-Stick Easel Pad
(Office Depot item #434238, OfficeMax item
#21068513)
You
!
Said I t
Top-Loading Plastic Page
Protectors
A good-work bulletin board is a
perfect way to showcase students’
learning, and this display earns
an A+ because it is managed by
students. Post the title “We’re Clearly
Learning!” along with a class set of
Office Depot Brand Top-Loading
Sheet Protectors or OfficeMax
Heavyweight Sheet Protectors. A
student selects a sample of her best
work and slips it into a plastic page
protector for others to see. Encourage
students to update their work samples
each week.
Featured Products: Office Depot Brand
Top-Loading Sheet Protectors (Office Depot
item #498811), OfficeMax Heavyweight Sheet
Protectors (OfficeMax item #20051765)
What song would be a good theme for your
classroom?
Nearly 31% of teachers chose “We Are Family,”
followed by 21% selecting “Happy,” and 20.8%
selecting “Welcome to the Jungle.”
—Office Depot & OfficeMax 2014 Teacher School Supply Survey
©2014 Office Depot, Inc. Text and design by The Education Center, LLC
Managing
My Time
Make every minute of your school
day count! Use these practical timemanagement strategies to help you find
more minutes in a school day!
Post-it Super Sticky Notes
Make the best use of your time by sticking with high-priority tasks. Write your to-do
tasks on individual Post-it Super Sticky Notes and organize the notes inside a file
folder. Place high-priority tasks on the left half of the folder and lower priorities on the
right. When a high-priority task is complete, throw away or recycle the sticky note.
Move tasks from the right half of the folder to the left as the priority increases.
Your time will be well spent, and you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment!
Featured Products: Post-it Super Sticky Notes (Office Depot item #121106, OfficeMax
item #24246031)
Post-it Flags
This year, avoid copying the same standards over and over in your plan
book. Instead, write the teaching standards you plan to cover in a single
week on individual Post-it Flags. Use the notes to flag the corresponding
activities in your plan book, moving and reusing the markers as needed.
The following week, carry over the page markers you can reuse and label
new ones as needed. Just think of the time you’ll save!
Featured Products: Post-it Flags (Office Depot
item #265333, OfficeMax item #23324911)
Smead Color Hanging Folders or OfficeMax Color Hanging Folders
Filing/Stacking Crate
Organizing and simplifying are key elements of time management, and this
approach to daily planning capitalizes on both. Grab an Office Depot Filing
Crate or OfficeMax File Crate and a pack of Smead Color Hanging Folders or
OfficeMax Color Hanging Folders. Label a different color of hanging folder for
each school day and sequence the folders inside the crate. Store the teaching
materials you plan to use for the day in each day’s folder. Didn’t get to everything?
At the end of each day, remove any remaining supplies and transfer them to another
folder. Refill the folders as you plan lessons for the following week. Having all your
teaching supplies for the day in one location will be a tremendous timesaver—and it
will be greatly appreciated by substitute teachers when the need arises!
Featured Products: Office Depot Filing Crate (Office Depot item #430669 or #430723),
OfficeMax File Crate (OfficeMax item #21894032 or #21894023), Smead Color Hanging Folders
(Office Depot item #959429), OfficeMax Color Hanging Folders (OfficeMax item #20214386)
overwhelmed by email?
You Feeling
22.5% of teachers reported getting up to
! 100 school-related emails per week, and 8%
t
I
d
i
a
S
reported getting more than 100!
—Office Depot & OfficeMax 2014 Teacher School Supply Survey
©2014 Office Depot, Inc. Text and design by The Education Center, LLC
Organizing
Paperwork:
Keep It Simple!
Student papers, notes from home, permission
slips, forms to fill out—there doesn’t seem to
be an end to a teacher’s paperwork. Check
out these suggestions for bringing order to
school-related papers.
View Binders
Insertable Plastic Dividers
with Pockets
Sheet Protectors
Take control of handouts and notes
from school meetings with a school
reference binder. Customize the
Wilson-Jones Ultra View Binder or
InPlace Heavy Duty View Binder by
decorating and labeling paper cut to
fit the front cover and spine. Add lots
of Office Depot Brand Top-Loading
Sheet Protectors or OfficeMax
Heavyweight Sheet Protectors.
Expanding File Case
To keep a handle on daily paperwork,
file papers you can’t immediately
take care of inside an Expanding File
Case. Label one file pocket for each
subject you teach, and use these
for papers that need to be graded.
Then label another pocket “To Read”
and one “To Be Filled Out.” Also
leave a few pockets open to use in
transferring completed paperwork.
The file case keeps your desk free
from multiple paper stacks, and it’s
easy to grab on your way to a meeting
or an appointment where you may
get a few minutes to work. Need to
take the paperwork home? Grab
your expanding file case and you’ll
be all set!
Featured Products: Wilson-Jones Ultra View
Binder (Office Depot item #544844), InPlace
Heavy Duty View Binder (OfficeMax item
#21935328), Office Depot Brand Top-Loading
Sheet Protectors (Office Depot item #498811),
OfficeMax Heavyweight Sheet Protectors
(OfficeMax item #20051765)
Office Depot or OfficeMax
Brand Poly String Envelopes,
Letter Size
When you have specialized paperwork
that needs a place all its own, reach
for a Office Depot or OfficeMax
Brand Poly String Envelopes, Letter
Size. The envelopes are durable
and secure, and their bright colors
make them easy to find. The reusable
envelopes are especially practical for
storing returned forms and permission
slips. Simply tape a class list to the
back of the envelope and cross out
names as paperwork is returned.
Featured Products: Expanding File Case
(Office Depot item #768445, OfficeMax item
#21671503)
You
Said I t !
What’s the best supply for keeping students organized?
58.6% of teachers said that colored pocket folders are
the most helpful, followed by binders (23.2%) and
planners (11.8%).
—Office Depot & OfficeMax 2014 Teacher School Supply Survey
©2014 Office Depot, Inc. Text and design by The Education Center, LLC
Featured Products: Office Depot or
OfficeMax Brand Poly String Envelopes,
Letter Size (Office Depot item #667770,
OfficeMax item #2430140)
Simplifying
Classroom
Technology
Technology may feel like one more thing to
manage, however the learning benefits for
students are far too great to ignore! Use these
tips to take advantage of the technology that’s
available to you.
Index Cards
Loose-Leaf Rings
Post-it Flags
There’s a good chance your classroom technology station is extremely popular
among students, so making sure every student has an opportunity to spend time
there is a top priority. An easy way to accomplish this is to label an Index Card
for each child; then hole-punch the cards and fasten them on a Loose-Leaf Ring.
Attach a Post-it Flag to the top card and put the card set at your station. The student
whose name is flagged visits the station first. When his turn is over, he flips to the
next card and notifies this classmate that it’s her turn.
Featured Products: Index Card (Office Depot item #757750, OfficeMax item #20740227),
Loose-Leaf Ring (Office Depot item #401199), Post-it Flag (Office Depot item #160064,
OfficeMax item #21173953)
Tablet Computer
If you’re fortunate enough to begin the school year with a new tablet computer, such
as the Dell Venue Pro, resist the urge to create rules for classroom usage. Instead
involve your students in brainstorming classroom guidelines for using and taking care
of the equipment. Doing so will create a sense of ownership among the students and
promote responsible student behaviors.
Featured Products: Dell Venue Pro (Office Depot item #119378, OfficeMax item #24252229)
Pacon Sentence Strips
Sharpie Ultra Fine Point Permanent Markers
Pacon Border
Technology is great—as long as it works! But when things
go wrong, the whole class can get derailed. To avoid this
time waster, establish clear procedures for what to do when
something isn’t working. Should a child make note of a
problem and then work on another assignment until help is
available? Should the student stop where he or she is and
place the device on your desk? For best results, use Pacon
Sentence Strips, Sharpie Ultra Fine Point Permanent
Markers, and a colorful Pacon Border to make a poster of
prioritized options for students to follow.
Featured Products: Pacon Sentence Strips (Office Depot item
# 394012, OfficeMax item #20471053), Sharpie Ultra Fine Point
Permanent Markers (Office Depot item #451898, OfficeMax item
#10014156), Pacon Border (Office Depot item #340182, assorted colors;
OfficeMax item #21561365, assorted colors)
You
!
Said I t
GBC Fusion 100L 12" Laminator
Binder Clips
Are you constantly labeling sentence strips with the same
Essential Questions, “I Can” statements, or Common Core
State Standards? Stop the madness! Use your school or
personal laminator, such as the GBC Fusion 100L 12"
Laminator to laminate each strip you create. Organize the
strips by subject or standard number. Use binder clips to
attach the strips for the day to your board. Your teaching
objectives will be in clear view time after time!
Featured Products: GBC Fusion 100L 12" Laminator (Office Depot
item #186316, OfficeMax item #23376909), binder clips (Office Depot
item #825190, OfficeMax item #20015001)
What technology are you dreaming of most for your
classroom?
Tablet computers were the top pick for over 40% of
teachers, followed by interactive whiteboards,
laptops, and color printers.
—Office Depot & OfficeMax 2014 Teacher School Supply Survey
©2014 Office Depot, Inc. Text and design by The Education Center, LLC
Parent Communication:
Top Tips
Keeping parents informed is critical
in building and maintaining positive
partnerships with your students’
parents. Use these suggestions to
start communicating right away.
Twin Pocket Portfolios
Self-Adhesive Labels
Get off to a great start with a strong management system for sending home
paperwork to parents. It’s easy with Twin Pocket Portfolios and Self-Adhesive
Labels. Make two self-adhesive labels that read “To be left at home” and “Bring
right back!” for each child. Attach one label to each pocket in the folder; then
invite students to personalize their “take-home” folders to their liking. A quick
glance tells parents which of their children’s papers to keep at home and which
ones need to be returned to school.
Featured Products: Twin Pocket Portfolios (Office Depot item #433672, OfficeMax item
#21922216), Self-Adhesive Labels (Office Depot item #916460, OfficeMax item #07001460)
Bright Color Paper
To make sure your parent communications get noticed, print them on Neenah
Astrobrights Bright Color Paper or Boise Fireworx Brights Assorted Pack.
Bright and colorful notes from the teacher are easier to spot in backpacks and
folders. Choose from out-of-this-world colors—Cosmic Orange, Terra Green,
and assorted packs. Brilliant!
Featured Products: Neenah Astrobrights Bright Color Paper, Boise Fireworx Brights
Assorted Pack (Cosmic Orange—Office Depot item #255815; Terra Green—Office Depot
item #364065; assorted packs—Office Depot item #704485, OfficeMax item #23404558)
Highlighter Pens
Use this quick and easy process to keep parents in the know about their
children’s academic accomplishments. As you send student work home,
use an Office Depot Pen-Style Highlighter or an OfficeMax Pen-Style
Highlighter to circle the grades and scores on student papers that have
been entered in your grade book. It’s a simple way to keep parents
informed about which papers are for practice and which are not. Parents
are sure to be appreciative!
Featured Products: Office Depot Pen-Style Highlighter (Office Depot item #469829),
OfficeMax Pen-Style Highlighter (OfficeMax item #23749400)
You
!
Said I t
Which school supply do you run out of first every year?
32% of you run out of glue first, and 28.7% run out of
tissues.
—Office Depot & OfficeMax 2014 Teacher School Supply Survey
©2014 Office Depot, Inc. Text and design by The Education Center, LLC