Welcome to Week 3 of the Speech Room Organization Challenge! I’m sharing ideas and strategies to help you tackle a few organizational projects over the summer. This week is all about getting those PAPER MATERIALS organized!
Note: This post is about paper materials for therapy (e.g., worksheets, activities, visuals, etc.). We’ll talk about paperwork and all that other fun stuff another day!
If you read my decluttering post, then you might guess that I don’t love having a ton of paper materials. 🙂 That is my biggest tip to make paper more manageable. Purge away! I dumped nearly all of my paper materials, and you can, too!
Please don’t try to organize your paper materials before you declutter! Promise?
Okay, whew! Now that you’ve gotten rid of those extra papers, you can try some of these ideas. 🙂
Warning: There are a lot of CUTE ideas! Try to pick two or three tools and stick with them. Don’t buy all the tools, because it’ll make it really challenging to stay organized. It can also get kind of pricey!
1. Drawer Cart
I love drawer carts! Check out this post for more ideas on how to use them.
2. Plastic Pocket
These pockets can be used to store a variety of materials.
3. Plastic Portfolio
These Five Star portfolios are very durable and can be used to store packets of materials.
Bonus? You can use sheet protectors for “interactive” activities. (Students love using dry erase markers! It can also save you some trips to the copy machine because they can be used over and over again!)
Check out this video for a closer look.
4. Binder
Binders are another great way to store materials!
5. File Cart
This cart makes it easy to store files and small materials all in one place!
6. Storage Cart
Check out this blog post for a peek at my therapy cart.
7. Toolbox
A creative way to organize smaller therapy materials!
8. Plastic Drawers
Another great way to organize smaller therapy materials!
9. Photo Box
This photo boxes can be found at most craft stores (e.g., Michaels, Joann).
10. Pocket Chart
Pocket charts are another great way to store frequently used visuals/materials. I used a pocket chart this year to organize my students’ goal cards. We also used them to make a grammar wall (more on that later)! Felice from the Dabbling Speechie also used hers to store sentence strips.
11. Craft/Bead Organizer
I found some bead organizers at a local craft store for a few dollars. Perfect for storing small visuals.
12. Thumbtacks
I store my most frequently used visuals on the wall by my therapy tool. Thumbtacks are an inexpensive and quick option!
And for my personal favorites…
13. Therapy Tote
Check out this video for a “tour” of my therapy tote.
14. File Box/Cabinet
We talked about this in the book organization post, but you can also use these to organize your paper materials.
Which one is your favorite?! Let me know in the comments below!
If you’re looking for more ideas, then check out the other posts in this series:
- Decluttering
- Books
- Digital Materials – Coming soon!
Love these ideas!! My therapy room was a mess!! I started using the pocket portfolios to store some themed items while using them. I separated my themes into bins to store away when not using. I have a ton of books that don’t fit into the bins so I’ve tried organizing them on a bookshelf by theme/month (but the kiddos keep getting into them!!). I have a magazine organizer for each student that I try to put all their assessments/IEP/materials in. I’m getting there, but still have a long ways to go!! Thanks so much for these ideas!! 🙂