Thursday, April 16, 2015

Best Ever TpT Center Storage




Trial and error, trial and error! That's my middle name. I believe it has taught me more than any college program ever did! I'm always trying new things, and either they don't work, or they do! I'm always looking for ways to simplify my planning and organization and most of the time it takes much trial and error. I'm a seventh year SPED teacher and I'm still looking for the perfect method to teach and collect data on IEP goals, how to progress monitor effectively, how to develop the perfect multi-level lesson plan, and so on! Does that tell you anything? But through much trial and error I can finally say....I have finally found the perfect way to store my center activities. Problem solved! No more ziplocs! 


Don't get me wrong...I love ziplocs for everything, just not for my centers!!!

I was beyond excited for these to arrive a few days ago!





BEFORE.....

While this may look somewhat organized, it was a pain in the butt! Trying to keep task cards and little pieces in these open ended folders, or staple baggies to the inside, or much less trying to store required dice for an activity in these office folders.? It doesn't work very well! Believe me!

These zipper envelopes are just genius!!! They are 9x12, so they are perfect for storing full page centers and recording sheets. They easily and conveniently store small pieces as well as dice or counters that may be needed for each center! The clear pockets allow you to see what is in the pack or allow you to easily insert a cover page for each center! I just love them! Best investment ever!

Here are my centers now! All neatly tucked away in their own pocket! 


And while everything is always a work in progress for a teacher....now I'm looking at possible color coding as each package comes with 5 colors! The possibilities with these are endless...and there are SO many uses! While these are easy to flip through, you could also organize skills by color. For instance, all base ten activities could be blue, while all addition centers could be yellow. Holiday and seasonal themed centers could also be sorted by color.  

Personally, I try to stay away from too many seasonal/holiday themed centers for a few reasons. Through trial and error, I have learned that these skills are not usually what I need for my students at that time...and adjusting their centers for each holiday/season can cause a great deal of additional work for the teacher when you are working with multiple levels. 

I've already filled up 75 of these zippered envelopes....and just ordered 10 more packs! I don't want to chance them being discontinued as I accumulate more centers. They come 5 to a pack from "www.officesupply.com" and after searching the web, this is the best deal I have found!! You can check them out {here}, and shipping is free on orders that are $45 or more!  


16 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing!! I must check these out and order some!!!

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  2. Love these--do you think they are durable enough for students to use on a routine basis?

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    1. Yes, very thick and durable!! You may have some trouble with some of the little plastic sliders coming off if students are using them, but this really isn't an issue because even if this pops off, you are still able to open and zip close them with your fingers like you would a baggie.

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    2. Perfect! I just ordered some and cannot wait for them to come in! Thank you for sharing this solution.

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    3. Awesome!! You will love them and they arrive rather quickly! I have ordered even more since I posted this and am getting low again! LOL! Like I said I have had a few of my plastic sliders come off, but it doesn't affect opening and zip closing the pouch!!! Also, they line up and zip close very easily unlike some cheap baggies you buy!!

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  3. I love this idea & was hoping to change my centers to this instead of the ziploc bags. I bought 2 brands that I could get locally but they don't fit into the letter size desktop storage I use.

    What do you use to store them? Does it fit legally?

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    1. Sherice, I store them in crates as shown in the pictures. And no, they are not legal size. They are 13 X 10 1/8 inch.

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  4. This is brilliant!!! I see they expand to 1 inch but that's at the bottom, then they taper to the zip closure, correct? I believe this will be a game changer - even in a filing cabinet!

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  5. Found in Canada too at https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B0075LDFLS/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB

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  6. Hi Traci,
    I am also a special education teacher and am currently looking for center/workshop ideas for older students 3rd through 8th grade.
    Where do you find your ideas?

    Pam SpEd 7

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  7. Also available at Costco in the summer with the seasonal school supplies! They are great!

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  8. Hi there! I noticed that your photo says that it's 13x10 1/2" but the link take me to 9x12". Are they the same ones because I can't seem to find 13x 10 1/2" on their website. Thanks!

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    1. Hmmm, that is a good question! I am not sure and I can't get in my classroom to measure mine to give you an exact for sure answer as to whether these are the same. Sorry about that, but I can after Aug. 8th. I know just about a month ago I clicked that same link to order more and it said out of stock. So maybe the link changed. Even if they are a little smaller though, 9x12 would still work for the purpose of storing centers, as I know none of my centers are larger than 8 1/2 X 11.

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  9. I love this idea so much! I ordered some but they ended up being too wide to fit in my file cabinet. Would you mind sharing where you found your file crate? They look so perfectly organized! Thanks so much!! :-)
    -Diana dianaowens27@gmail.com

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  10. Oh my gosh! I love these! On my way to look for some now!

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  11. Oh my goodness! Thank you for the suggestion. This solves my biggest problem. I just ordered some of these from Amazon and will get started organizing this summer for next year.

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