Great finds and more organization tips

I've been reading about how everyone is off finding great deals at their local stores and just couldn't resist checking out the local Walmart! I went this this evening and as soon as I walked in I could see the bins lined up down the center aisle... I was so excited, yes I'm going to find great deals tonight! My excitement slowly changed and bin after bin after bin was EMPTY! I couldn't believe my eyes, there was almost nothing left. I was able to snag a few packs of crayola markers, 10 count, in various colors for $0.97 each. I guess I really can't complain since I am currently visiting my grandmother in Florida. I could just see my husbands face as I got home from my trip and started to unpack not clothes but lots and lots of school supplies! I think it would be pretty funny, not sure he would find the humor in it as much as I would. Have you ever gone back to school shopping out of state? Was it on purpose? Or because you happened to be there and just came across some great deals you couldn't pass up? ********** I thought I would continue to share ways that I organize my classrooom... Let me start off by saying that since its summer break I don't have pictures of what my room looks like and I am on my iPad (which is proving to be a bit more challenging than I thought) but once I can get back into my room in August I will get lots of pictures and share them. So I thought I would share how I organize my desk. In my old room I had two desks side by side. One was actually a computer table and the other was more of an office desk than a traditional teacher desk. The computer desk had no drawers and was just as table top, the other desk had a small pencil drawer and then a file drawer under that. The two desks were the same exact height and size. Under the computer table I bought a rolling cart with five drawers - four of them were skinny drawers and the bottom drawer was a larger one. (This year I chose to leave this cart in school and I'm so disappointed because I saw all the great Pins on how all the teachers out there are covering and decorating their plastic drawers.... Totally wish I could be doing that this summer, I may have to do it in September once I can get it home, or stay late at a day or two and decorate it then!) Anyways, each drawer had a label, stickers, birthday/lost tooth rewards, extra bulletin board pieces, post-it notes, reward charts and a few other things. I love this cart because I was able to store so much in it. The top of my desk was my favorite part. On the far left, right next to where the kids homework folders are, I have five black stacking trays - one for each day of the week. As I get copies or notes that need to go home or I finish checking any work I place the items on the correct day of the week and then I always know what needs to go into the kids folders. Next to those I have two metal paper trays. One is labeled: Notes got the teacher and the other is labeled: Extra papers. The second bin becomes my catch all which is great because for the most part I don't end up with lots and lots of papers scattered around on my desk and then once this bin is full I know its time to file everything. I do try to keep up with the filing on a daily basis but sometimes that's just not possible so instead I have a place to keep all my papers until I can file them. I also have a pencil holder filled with markers, another with pens and pencils, and a box with reward stickers. On the teacher side of the desk I usually keep my planner, a calendar, as well as the rest of the office supplies - scissors, staplers, and tape. In my school the kindergarten classes don't have assistants helping but we do get parent volunteers who come in the mornings and hell us go through the folders and stuff homework folders for us. They can also check work if we need the to. Since I had two desks I always made the computer desk esy for my parent helpers to use. They had all the tools they needed to stuff folders and heck the homework packets if I ever neede them to. In the beginning if the year I always typed up a letter of what I expected from my parent helpers and how my folders were organized. I usually taped the letter to the desk since there were sne years I had more than one parent coming to help. This upcoming year I will be in a new room - I have to rethink my organization system and how I set up everything, I'm excited to see how it all turns out. How do you organize your desk. What do you do to organize your students homework and papers that need to be handed out? I csn't wait to read all your ideas!