How to Reset a Kindergarten Classroom

What to see how easy a classroom reset can be in Kindergarten? Each year I have to do a classroom reset. My Kindergarten Classroom has tile floors which means we each year I have to clean up my classroom to get all the items off the floor. It is a pain, but also a time to clean up and purge items that build up. I try to keep as many items in my classroom as possible, to make the reset easier.

How to Tips

Here are some quick tips on how I make my reset as easy as possible.

1. Label everything that leaves your classroom. I use my computer and printer to make a 50 signs that reads “Amoson 108” to tape to each article that goes out the door. This is just simpler for me that writing it over and over again.
2. Leave everything inside your room that you can. You will see stacks of my baskets and bin on the one shelf I have bolted to the wall. That is my ploy to keep as many items IN the classroom as possible. (Sadly, I own and use ALL those plastic bins.)
3. Take home anything that is expensive and could break. Some teachers have to leave their tech items in their closet, locked up. But if you can help it, take it home. I have heard horror stories of teachers who return to find their iPads got wet when floors were being done OR items have come up missing.
4. Take time to sort at the end of each year. I make a pile of things that never got returned to their home and I find their home. This isn’t fun but it is needed. Yes, I want to go home asap for summer, but I know I will not have time to do this in August when we return to school.
5. Be nice to your custodians and they will be nice to you. I have a little something extra I do for my custodians when they finish with my room. Watch the video below to see what that special treat is! My room is one of two Kindergarten rooms at the start of the hallway, so it is a great place to START doing floors.

What to Reset in the Classroom?

Above is a picture of what my Kindergarten classroom looked like when I left it. I do not set up any further on my classroom reset until my carpets get cleaned. This ended up being a good thing! I got an email last week telling me my floors got flooded slightly and they had to rewax my floors. Good thing I removed my technology. I am not sure of the damage done, but I will be returning to school as soon as I get the “all clear” to check out what is going on.

This year when I returned to my classroom to reset, here is what I found! My custodians moved in all my labeled items into the classrom! How kind of them! Thanks to their helpfulness, I was able to reset my classroom in less than 30 minutes.

Take a Glimpse at a Class Reset

Another teacher asked if I liked having tile floors. No! I much prefer carpet, hence my carpet squares! (We got them for flor.com outlet.) I feel like I am doing the best to balance what I have (tile floors) while taking care of the issues that arise from them; loud sounds, slipping furniture, and so on. My goal was to make my classroom reset quick and easy as well.

Kindergarten Class Reset

This is a video of the classroom reset.

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Want to see the AFTER?