Moving Your Classroom

Is anyone moving their classrooms this summer? School getting renovated or the floors getting waxed? Changing classrooms? Or changing schools? A few years ago my whole classroom had to be moved and placed in the gym for storage while our school was renovated. But my “stuff” was in a section along with 40 other teachers’ stuff. Materials did get mixed up.

Problems occurred. I learned a few packing tips and tricks I want to share with you. Especially since…it is obvious…I am moving my classroom again this year…to another school! This was my classroom last summer…{We have carpet so I can leave furniture down and set up.}

Well, this year it all has to go! That’s right…I am moving schools and thus, I am going to be moving my classroom! Here are my Tips for Moving Your Classroom.

Before Images

Check out my classroom in the summer before the moving process began.

Another image of my classroom over the summer.

Moving Your Classroom Trick #1: Store Your Smaller Things in Manageable Tubs

I store all my “unit” materials in these smaller Rubbermaid Roughneck Totes I love how they latch on the sides. And they hold a TON of files, games, hands-on stuff, and more. And since I use one per week, I have around 40 of them. Here is just one of my tubs for Map Week.

Additionally, I love how easy it is to lift and move them. Some of those larger tubs get seriously heavy! And the files and materials are harder to keep organized. Papers get wrinkled. The game and center parts get mixed up. And moving them, even to get the materials out can cause some back pain. These bins are usually kept on a shelf.

  Moving Your Classroom Trick #2: Label Everything!

Let’s talk about how to pack up a classroom. To avoid getting my materials mixed with another teacher, or lost along the way…I labeled every single thing. My bins are already labeled with their contents but they were lacking my name. When moving your classroom, adding your name and grade is very important. I don’t have time to hand label my name and grade on every single one of them, so I went to my computer and printed out a simple sign. Then I made 200 copies. I attached this paper to each and everything I moved. I left a line in case I needed to write anything on it. Plus, once this label was on that box, I knew I had looked through it and it was ready to go. I didn’t want to pack up anything that wasn’t mine to take. And we know that school stuff can get a little confusing.

Moving Your Classroom Trick #3: Group Like Items Together.

 Once I take posters, number lines, word walls, and decorative materials off the walls, I want to store them in a way that will help me keep them together AND put them back up easily. I organized my wall decorations in order and placed them in baggies together. When I put my number charts up, I can easily start with zero. My ABCs are in opposite order which is just as easy. I will flip the stack over and pull A off the now top. My word wall pieces are also ready to go.

I also took my FAVORITE classroom took… Ceiling Hooks... Here is a picture of the hooks holding artwork up.

I bought these 10 years ago and put them up all over my ceiling. I hang up student work, especially close to our art center to display work. When I took them down, I wound them up and placed them in a bin together. Set up will now be simple and easy.

I didn’t think these would hold up as easily in a baggie, so I put them in a small tub. Since all my materials were grouped together on shelves so I left these materials together in boxes.

I put all my math manipulatives and games together. As I packed, I left the boxes open and ready. That way if something stray was in the room somewhere, it could still be placed in the right box.

When everything was ready to go, then I taped up the boxes. I did place post-it notes on the boxes until I had a chance to label them with the printed papers I showed you above.

Plus I grabbed these boxes for a co-worker’s hallway once she moved into our school. I was 99% sure she was done with them, but I wanted to MAKE SURE before I damaged the boxes…and yes she was fine with it.} Do you see things left on the shelves? Those are the items I can’t take with me because they were bought by the school.

Moving Your Classroom Trick #4- Store Large Charts So They Don’t Get Bent

One thing I learned from my reno move was charts and large items will easily get bent or lost. Why? They are loose and so large that they are just hard to manage! My solution? Place the larger charts, wall decorations, and materials in a LARGE BOX. Lay the box down on one side and load it up. I found this Home Depot box fit perfectly for lots of my charts and décor. Some of the items were still too large, my poster size Center Chart. Once all my other items that do fit went into the box, I added the even larger ones to the top.

It worked out very well! My old classroom had carpet, but the halls were tile floors. And the wax had already been applied. Therefore, I was asked not to roll anything onto the hallway floors. When materials were packed, labeled, and ready to go…I stacked all my materials by the back door for easy loading and moving.

{Yes, there is tile there too, but that is what I was asked to do. My custodians have always been great to me, so I follow all their directions.}

Moving Your Classroom Trick #6: Move Materials… The Smart Way.

If you are moving your classroom, think about time and costs. My home school was about a 40-minute drive from my new school. That is a long trek back and forth, even with an SUV. I had to rent a U-Haul. There was no way around it. With gas prices and the distance to my new school, it would have been a chore to do anything else!

You might not need one, but don’t be scared to look into rentals for larger moves! The truck was around $30 a day then $0.77 a mile! I was able to rent it for less than $85. I did spend an additional $15 on gas, bringing the total cost to $100. The time it took to move diminished. This truck allows us to move the classroom in a few hours. This was a huge time and money saver in the long run. Defedently consider a truck if you need to move your classroom.

We moved all the stuff to the curb by the ramp. My sister, my daughter, my niece, my nephew, and I worked hard!

Once the U-Haul arrived, it took 45 minutes or less to load it up. The hardest thing to move was my filing cabinets. We had a hand truck and dolly, but they are FULL and very heavy. Plus we couldn’t use the front door, so we had to go across some grass with them. EEKK. We made it happen. Here is a glimpse of my old classroom and how I left it.

All the furniture I left belongs to the school so I can’t take it with me. That means I have to leave even my awesome lower black shelves that I love! This new owner is getting hooked up! When I had to move my furniture before, I labeled my tables with paper and masking tape. I also taped my chair stacks together. Since my chairs are color-coded, I HAD TO GET THEM ALL BACK. Or I would have lost my mind.

What did The U-Haul Look Like?

Back to this move… Here is the U-Haul my new principal saw when I arrived… GULP!

I thought she was going to fire me on the spot. I think she seriously started to reconsider my employment. To say she was shocked that I had so much was an understatement. But here I am, a truck full and at my new school. We unloaded the materials and waited for the direction to place them. My new school has two floors…and I will be downstairs. Those floors were being done so I had to place my crap my stuff I mean my awesome student materials in an empty classroom upstairs.

 When I Unpacked from Moving My Classroom

It was so easy to wheel these materials down with hand trucks, charts, and a dolly. Then quickly organize everything on the shelves.

When my new principal saw this room… I think she saw the organization of all the materials. She was impressed with how together it all was. {Thank goodness… right!} She also LOVED the wobble chairs! They are on the far left. She said she was a little worried they would disappear if I didn’t hide them. And she def wants to look into getting more for the school.

I hope all these tips and tricks for moving your classroom help you if you need to move your classroom soon or down the road. I know you can do it.