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!  

FREEBIE FRIDAY WITH THREE

Today has been a very somber day. I arrived at school this morning to hear that one of my teacher colleagues was killed last night in a car accident. His wife is also a teacher at my school and was not in the car with him. It has been a very sad day and will have some difficult times ahead of us in the following weeks.

The computer is always my escape because it always seems to take my mind off of things. I've been excited all week to link up and share 3 freebies with you this week. I tell ya, I'm becoming obsessed with this design stuff!! It's ADDICTING! I can't stop. I just want to keep designing one project after another! Now that I'm finally accumulating some clipart and fonts to work with, I must say that these are my best two creations yet! 

Freebie #1: Click {here}

Freebie #2: Click {here}

Freebie #3: Click {here}
This is a great activity for beginning writers. I have attempted to upload this as an editable version, so that you can type in the words of your choice (e.g. Today is Monday). I hope it opens for you as an editable document, as this is my first time attempting to do this. If not, let me know and I can try again....or you can always white out "type word here" and write your words in. Be sure to scramble the words you put in, so students have to unscramble them to form the sentence at the top. 

I hope you enjoy these freebies and can use at least one if not all three for your classroom! I would love for you to comment with any feedback! It would make my night!! :) 

Now for some fabulous giveaway (((shoutouts)))!!! 
Another fabulous find tonight for more freebies is "the school blog addict." I found this blog tonight through Freebie Friday.....and I love this blog!!!! Plus, she is the creator of Ashley Hughes Clipart, which is lovely by the way! 

She is also giving away this huge alphabet bundle right now!!!!

Another you definitely don't want to miss out on.........
the giveaway from "Learning with Mrs. Leeby." 

Speaking of GIVEAWAY'S........I'm coming up on 100 followers very quickly........and was wondering if any of you out there are interested in supporting me in a giveaway!!! 

Oh, and one more thing........I just started "The Bender Bunch" facebook page lastnight! I'm still working on adding a link to my blog, but would love it if you checked out my page and "liked" it   {here}.