Teacher Mail Box

Over the next few weeks I am going to share some of my favourite things to have on my teacher desk.

Surprisingly, this sometimes-a-hot-crazy-mess of a home girl is a hyper-organized-everything-has-its-place-in-the-classroom kind of teacher.

Go figure.

Growing up I was a messy scrappy girl trapped in a neat tidy girl's body. I was surrounded by a neat tidy mother, father and sister. It is all I knew the world to be. But..... I had an insanely messy best friend. We were besties from birth and lived 5 doors apart in my street. We did everything together. She was crazy-messy. She was I-can't-see-her-carpet-from-all-the-stuff-messy! She scribbled on her dolls and cut their hair! Her picture books had scribbles and tears.

I LOVED it. I lived my messy life vicariously though her.

Anyhooo... off on a tangent I go again. My teacher desk must be hyper neat, otherwise I cannot think straight. Another thing that bothers me just a tiny little bit, is 20 people throwing things in my face, all at once and before I can even begin to get the teacher-talk happening. And all that.

Sooooo..... I have a 'teacher mail box' on my desk. Just on the edge. All neat and tidy like.

She gets ALL the notes, envelopes, bank books, payments, absence notes... basically anything that fits in the slot.

The parents of my sweeties say "Give this to the teacher, right away, don't forget, give it to her as soon as you see her, and DON'T lose it!". How do I know this? Because I say it to my daughter too.

Well, the sweeties just do what they think is right, and are not thinking about the other 19 people in the room, and all their envelopes and letters and instructions, and urgency.

Enter the mail box.

I can just point to it, and the students are reminded of where the notes go. And they can feel independent, and successful and like they have done a great job! And they LOVE to post, so it's a win-win.

I tell my parents to tell their children to put their notes "in the mail box". One simple thing to remember.

The absolute beauty of it, is that it makes for a smoother, calm, more settled beginning to our day.

Once I have the students working on something and engaged, I can check my mail box and sort it all at once.

If you would like to make a mail box like mine, you can print the picture for the front from my free printable. I have included a range of different skin tones and both male and female teachers.

Grab the download HERE