5 Tips to Make Moving Your Classroom Successful, Not Stressful!

We teachers put so much time and effort into setting up our classrooms! Seating plans, centers, storage, decor – It can weeks of arranging and rearranging to get it just right.

If you’re lucky, you get to stay in your classroom for a long time and it becomes your second home. But then there are those years when you get the dreaded news that you’re changing grade levels – and moving your classroom.

All the work, all the time, put into my perfect room! How do I pack? What should I keep? What can I throw away? How long will this take? So many questions.

I’m sure you’ve probably felt this same way, maybe even right now. So today I want to share some tips to ease the pain of moving your classroom. (Trust me, I’ve done it enough times to know!)

How to Make Moving Your Classroom Stress-Free

If you just found out you’ll be moving your classroom, you probably feel pretty overwhelmed. First, take a deep breath. It’s going to be okay. Here are some ways you can make the move successful instead of stressful:

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Tip 1 – Take pictures of your current classroom

If you want to keep some things in your new classroom the same as they were in your old classroom, this tip will save you so much time – and all you need is your phone!

It’s really easy to forget what was stored in a certain cabinet or shelf once it’s all put into boxes. Taking pictures solves that problem. Just take a quick walk through your room and snap pics of everything before you start packing. Then, when it’s time to unpack, you (or whoever is helping you) can easily put everything back the same way.

If certain items need to go on certain shelves, you may want to print the picture and tape it right to that piece of furniture.

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This tip works well with cabinets too. All those bins you bought that hold all your supplies so perfectly? Once they’re out of the cabinet or closet, you will NOT remember exactly where they were or how they were all arranged. But just like the saying goes – “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Snap a quick pic of your perfectly organized space and you’ll be able to duplicate it in your new classroom easily.

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Tip 2 – Create a First Week of School Box

The first week of school is hectic enough without have to dig through bins, boxes, and cabinets that you haven’t gotten totally organized yet. You can avoid that added stress by packing a “first week bin” and bringing it home with you over the summer.

When you return in the fall, you’ll have all the materials you need right away in one easily accessible place. You know, just in case you couldn’t get all the unpacking and organizing done over summer.

Some materials I suggest putting into your first week box are pencils, markers, scissors, stapler, “get to know you” activities, welcome letter for kids/parents, and any other absolute essentials to get through those first couple of days.

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Tip 3 – Choose the Right Kind of Bins

When moving your classroom, you’ll need a lot of boxes. But for some items, I suggest using clear plastic bins. Plastic bins can easily stack on top of one another and they are very sturdy.

The reason I prefer clear bins is so I can easily see what’s inside and pull out what I need. Anything I will need to find right away, goes into a clear bin. Things that can be unpacked whenever I get to them, can go into regular cardboard boxes.

Another thing to consider with your packing materials is that paper attracts bugs like silverfish and roaches. Putting as much as you can into plastic bins will reduce the chance of bugs getting in if your items have to be stored in a garage or shed over the summer.

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Tip 4 – Ask Parent Volunteers to Help

I love doing this… asking my room parents if they can help me move to a new classroom. Having a few extra hands always makes the work go a little faster. While my parent volunteers pack, I have some time to go through my resources and materials, and purge all of the crap.

When using parent volunteers in the classroom, the main thing is to give them the right tools and explicit instructions. Give your helpers easy and precise directions on what and how to pack. This will make it easier on them and you won’t have to re-do everything after they leave.

I like to supply my volunteers with the following items:

• Packing tape to label tables/chairs/desks with room # and name
• Sticker labels for my boxes and bins
• Permanent markers

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Parents are a great resource, but if you don’t have volunteers, consider having students help. They love to feel responsible for important things and moving your classroom is definitely important!

Tip 5 – Out With the Old

Think of moving your classroom as an opportunity to purge! Get rid of the 40 copies of that worksheet you kept because you might use it next year. Toss all the dusty prizes and the old chocolate you kept in your desk. Give yourself permission to get rid of things. It will make the move so much easier.

One thing I try to do every year, but definitely whenever I have to move classrooms, is set up a free book table. I clean out my classroom library and make a big stack of any books I no longer want – books that are worn out, for the wrong grade level, or just kind of outdated. I pile them on a table and at the end of the day, the kids get to go pick a book to take home.

Anything that’s left over goes to Goodwill and saves me from having to pack them up! Why bother moving stuff you aren’t going to use? Get rid of it!

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Moving your classroom is a great time to start fresh. You don’t need to buy a bunch of new stuff, but at least get rid of some of the excess you’ve collected over the years. Your mind and new room will thank you!

Moving to a new classroom can be stressful and hard. But with these simple ideas and tips, you can make the move easy and successful. Happy packing!