Image 12 of 19 from gallery of Maidenhill Primary School & Nursery / BDP. Photograph by David Barbour

Forty ideas to inspire you!

One of the most magical parts about teaching is being able to foster a love of reading amongst your students! Before they get into later years where reading might lose some of its joy (uni, I’m looking at you here!), a love of books helps not only to improve literacy but to encourage imaginative play, too. If you haven’t yet got a library section in your classroom, or your current book nook just isn’t working how you imagined it would, then read on, friend! I’ve popped together some tips on how to organize your classroom library to minimize headaches and maximize reading for your students. A quick note – these are only tips! Please know there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ when it comes to your library set up, it’s completely up to you to decide what will work best for your students. My BFF @lololoveslearning blew me away when she revealed her new library set up in her classroom! Using my Bulletin Board Lettering Pack and Editable Boho Rainbow Classroom Labels. What is a classroom library? A classroom library is a great resource for your little learners to be able to directly interact with books on a day-to-day basis! Promoting literacy skills, a classroom library is usually a collection of books, magazines and any other literary resources that are tailored to your students’ general reading level and interests. Covering the spectrum of fiction and non-fiction, a classroom library is a helpful tool for teachers to incorporate into their lesson plans to encourage enthusiastic, motivated readers! What is the benefit of a classroom library? Outside of providing direct support to your literacy lessons, having a library in your classroom serves multiple other purposes! It helps your little learners to learn about the concept of libraries and how they operate; it provides directly accessible resources for any students who want to engage in extra reading outside of lessons; it allows you to incorporate individual and group reading into your curriculum; and it gives students the opportunity to read across a range of topics and genres that might interest them, regardless of what their home situation might look like! Where to set up your classroom library The first thing you’ll need to do when creating your library space is work out where you’ll put it! This might be impacted by the grade you teach, or the personalities of your students. If you’ve got younger kids who are just starting out on their reading journey – then having the library up front might work better with your lesson plans, where you can involve lots of students at once. If your kids are a little older, then a library towards the back of the classroom or in a corner might be a better spot, as they can retreat there and read quietly without disrupting the other kids. How to set up your classroom books Once you’ve settled on a spot, it’s time to think about the library system you want to implement in your classroom! I tend to see teachers go down one of two paths – using book bins to group books by theme or author surname initial; or emulating a traditional library set up, organizing books with the spine facing outwards and ordered by author that way. Depending on the types of books you have and how old your kids are? I like the spine-out method, because it helps your students to prepare for the experience of going to a real library! Especially if you have some real bookworms in your class, they’ll love being able to walk into their local public or council library and find more books to read. @the_taylored_teacher’s book bins look great! I love how she’s labelled them using my round Boho Rainbow editable classroom labels. Just make sure you help to make the process a little less overwhelming, and signpost everything super clearly with some classroom library labels. This creates an easy-to-follow system to support your little learners as they become familiar with the WIDE, wide range of books that are out there! This Boho Rainbow Classroom Labels pack comes with three different sizes of classroom library labels – round, large tray size and a medium version to get your library looking organized (and beautiful, too). If you’re starting out with picture books, the spines on those bad boys might not quite be thick enough to use this system, ha! Combining the two systems can work really well here – use editable classroom labels to create an organization system based on author name (e.g. books with authors whose surnames begin with A through G go into one bin; H through N and so on). As a general rule of thumb, no matter what system you go for, I recommend splitting out fiction from non-fiction. @acraftyteach took her set up to the next level! I love the idea of a Reading Garden, that she created using my Modern Boho Vibes Bulletin Board Lettering Pack. Where can I get books for my classroom library? If you’re setting up your first-ever library for your class, sourcing books can be a challenge – particularly on a teacher budget! Here are a few cost-effective places to look for books: Facebook Marketplace Thrift stores like Goodwill/Salvation Army Garage sales eBay/Amazon Friends and family Time to decorate your classroom library with editable classroom labels Now that your books are all sorted, you can get stuck into the fun part – decorating your classroom library however you want! A quick note to say that if you don’t want to decorate this space, or have a classroom library theme that’s a-okay too. A great tip if your classroom doesn’t already have them is to install bulletin boards on the walls around your dedicated library nook. This way, it’s super easy to create and change displays over time based on what you’re learning that term; or just rotate through some inspirational quotes to accompany your little learners on their reading journey! My Bulletin Board Lettering Pack is filled with editable classroom labels with a variety of different styles of lettering to choose from – just type in your text, print and voila! You can create just about any space you want to with these, you’re only limited by your own imagination. And that’s it! I hope you feel a little more confident to tackle creating and organizing a library in your own classroom. And if you do? I’d love to see how your library comes to life! Make sure you tag me over on Instagram so I can see. Let me know in the comments if you have any other tips on how to organize your classroom library, as I’m sure our community would love your advice!

How many of us have gone to work sick because it was easier than planning for a sub? We just can't afford to do that anymore, especially in the world of Covid. Years ago, I was determined to find an easier, more manageable way to plan for a substitute teacher. I am sure you know the feeling of waking up sick and not knowing how you are going to get everything ready for a sub when you feel so terrible. With that in mind, I created a Substitute Teacher Binder and Sub Tub. In this post, I will share how I prep for those surprise sick days and how I prepare for days that I know ahead of time I am going to be off. I most recently had to plan for a sub for a week, so I will share some tips and tricks for planning for those days off. At the beginning of the year, I create my Substitute Binder. I divide it into sections for easy access to different topics and parts of their day. I print the section cover pages on cardstock and laminate with 3M laminating pouches. You could also just use a clear binder if you don't want to use the rings like I did. (The discs/rings and the paper punch I use are from Happy Planner.) Choose which sections you want to include that are important for a sub to know. I then sit this by my door so that they see it when they come in. If it's a day I had already planned on being off, I put it on my desk or teacher table with everything they need for the day. As for the sub tub, I always put extra worksheets in the bottom of it throughout the year that we didn't get to. This just gives the sub something extra if they need time filler throughout the day. First, let's talk about the sub binder and what I include. All of this is very helpful for those surprise days off. I can just text a teammate and ask them to set out my binder for the day if I get sick. I always sort my worksheets and activities in daily bins, so I ask them to set that day's bin out along with the binder. It makes planning for a sub super easy for me and for my teammates. The tabs on the binder are super important to have. This lets the sub know what's important for them to know and shows them where to quickly turn if they need that section at a particular time. I always have a little WELCOME note to make them feel welcomed. You could also include any special information you need them to know first thing. I include a full page ROSTER of my class. I also print the half sheet rosters and clip them to the front of the binder. They can take attendance on these since they don't have access to our online attendance. Be sure to include a note about that on your lesson plans so they know where to put attendance. The next sections I like to make are STUDENT INFO and IMPORTANT INFO. These are the sections where you will include important health information, such as allergies or other medical conditions they need to know about. I also include emergency procedures, pull outs, seating charts, a class schedule, and any other helpful information about students or special situations that could arise. For RELATED ARTS, I include our rotations. If I know I am going to be out, I include the exact one that we go to that day in my lesson plans. If not, they can just ask another teacher what day we are on. I put my classroom management strategies and classroom rules in the PROCEDURES section. I let them know the specifics of expectations, consequences, and incentives that they can use. I also include another pull out list here, just in case. The ARRIVAL section gives important details about expectations during the first part of the morning. This is where you tell them what students do when they first come in, details about announcements, and how to complete attendance. The LESSON PLAN section includes a basic class schedule in the first part of the section. I then include very detailed plans for our day. For the lesson plans you put in the binder or planner, you can give a general run down of what they do during each part of the day. This will help your sub so much if you are out unexpectedly. I tell them how the lesson generally goes and they can grab the practice from the daily tub. I also tell them where they go and how to do lunch, recess, and all of the other parts of our day. By including these detailed break down of your day, you can ensure that instruction continues as if you are there. I don't like to plan something totally different from the pacing guide, because it throws everything completely off. I include dismissal procedures in the detailed lessons plans, but I also add it to the DISMISSAL section. Be very specific about how students go home, how they pack up and clean up, and what the sub's responsibility is during dismissal. The TRANSPORTATION section includes how each student goes home. I also put a note in there telling them that students have to go home that way, unless they receive a change of transportation note from the office. I like using this box sheet for each student. I normally have that all typed in here but I used a blank one here for confidentiality purposes. The CLASS section is where each student has a box. They can use this to tell me about any students who were absent or any behavior issues they had that day. The BEST DAY EVER section is where I ask them to leave a note about their day. I have found that this helps to end the day on a positive note. Always let them know how thankful you are for them filling in. Being a substitute teacher is not an easy job. I want them to know that they are appreciated. Finally, I just include a NOTES section, in case they need somewhere to take notes throughout the day. Now let's talk planned days off. The only things I do differently are change the lesson plans and lay everything out for the day. I recently was out for a whole week, so I will show you how I planned for those days off. I color coded everything! First I used the lesson plan section I had already made, but I added more details about each specific lesson, as well as what related arts we went to each day. Just copy and paste the lesson plans pages. I also put the day of the week at the bottom of each packet. I did not put these in the binder. I decided to staple each day's plans printed on different colors of paper. For the sheets that were needed for each day, I used the same color sticky notes to label each day's activities. You could even put the time that they will need each activity. I also lay everything out in order for the day. I just spread it all out across the table for the sub, and it keeps everything organized and the expectations clear. If they needed a teacher edition for that lesson, I also marked the pages with those same color sticky notes and put them in the stacks. I hope seeing how I plan for a substitute teacher helps you plan for yours. So many subs have thanked me for having everything prepped for them, and they love coming back to my class. I have had other teachers request for me to share how to properly plan for a sub, particularly how to put together a proper Substitute Teacher Binder. Often times, teachers do not leave detailed plans, which makes the day difficult not only for the sub, but for the other teachers on your team. You want your sub to feel prepared and to want to come back. It's so hard to find a sub these days, so we want to do everything we can to support them. You might even want to include a little treat for them. We know that chocolate makes everything better! You can grab this free tag by clicking on the photo below. If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email or reach out on Instagram. What tips do you have for planning for a substitute teacher?

Completed in 2016 in Milford, United States. Images by Ed Wonsek. HMFH Architects worked closely with educators to develop the concept for this new grade 3-5 elementary school. The educational program for the school...