My Poster Obsession--Finally Organized

It's time to face facts. I have an obsession with teaching posters. I have posters for just about every topic I teach, even  after purging the extra stuff. "Great! Plenty of visual aids!" You might be thinking. And you'd be right, except for one thing:

Would YOU pull those boxes out for one poster you're only using for a week? Yeah, me neither. Oh, I had great intentions, but with time constraints and just about anything I need available at the click of the mouse, I just didn't do it. This bothers me because I do want to use the things I've taken time to make or purchase. 

So, I came up with a great solution that keeps everything I need easily accessible and organized. I chunked those big, bulky boxes (where I'm constantly losing things in the bottom), and decided to stand the cardboard files in my closet. Here's how I organized it:

1. Take pictures of each folder's contents. I started by taking each file folder out of the box and laying them out on the floor of my classroom. One folder at a time, I laid out the contents and took a picture using my iPhone. I then emailed the photos to myself so I could print them. I organize my poster files according to subject, rather than month. I like to have all of my science together, math together, etc...
2. Arrange all the posters so they are facing the same direction. Any small items not in a bag I placed in a manila envelope. I especially like that the finished product has all of my posters standing up, so there's no more "sideways head" when I'm trying to see what's in those pesky boxes.

3. Tape the pictures on the cardboard folders.I taped mine on the upper right-hand corner because I know that is the place I will most likely look when I open my closet door. I also made another copy of the pictures and taped them to the top, inside of the folders. 

4. Place the folders in the closet. I put the items that I rarely use on the far right. I stood the file folders up so the folded corner would be on the left and the openings would be on the bottom, top, and right side, sort of like a book. I also placed the rolled posters on top of everything because they're too large to fit in the folders.


The finished product leaves my teaching posters in a place where they're easy to get to, easy to find, and easy to put away!