Project Binder-ize! A success! And some freebies for you!

**Edited to Add Customizable Binder Kit**

Today was my first day teaching in my new, Binder-ized classroom, and I have to say, I think I've got a little more pep in my step! Or, it could be that I know there are only 9 more weeks until summer, my baby girl took her first steps this week(holy cow!), and the weather is gorgeous! So, I've been in a good mood despite the fact that today was the kind of Monday that is usually pretty tough due to everyone's post-break blues.

As promised, I'm ready to share my photos and Freebies in case you are ready to add a little pep to your step as well!

The Before Pictures

(because an extreme file makeover just wouldn't be complete without them!):

These are my Theme and Holiday Files with books jammed in the file folders. I have two big drawers of these guys. Not working for me...

Curriculum files. Organized and alphabetized, but jam-packed! Also, not working for me! I have three big drawers like this.

The During Pictures:

Okay, here is a picture of the process in action. I started with my Theme and Holiday files. I made a binder for each month and placed the binder, all files, and empty book boxes on student desks.  Then, I sat on a rolling chair and wheeled my way around the table, recycling outdated materials (how can that be--I've only been teaching five years!?!) putting the keepers in sheet protecters in the binders and the related books in the book boxes. Easy, peasy!  I repeated this process with my Curriculum Files on day two. 

As I put things in sheet protectors, I put temporary sticky note tabs on the pages to separate major topics.

When I had everything in binders, I went back and added some fancy schmancy adhesive tabs to the sheet protectors so I'd be able to find items easily within the binders.  These are alphabetized as I am apparently an alphabetical-type girl. I tried putting them in order of occurence throughout the month like my teammate suggested, but I started to freak out midway through and had to change them!

The Afters: Ta-Da!

Here are my binders all nice and neat (and, they take up much, much less space)! I decided to make my monthly binders blue and curriculum binders red to help my brain out a bit. Apparently, I'm a color-coding kind of girl, too!

Here are the book boxes that correspond with each binder. All I did to make the labels was print the binder covers four per sheet, laminate them, and attach them to the book boxes, which were super-cheap from IKEA. I like how they match the binders and I'm excited to finally have all of my read-alouds in one place! No more getting lost in files or mixed up in student library baskets! Yay!!

Now that I'm done with my curriculum and theme files, I'm ready to move on to my teacher and school-specific files... And maybe I'll find some other uses for binders, too!

If you would like to Binder-ize your room, I will happily share my binder covers and spine inserts.  I only ask that you leave me a little love if they are useful for you or share an organizing tip of  your own(because a girl can never have too many organizing tips)! Click the pictures below to download them free from TPT! Happy organizing!

P.S. By request, I have updated the binder covers and matching spine inserts to include the months June and July!

Ready to binder-ize your classroom, but want to personalize your binders with your own titles, graphics, name, fonts, and more? After many requests, you can now purchase a Customizable Binder-izing Kit!

It includes over 36 color-coded binder covers and graphics that you can use with the suggested titles or your own personalized text. In addition, there are matching binder spines and blank binder covers that you can add your own text and graphics to in order to complete your class binder set!

Personalizing your set is easy! All you do is open this file in Powerpoint 2010, select the textboxes that say "Edit Binder Title Here," and type in your own text! You can add your own images to the blank binder covers and even edit the font to your personal favorite!

Click below to check it out at my TPT store!