There is a lot that goes into packing up a classroom at the end of the year. This post shares tips for packing up a classroom to move at the end of the year. Be sure to download the free Classroom Pack Up Checklist!

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I know that classroom organization is not a strength for everyone. And maybe this year was a joke for classroom organization in your classroom.

But don’t let it defeat you. Believe it or not, you can start THIS YEAR (!) having an organized classroom.

By packing your classroom in an organized way, you can come back in a few months and UNPACK in an organized way and start off the new year with a fresh room!

Whether or not you are packing up a classroom to move to another school, city, state, or just down the hall, you can still use these practices.

Packing Up a Classroom to Move

The steps to pack up a classroom to move aren’t really that different from the steps you would follow to pack up your house as you prepare to move.

When packing up a classroom to move, you want to start small and work big.

Think about it like this…you want to do the smallest little changes possible to keep your classroom (and students) feeling normal for as long as possible.

Start with simple things you can do behind-the-scenes or that don’t make a big impact on the learning environment like organizing technology and cleaning out the inside of cabinets.

Classroom Pack Up Steps

Inside this free Classroom Pack Up Training I break down the following steps even more (+give you a free downloadable classroom pack up checklist)

Follow these steps to help you pack up in an organized way that will make unpacking in your new classroom a breeze!

1. Organize technology
2. Create your organization systems (boxes for donating, selling, and recycling)
3. Empty, clean out and organize classroom cabinets
4. Take things off the walls
5. Pack materials that are out in the classroom
6. Plan ahead for the upcoming year

Packing Up Classroom Cabinets

Cleaning out your classroom cabinets is a bigger task, but I like to start with it because it still allows me to make progress without sending the “the classroom is empty, let’s do whatever” vibe to my students.

You know what I’m talking about? When the anchor charts start coming off the wall and things get a little barer, the kids lose any interest in focusing.

Since, for the sake of this post, we are talking about packing up a classroom to move, we need to be very methodical about the process of cleaning out cabinets.

The first thing I did was find some plastic bins and label them “sell,” “home,” and “give.”

Then I just started going through cabinets. I went shelf by shelf and looked at each item there. If I didn’t want to keep it, I sorted it into one of the boxes. If I did want to keep it, then I left it in the cabinet.

Another thing to keep in mind is it is SO easy to get off track. In fact, this is something I have struggled with until the last year or two.

Does anyone else struggle with this when it comes to packing up or setting up a classroom? You start in one cabinet and then bounce to another cabinet, then to another until it’s been 30 minutes and you’ve done nothing but create a bigger mess?!?!

That is why I went cabinet by cabinet, shelf by shelf until each shelf was taken care of.

I added sticky notes to each shelf as I was done with it as well. I did not leave the shelf or cabinet until it was sticky-noted

Check out a quick tour of how I packed up my classroom cabinets below.

(Check out more classroom cabinet organization tips here!)

More Tips for Packing Up a Classroom at the End of the Year

One of the biggest perks to packing up the classroom at the end of the year in an organized way is the ability it gives you to unpack your classroom in an organized way at the beginning of the next year.

Here are a few more tips to help you get organized at the end of the year, pack up, and start the year off organized!

• Pack like items together (all of your library items in one box, math manipulatives in another, etc.)
• Label boxes with your last name and room number
• Create a map of where you want your furniture to go next year (thanks Michelle Ferre for that tip!)
• Not sure what to get rid of? Start with this list!
• Start a list now of things you want to improve for next year. This will help you after summer break when you can hardly remember anything from last year!
• Keep it to one box of work to take home for the summer break
• Assemble a Day One Survival Kit
• Don’t take your whole classroom home unless you are 100% sure you are moving to a new school (ask me why I recommend this 😉 )
• Changing grade levels and unsure if you should keep the old grade-level materials? Check out my answer to that question inside the Classroom Pack Up Training!

If you are anything like me, as the school year starts to wind down I start thinking about NEXT year and what I want to do differently.

Please tell me I am not the only one!?!

Here are a few things you can think through getting prepped at the end of the year for the new school year.

• Paperwork for Meet the Teacher Night
• Your first week of school copies
• Intro or Welcome letters you hand out to students
• Begin your curriculum map now!

In Conclusion,

Being an organized teacher is a possibility for everyone! The key is to start getting organized at the end of the year so you can start the next year off organized.

All the info for setting up an organized classroom at the beginning of the year can be found here!

Be sure to follow the six step process inside the Classroom Pack Up Training and Checklist:

1. Organize technology
2. Create your organization systems (boxes for donating, selling, and recycling)
3. Empty, clean out, and organize classroom cabinets
4. Take things off the walls
5. Pack materials that are out in the classroom
6. Plan ahead for the upcoming year

Quick Links

Here is a quick recap of all the links I shared in this post:

• Classroom Pack Up Checklist and Training
• Steps to Unpack a Classroom
• How to Set Up an Organized Classroom
• 5 Ways to Organize Your Classroom Cabinets
• Classroom Cabinet Organization Resources (blogs, podcasts, and videos on this topic)
• Tips for the End of the Year with Michelle Ferre
• 51 Things to Get Rid of Right Now in Your Classroom
• How to Have an Organized Meet the Teacher Night
• Must-Have Activities for the First Week of School

Related Posts

Until next time,

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