Happy National Clean Off Your Desk Day!

So today, Monday, January 14th is National Clean Off Your Desk Day.  In honor of this day, let’s all make sure that our schools are clean and organized and a place where students can come and be inspired.

We all want to create an environment in our schools where students can become motivated and inspired.  We come up with great education and activities, but one place we often overlook is the physical environment in our schools.  This can be just as essential as a great curriculum when it comes to motivating our students. 

And we all know this.  I’ve been in your schools and they are amazing.  Some of the schools I’ve seen have the most beautiful student salons and nice organized classrooms, but then I walk into the educator’s offices it may look a little like this…

There are piles and piles of paper and boxes everywhere.  And I’ve been there.  There is so much going on each day, that our office space is often the last thing we think about.  Papers pile up.  Products and kits come in and sit on the floor in boxes until we have time to deal with it.

But it is important to keep in mind what this looks like to our students. They see disorganization.  They see clutter.  They see educators who lose papers. 

We must keep our office space clean, neat and organized just like we ask our students to keep their stations clean and neat.  It is more efficient.  It helps refresh and recharge us.  It is just nicer to work in a place that is organized and uncluttered.