I know you’ll feel my pain on this one.

If you’re in any of the Facebook groups I’m in you’ll see that I recently asked other teachers & educators how they organise their resources.

I’m not talking about online worksheets/powerpoints etc - that’s a whole other story.

I mean physical resources - flashcards, discussion cards, games etc

Basically the “stuff” that I’ve accumulated over the years. Laminated. Printed on fancy card. Cut out. Used maybe once. But I don’t really want to get rid of. I might use it again. Might….

Since lockdown I’ve changed my teaching style - I had to, I couldn’t use physical resources in the virtual classroom. I couldn’t play the games that I used to like playing.

Little by little though, I’ve started to go back to physical resources and rediscover the joy of using them in the classroom. For example I’ve been using verb cards to revise tenses and a murder mystery game that I’ve used several times in the past, and which I know works really well.

So recently, I really thought I needed to sort out my filing cabinet of resources that has been sitting there for a couple of years.

• Full to the brim.

• Unsorted.

• In random order.

When I went through it I managed to recycle lots of paper and get rid of lots of other resources that I know I’ll not use again. But there’s still lots left to deal with. So that’s why I asked what others do.

I got loads of great ideas

• using files

• filing cabinets

• lever arch files

• boxes

• plastic pockets.

I’m also reading about the benefits of getting organised - it helps in so many ways.

I’m going to work through them and I’ll let you know how I get on.

It might help someone else.

But in the meantime, how do you organise your physical teaching resources? I’d love to know!

Of course a great way to keep on top of resources is to join the Resource Centre where everything is in one place and you can just go in as often as you’d like to download a worksheet or an audio recording.