What's on my Teacher Trolley?

Over the past few years, I have been teaching in schools where I need to share my classroom with other teachers and classes, and if you’ve ever been in this situation before, you’ll understand the difficulties with this. I’ve found that in these situations, it is not unusual for resources I’ve left in the classroom to disappear or become destroyed. I’ve tried carrying all of my resources in a backpack or a box, but it just wasn’t working for me. I inevitably forgot to bring something with me or dropped things along the way. It was just too annoying to be entirely honest. Enter the teacher trolley. 

I purchased my trolley from Kmart and have set it up in a way that allows me to have all of the resources I need to run my lessons. So, what do I keep on my trolley?

Some of the items and resources I keep on my teacher trolley

Stationary

I keep a range of stationary including spare pens and pencils, whiteboard markers, mini-whiteboards, erasers, scissors, glue sticks, sharpeners, coloured pencils and textas, and out of class passes. The most commonly used stationary is kept on the top tier if the trolley, and the rest is kept on the second tier in a giant pencil case.

Flexible Seating

I know it sounds a bit strange to say I store this on my trolley, but I do. I keep three lap-desks hanging from the handles of my trolley. Students know that these are available to them to use during independent work time if they want or need them.

Teaching Resources

This one goes without saying, right? I use a magazine holder flipped on its side to hold manilla folders, worksheets, colouring pages and the mini whiteboards. This just keeps things tidy and organised.

I also keep my language technique flip-books in the top tier. I have purchased command hooks so I can have them hanging from the side, but I just haven’t got around to attaching them just yet. I regularly remind my students that this resource can be found in the trolley and they are free to access it whenever they need to.

Fidgets

I keep a stash of fidgets in a clear pencil case that students can access when and if they need. By keeping them in a pencil case it makes it easy to keep them organised and I can easily assign collecting fidgets during pack-up time as a job. Some of the fidgets I keep include:

• Slinkies

• Soft squishy things – I even have some chunks of foam in the pencil case. Whatever works, right?

• Clickers – only include these if you do not mind the sound of things like pens being clicked constantly.

• Fidget spinners

• Pop-its

• Fidget cubes

• Ear muffs – I keep two pairs on my trolley and I am constantly surprised by how often kids want to wear them.

• Blankets – I don’t keep these on my current trolley, but I have in the past.

  
  

I really only have three rules when it comes to students using fidgets in my classes:

1. Don’t break it

2. Return it

3. Fidget in one hand, pen in the other

I find these rules work for me since it reinforces that the whole point of a fidget is to help you better focus. It is a tool, rather than a toy. When I introduce my third rule to my students, I tell them that at any time if I don’t think the fidget they have is actually helping them I will tell them to put it away. Over time I can usually build on this and simply ask students “is that fidget helping you or hindering you?” and they will make a decision on their own as to whether or not they keep it, change it or put it away.

Time Fillers

I always keep some quick games on my trolley just incase I need a quick brain break activity or something to fill in the last few minutes before the bell. I usually stock up on these at Christmas time since mini trivia games are usually sold as Kris Kringle gifts. Some of my favourites include Taboo, Smart Ass and Pictionary. You can also create your own based on whatever topics your class has been studying. I used to keep a stack of Emma-made WWI and WWII true or false cards in my trolley.

What extra bits and pieces I keep on my trolley really depends on what subjects I'm teaching and the cohort of students I have, but it mostly stays pretty consistent.

How do you organise your resources when you need to share your classroom?