Classroom Tech Storage Wars

There is so much to get organised at the start of a school year. This week many teachers are creating resources, labelling, cleaning, organising furniture, planning units and making their classroom generally spectacular for their new classes this year. Amidst the tornado of activity, the management of classroom technology is easy to overlook. With so many schools adopting BYOD models or laptop schemes, teachers are increasingly required to manage 1:1 classrooms. For many teachers, this is not something they are used to considering. However, a little bit of prep and time spent at the start of the year will make 1:1 classroom life a lot easier as the year progresses.

This week, I will be sharing some tips to help teachers start the year well with classroom technology. In this Blog, I share some advice about storage.

"....as the children started arriving, I realised I had no place for their computers. They ended up in a pile on my reading table. Later that day, a child went to pull his laptop out of the pile and several computers slid off onto the floor. Two broken screens later, I wish I had given it some more thought..." 
- Melissa (Year 4 Teacher

​When you suddenly have 30 student devices, finding a way to store them can be a nightmare - sometimes an expensive nightmare. My favourite solutions are cubby style shelves or pigeon holes, but these can go into the hundreds of dollars for a professionally constructed piece. Fortunately, frugal teachers everywhere are developing clever ways to store student devices. Check out a collection of ideas I have gathered on Pinterest here. Don’t underestimate the humble plastic crate or magazine rack either. Just because it isn’t an overly fancy solution doesn’t mean it won’t work. As long as students can access their device easily and it keeps them all safe, you are onto a winner. Avoid stacking devices or allowing children to keep them in their desks. Even though it may seem like a no brainer, don’t store the class devices next to the water bottles.....yeah, it has happened...

How do you invite children to go and get their computers? Sending the whole class at once will result in chaos and perhaps even end in broken devices. Send children in small groups to retrieve their device or designate classroom tech assistants to hand them out. 

Consider creating a classroom charging station. No matter how much you remind students to bring a fully charged device to school, someone always forgets. Aging devices also don’t hold charge like they did when they were new. "Well, I guess you just cannot do this activity then" is not an acceptable way to handle this. As frustrating as it can be for a classroom teacher, punishments should never be at the expense of a student's learning. Technology is no longer an added extra in the classroom and is a legitimate learning tool. For continually forgetful students consider motivating them in other ways or allowing so many free charges per term. One fun idea I saw was a fuel card that the teacher punched. Students who didn’t go over their limit were rewarded at the end of the term. 

"Punishments should never be at the expense of a student's learning."

​There is more to classroom technology storage than students’ devices. Headphones, USB sticks, styluses, mice and other peripherals may round out what the children use each day. Can they also go into a cubby or tray? Or could they be hung on hooks? Regardless of how you decide to store these smaller items.... label...label...label! It can be a nightmare trying to work out who a USB belongs to and the sharing of earbuds is just not hygienic. ​

​Do you have any great ideas for technology storage in your classroom? Share in the comments below!