Chair Pockets

It's a beautiful July day here in Illinois!  Since we will be traveling to Minnesota to visit my parents this weekend, I need to be productive today and get something done on my school preparations "To Do" list.  I think it is the perfect day for hanging out the wash!

Have you discovered the usefulness of chair pockets?  These sturdy cloth storage items fit beautifully on student chairs! You can purchase chair pockets from a variety of school supply stores and catalogues but they are expensive. I've made my own at a cost of less than $2.00 apiece. If you sew or can enlist the help of someone who does, they are easy to make.  I followed the directions here.  My first set lasted 5 years.  I wash them and hang them to dry each summer.

So, how do I use chair pockets?  The children store their Take Home and Writers' Workshop folders in them, as well as their Aquarium Journals.  I'll tell you about Writers' Workshop folders and Aquarium journals in future posts!  For now, let me describe the Take Home folders.

Our district purchases one vinyl Take Home folder for each child in kindergarten through second grade. These folders are very sturdy and last the entire year.  At parent orientation, I emphasize the importance of always writing their children's names on papers that they send to school.  I explain that all correspondence between home and school needs to go in the Take Home folder. 

When they arrive at school, the children take out all of the papers, notes from home, and money envelopes and put them in the colorful bin on their tables. Then they put their empty Take Home folders in their chair pockets.  At the start of the day, I call on the Table Captains to bring me the colorful bins (more about Table Captains in another post!)  I compile all the papers into one bin to look through during a planning period or lunch.  During the day, as students finish a paper or project, they put it in their Take Home folders. At the end of the day, they pick up mail from their mailboxes and stuff their own folders.

MY  REFLECTIONS:

I love how chair pockets, take home folders, and mailboxes build responsibility in young children.   Also, by keeping things in chair pockets, tables can be kept clear of bins and other distractions. And, I used to spend 15-20 minutes emptying and filling folders during a planning period or lunch. Now, I spend just a few minutes looking through papers from home and stuffing mailboxes. 

My one caution is that you initially only teach the children what DOES belong in a chair pocket. If you give examples of what doesn't belong in chair pockets (used tissues, PlayDoh, sweaters) you will soon find those things in there.  Of course, they find their way inside eventually, and then you need to have a discussion about what is appropriate and what is...gross!