Minds in Bloom:
"Mystery Trash"
"Minds in Bloom" by Rachel Lynette is an awesome blog for educators. This blog is great because it includes blog posts from many different teachers (guest bloggers) who have shared helpful tips and strategies for a variety of classroom topics. The website is easy to navigate and well organized. An example of the simplicity of this blog is the list on the right hand side of the home page that is titled “Find it Fast.” Under this heading, there are many categories, such as Classroom Management, STEM, and Teacher Strategies. Clicking on your desired topic takes you to a collection of different blog posts about that particular topic.
While exploring the different categories, I came across a blog post called “Mystery Trash” under Classroom Management. “Mystery Trash” is a great and fun way that Stephanie Rye from “Forever in Fifth Grade” keeps her classroom clean and organized. She starts off the school year by organizing her classroom and making it look neat and tidy. Then, she shares with her students about the time and effort it took to create the particular classroom environment. She explains to the students that everyone needs to do their part to help maintain the order and cleanliness of the classroom. To make this task so it isn’t a chore, she does the activity called “Mystery Trash.” At the end of the day when she announces the activity, she writes down three things she sees around the classroom that need to be picked up, put away, or organized. Some items she makes note of may be obvious, but she also includes some trickier things, such as straightening up the keyboards in the computer area. As students are tidying up the room, she pays attentions to who does the three tasks on her list. At the end of the activity, she announces the items she had written down and who completed them. The students who notice and take initiative to the Mystery Trash items get a piece of gum.
I think this is a great way to maintain an organized and tidy classroom. Not only will your classroom be clean, but this activity will also help the students to take ownership of their classroom and learning space. Additionally, it will help them to learn to be responsible and to pick up after themselves; not to mention the school janitor would probably appreciate them doing this too!
“Mystery Trash” is quick and simple and would save the teacher from spending time straightening up the room at the end of each day. The rewards for picking/straightening up the mystery items could be changed up from day to day too, such as lunch with the teacher or the student picking what he or she does during his or her free time. I am a person who loves organization, so I was happy that I came across this blog post! I enjoyed learning about this activity and could really see myself using “Mystery Trash” in my future classroom!
While exploring the different categories, I came across a blog post called “Mystery Trash” under Classroom Management. “Mystery Trash” is a great and fun way that Stephanie Rye from “Forever in Fifth Grade” keeps her classroom clean and organized. She starts off the school year by organizing her classroom and making it look neat and tidy. Then, she shares with her students about the time and effort it took to create the particular classroom environment. She explains to the students that everyone needs to do their part to help maintain the order and cleanliness of the classroom. To make this task so it isn’t a chore, she does the activity called “Mystery Trash.” At the end of the day when she announces the activity, she writes down three things she sees around the classroom that need to be picked up, put away, or organized. Some items she makes note of may be obvious, but she also includes some trickier things, such as straightening up the keyboards in the computer area. As students are tidying up the room, she pays attentions to who does the three tasks on her list. At the end of the activity, she announces the items she had written down and who completed them. The students who notice and take initiative to the Mystery Trash items get a piece of gum.
I think this is a great way to maintain an organized and tidy classroom. Not only will your classroom be clean, but this activity will also help the students to take ownership of their classroom and learning space. Additionally, it will help them to learn to be responsible and to pick up after themselves; not to mention the school janitor would probably appreciate them doing this too!
“Mystery Trash” is quick and simple and would save the teacher from spending time straightening up the room at the end of each day. The rewards for picking/straightening up the mystery items could be changed up from day to day too, such as lunch with the teacher or the student picking what he or she does during his or her free time. I am a person who loves organization, so I was happy that I came across this blog post! I enjoyed learning about this activity and could really see myself using “Mystery Trash” in my future classroom!