My every attempt at becoming a guided reading guru...

Am I the only teacher out there that feels super disorganized at, like, everything?  Papers are always stacked, I can never find anything let alone find anywhere to put anything and for some reason my teacher's assistant is always asking where I put ___fill in the blank_____.  I go in search of said item only to find myself shuffling through piles of junk that I have set aside because I was going to "put them away later."
One thing that I have made every attempt at being organized at this year is guided reading.  It's the one time during the day when I've got just a few of my little friends sitting in front of me ready to soak up whatever I throw at them - I have to be organized.  And ready.

Against the wall right next to my guided reading table I keep this little bundle of joy.

It holds all my games, cards, sorts, passages, riff raff, etc. that I use for my guided reading time.  All I have to do is wheel over and grab what I need.  It was about $20 at Wal-Mart - and well worth the money.  All the sorts and games are separated in ziplock bags.

I also have my guided reading pouch.  It too, holds all essentials for guided reading.  I got it for about $17 at Wal-Mart.

I keep wipe off boards, markers, highlighters, any sort we are working on that week, post-its, etc. in this pouch.

I like it because it perfectly holds pencil boxes where I keep my wipe-off markers.

This little red bin holds all my guided reading texts for the week.  The reason I don't have separate bins for every group is because my students keep a "book buddy" in their desk.  When they come to me, they bring their book buddy which usually holds their "warm up" text.  And when I introduce a new text, they get to put it in their book buddy, and the books just rotate.

This is the form I use for my guided reading plans.  It's quick and easy and I keep in on a clip board in my guided reading pouch.  I have one page for each group.  If you want a copy of it, you're more than welcome to get it HERE.

And of course...

What would guided reading be without a snazzy set of whisper phones???

(Duct tape, my friends)