Saturday, September 14, 2013

More Room Arrangements

I finally got around to taking more pictures of the classroom (please not that I didn't straighten the classroom first....  )


The computer/technology center:
This table holds our desktop but it is also where I set up the laptop or the ipad when it needs to be plugged in. As you can see I use it for storage as well. The place where the laptop can go also easily becomes an independent work space for a child who needs to be away from the group but will not be tempted to play with the computer. So far this year we haven't actually used the computer, but we will.

(Behind it is our "We can do hard things!" bulletin board. The work that goes up there isn't uniform- the kids can ask to have a certain item put up there if they feel they worked really hard on it, or I can put it up there if I observed them working really hard on it. Our class is all about hard work and independence, so we want to celebrate it any way we can!)



I wasn't sure how I was going to use this shelf when I set up the room. In my mind it would be for center storage but it's quickly become a place where I can store materials I need to have at my finger tips when we're hard at work at tables. The top of the shelf is where I keep ABA type behavior plans (then they are easily available on both the meeting area and the work area of the classroom). The little bags on top are individual reinforcement bags so that the minute a child earns a reinforcer he or she doesn't have to wait for for us to get it. Each child that needs one has her/his own bag with things he/she likes inside.

In the rest of the shelf I can keep materials I need at my finger tips- math maniulatives, lesson activities, different containers for sorting, even my anecdotal note binders. So far I've loved having them right there.

 This is the reading area. We haven't started guided reading yet so right now it looks pretty bare. It's in the back of the room so that when I'm working there we wont' be distracted by the rest of the class. The shelf behind it holds my professional books as well as all the reading materials I may need so that I can easily grab them when working with a group. I also have the book baskets right beside the table. This way when I give the direction "Now put this new book in your book basket" the children won't forget the direction when they get across the room (that's how we find books floating around the room...)









The library/break area. I don't really like that I only have one shelf for my library, but for now it is working. The pillows and mat make it inviting. The mat also serves as an area where kids can go to stretch out (some of them need to stretch out during the day per their IEPs) and some have conditions where they may need to rest during the day. This area makes it easily accessible for a rest area.


We'll see as the year goes on if the room continues to work.

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