Classroom Tour 2016-17

It appears I require the structure of a school schedule to write blog posts. I had grand intentions for all of these resources I would create and write about over summer break - those did not stick once I walked out of my school in late June.

Here we are, a few weeks into the school year, and I'm writing over Labor Day weekend. I wanted to take some time and give a quick classroom tour of the different areas of my classroom that my students use. Because I am a Learning Center teacher, I share my classroom with another teacher and two/three paraprofessionals. For this reason, I didn't photograph areas of the room that are specific to those other adults as I don't want to allow the internet to invade their privacy.

As I mentioned, there are many adults sharing good ol' Room 21, so when planning my classroom set-up, I want to ensure there are plenty of spaces to work in a small group that will not disrupt other groups working nearby.

This is the area where I do my small group instruction, After trying many different sized kidney tables, I decided to make my own XL version using three normal tables. I can easily access all students when they need individual attention (so constantly) but also gives each student a decent amount of personal space. This set-up also allows for group conversations to happen naturally.

I spent a couple of days over summer painting the classroom tables with whiteboard paint. I may be doing a blog post about that process, but we'll just wait and see. The students love being able to write on the tables and there has already been improved efficiency and creativity from them!

The idea to put the blue paper around my board actually came from the other teacher in my classroom. On her first day in the classroom, she did the same around her whiteboard in red. After seeing that, I realized that doing the same around my whiteboard would create a visual indicator of the different areas of the classroom. Having defined areas within a Learning Center is so important!

In the back corner of the classroom, I've set up a dedicated library/reading area. I find it so important to give a specific place to read where students are excited to go. The students know they don't get to sit in the reading corner unless they are actively reading, so this encourages those developing readers in my classroom to increase their reading stamina to get to stay in a comfy spot while they read. 

I've leveled the books in my library by Accelerated Reader level, as this is a program we use school-wide. Students read a book, then take a short, simple quiz on the book they read. The questions are not the best quality as they are consistently literal questions that a student could find the answer to in the book, but it serves as a nice check of comprehension at the end of each book. In my classroom, when a student finishes a book and passes the test, they get a leaf to put up on the tree in the reading corner. As you can tell, there are none on the tree right now since school is only just starting. The leaves had spread all over that back wall by the end of last year! 

You can also see a couple more whiteboard tables in the bottom of this picture. This is another small group area where my para works with small groups. 

                         

These are some very important parts of the Learning Center. There is a supply shelf where I keep math manipulatives, as well as reading and writing tools. I love having my manipulatives out and accessible at all times since I am constantly working with different groups on different concepts. If I hid them away in a drawer or cabinet, I know I would forget what I had to make learning visual or kinesthetic. I am so lucky to have amazing paras that I work with who helped me organize and label all of these materials, making them even more usable as the students know where to find everything. Their independence increases each time they go to get tools that will help them learn and they don't need me to guide them through finding them! 

You can also see the edge of the other teacher's small group area. She has a whiteboard kidney table in front of her whiteboard as she serves students in grade K-3. You can also see a small desk in the corner of the picture. We use this as a standing desk for students who prefer to stand while working. 

The next area of my Learning Center is the iRead station. This is where students who are working on the iRead app go to have a dedicated area to hone their reading skills. I love Ikea and got these Lack tables there with the little stools specifically for this area. Gotta love Ikea! There are so many things around my classroom from there, so maybe that will be a post later on. :-)

The last space of the classroom is where we keep our textbooks, the Sacramento State University board, and our rainbow display wall. Sacramento State is our classroom university, and has inspired the color scheme in my classroom. There is a strong tendency toward green and yellow with rainbow colors/patterns mixed in. The students ask me questions about college all the time, so I always tell them about my experiences at Sacramento State. I think I have some future hornets in my classroom!

We love displaying student work in the Learning Center, and I wanted a beautiful wall where I could put their work. The kids get to choose what color they want their work on, which makes it even more special to them. There are clothespins on each paper on the wall to make switching out work easier.

We also have a calendar on our door. We use this not only as a calendar to keep track of days, but also as a place to note students' birthdays, soccer games, school-wide events and activities. It is a nice, central place to make sure everyone keeps up to date with what is happening with others in the Learning Center.

I hope you enjoyed getting a look at the way I set up the Learning Center to facilitate instruction for my special learners! Comment with any questions or thoughts you may have! I'm happy to respond!