I'm super excited to have my first post on my new blog be all about my new classroom. I recently moved from Milwaukee to a small, rural school district on the other side of Wisconsin. It has been a huge change. I loved my school in Milwaukee and loved my classroom, so I was so nervous to start over. I have been working hard to make the space my own and as usual don't know if I'll ever be done moving, changing, and sprucing. I'm going from teaching EC (K3-K5) Special Ed to K-5th Special Ed, so I had to keep myself in check that the room wasn't too little kid. So far it seems to be working well but I guess only time will tell. I wish I had thought more ahead and took some before pictures as well. The room had a large L-shaped patrician that cut the room into 3 smaller areas. I decided to go more open concept and am happy with the results. Here's a peek at some of the areas in my room: This is the area my groups do most of their seat work and direct instruction. I love teaching at a U-table and love that I can have kids at different levels working on different things while I monitor it all. Behind the table under the window is all our supplies for working like pencils, stamps, clothespins, bingo dauber, dice, letter magnets, scissors, and glue to name a few. The rainbow cart hold different activities like rhyming mats, play dough mats, writing cards, and other support materials like number lines, alphabet charts, and visuals. Also behind the table on the white board is our Focus Skill area, I'm still developing this in my classroom and will post about it later. I had a large green chalkboard in my classroom but no true bulletins board, so I got innovative and made display boards out of my chalk board. The first one holds my basic skills assessment rings, important charts, and other papers I may need often. The rest is my calendar and 10 frame days in school counting. Under that is our classroom library and adapted books. The shelf is where we keep our clip card activities, extra adapted books and other materials for through out the year. The boards on the wall are for magnet activities. Right now, gears are available during free time but soon it will turn into a number and sight word activities. The gray file cabinet holds file folder games and other activities. The brown file cabinet has all of the materials OT uses. My student cubbies hold all of their workbooks. I spiral bind copies of journals, Explode the Code workbooks, and other activities. The table is our OT area. Our OT's are only in the building on Monday, so the rest of the week the table might be used for sensory activities, activities prep stations, or general dumping ground for materials and supplies I'm too busy to put away after were done. This is our classroom word wall. Each letter has a sign language magnet for the letter along with a picture. This year, I am using themed by month vocabulary on the word wall to try to increase conversation skills. We review the words a couple times a week and I will try to generate conversation based on these words too. I have one student who is primarily with me through out the day. This is his area. On top of his desk is his daily schedule, his reinforcement card, and his traceable name tag. He does independent work twice a day and I asked the high school shop class to make me this divider for his desk so I can put the activities and folders in to provide him structure.
Thanks for taking a peak at my classroom. I'm sure it will look different by May but so far I'm very happy with it. Check back soon for closer looks at our day and activities!
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About MeHi! My name is Kelsey & I am a Special Education Teacher in WI. I love what I do & love sharing new ideas & awesome materials. When I'm not teaching, I'm enjoying being a Mommy, cooking, & being outdoors. Archives
March 2018
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