My New Preschool Resource Room Classroom Setup!

 Here I am for my annual visit to write a blog post about setting up my classroom!  Well, perhaps, if I find a way to manage my time a bit better this year, it will be more than an annual visit.  Between writing papers for my masters classes, reading books for those same classes and managing to actually teach at some point in there, I've been a bit busy!

This will be one of two work areas for us. 

My tiny "teacher area".  That's a "fake" bulletin board above my desk, on which I will simply tape the school calendar and schedule.

A view of this same work area as above, from the other angle.

This is a close up of what will be our learning targets board.  I may have to adjust this a bit.  If you look closely you will realize that this is really a "fake" bulletin board.  This is why the chart is pinned to the top of the border. :)

This is the shelf in our main work area.  The children's IEP goal progress papers will be kept in the mailboxes. 

Luckily, this summer has been a wonderful opportunity to rest, relax and recharge!  These are three things I clearly needed to do this summer.  It's amazing how simple these masters classes seem when it is the only thing I need to do during the summer!  Oh, but it is so quickly coming to an end.

If you remember (or look to the previous post) I find it very important to set up my room to help avoid as many visual distractions as possible.  Now, I've only figured out two ways to do this.  One way is to simply keep the walls as bare as possible until the students are used to the room and it slowly becomes possible to add in more visuals as the students become more capable of focusing and attending without being so distracted by everything around them.

This will be our other work area.  This area is a bit smaller, but will serve two purposes.  We will use the table to work with children on goal work.  We can also move the table out of the way and provide language/communication and play skills on the carpet.  This area doesn't stick to my originally color scheme as much, but I've tried to cover up as many distractions as possible.

This is what the "curtain" is hiding. :)  Agh!  Just look at that visual distraction!

This will be our book area.  I KNOW the kids will love looking at books in the tent!  The small window behind the tent just faces a hallway, so we really aren't blocking too much.

 The other way to do this is to simply keep the colors consistent (or as consistent as possible) throughout the space and to cover all visual distractions on shelves (or as many as possible).  This is the plan I went with this year.  There were two reasons I decided to take this route.  The first, and main reason, is that I am sharing this room with, not one, but TWO other preschool resource teachers.  This means there are three different personalities, teaching styles and ways to decorate and organize the classroom.  I just had to keep things as simple and as coordinated in my area as possible (otherwise, I am sure I would go crazy!).  The other reason is that I actually did have a full summer this year.  I was able to sort through all my teaching items at home and came across a treasure trove of unused things that I figured I could make use of in the classroom.  I also had some time to sew a few simple, new "curtains" to cover and contain my mess on the shelves!  Unfortunately, I also stack things on shelves, so this only takes care of some of the visual distractions, but it does, clearly help!

This is my tiny teacher area!

The is the back of my area of the classroom.

Now, here comes the problem with this.  Clearly, I am attempting to re-use items and I don't intend to go out and buy brand new items to create a perfectly color coordinated classroom area!  So, needless to say, this will not be the cutest or perfectly coordinated classroom area.  But, I tried to stick with the black base highlighted with green and blue.  Hmmm...does that make sense?  So, what do you think?  Is there anything you would add to this? 

An Even LONGER Hallway?!

Well, how convenient is this:  The school I am moving to has a hallway even LONGER than the school I am leaving.  I know, I know...it seems impossible!  How do these incredibly long hallways come into being?  Who is conspiring against the short-legged children...and adults :) of the world?  

A view inside my new classroom:  The very small carpet/group time area.  I'm not quite sure at this point, how I'll use it, but it sure looks inviting! 

I will say that the twisting, round-about hallways do give us some unique opportunities for language extension!  While I taught the extended school year program last month in this same building, the children were especially enamored with the long, twisting ramp and the rock-textured wall! 

The super long hallway also saves me from changing the name of this blog :)  We will still be traveling down a long hallway.  We will, in fact, be traveling down an even LONGER hallway! 

I created 2 work time areas.  This is a view of the larger work table with white board behind it.   I've also decided to keep all my binders etc. out since we will have limited numbers of children in the classroom at a time.  This may have to be changed as we go...we'll see! 

I will, however, be teaching a preschool "resource" room rather than a typical classroom.  (Yep, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it as well)  I will work with children who have IEP's but are able to attend integrated classrooms.  I will work with children either in my classroom or in their own classroom on each of their individual areas of need. 

Ignore my stuff on the tables...I was working :)

I've spent the last few days in my new classroom setting it up.  After a few hours of work, I'm pretty pleased with the result.  I am POSITIVE I will need to make changes as the school year starts, but at least now it is clean, organized and ready for the first few weeks. 

Here is a view of the smaller work table.  I set up the 2 shelves in the middle of the room to divide the areas- one shelf opening towards the smaller table, one opening towards the larger table.  One holds children's books, the other holds manipulatives and games.   

I have purposefully left most of the wall space bare.  I have come across so many children who are highly visually distracted by items on the wall that we're going to start with very few distractions. 

I've created 2 work areas because I will be working with teacher associates who will also pull groups/individual children to work with them on goals.  This will mean we can have 2 groups going at once in the classroom.

Here's the very small cozy corner/calm down area.  We'll see how this works! :)

I hope you enjoyed this quick tour of my new room!  If only it could stay half this neat, clean and organized throughout the school year! 








 

Wow...How Did All of This FIT in My Classroom?!

The preschool program that I teach for is undergoing some major changes.  This has meant an upcoming move to a new building and a move to a new type of program. 

While preparing for this, I have learned a few things about packing up a classroom...and I've learned a few things about myself.

First, those things I've learned about myself:

1. I may or may not have some hoarding tendencies...especially when it comes to school things...
2. I have enough containers, baskets and tubs to last a lifetime...
3. I really should have de-cluttered before this time...
4. Apparently, I have a super power that enables me to pack a ton of items in a very, very tiny classroom :)

And here are the things I would recommend when packing up an entire classroom:

1. Start early!  If you've been teaching in the same classroom for awhile chances are you have plenty of items to sort through.
2. I'm not sure if this would be the best plan for everyone; but I have found it works better to simply bring my own items home before sorting through them.  I store them in my office, then bring out like items or one binder at a time and sort through it while watching TV.
3. Take advantage of the opportunity to toss items that are not worth saving.  While sorting through binders I found IEP procedures that are completely out of date and incorrect.  Needless to say, all of these papers found their way to the shredder.  (My binders are much less full now!)

Have you recently had to pack up your classroom?  Do you routinely move locations?  What are your suggestions for packing up a classroom and moving to a new room or building?  Because, seriously, people, I could still use some ideas! :)
 

Planning for a Guest Teacher

Since we have a unique setup in the preschool program where I teach, I have the added challenge of planning for a month long guest teacher each and every July!  Last summer was quite the challenge.  I ended up leaving at the end of June and a teacher associate sub as well as a guest teacher stepped in with no type of transition time for the children at all!  Not ideal!!

I am so much happier with what I was able to create this summer (partially by design, partially on accident)!  While the children will still have adjustments to make, they have had some time to get to know the new people.  I also know that I have done everything in my power to make this the most positive time for the children that I can. 

I updated my teacher binder with new notes, information about the children, daily schedules and names, numbers and where items are located.  I made "cheat sheets" and posted them around the classroom.  Here is a list of the cheat sheets I created and posted around the classroom this year:

1. Cheat Sheet for mealtimes- lists who needs food cut up, who eats what type of food, assistance children may need
2. Cheat Sheet for IEP goal work- how to work with certain children who may need more prompts, what to work with children on, how to fill out IEP tracking sheets.
3. Cheat Sheet for calendar time- sequence of routine
4. Cheat Sheet for water day- who needs sunscreen, when to begin getting ready
5. Cheat Sheet for songs/music- what songs are routinely done, what CD are they on.
6. Cheat Sheet for Daily Schedules- (object schedule as well as picture schedules)

Now, of course, none of this would have helped if the people coming in didn't already have a basic understanding of the children!  My guest teacher happened to be the guest teacher next door for the month of June.  This gave my group of children the opportunity to get to know her in a relaxed way!  We spent several days slowly working her into the flow of our day so the children could begin to understand that she would be in the classroom with them soon.

Of course, I certainly can't guarantee that this will eliminate all challenges (I'm sure it won't).  I do know that this is a significantly better set up than last summer and I am confident that the people taking over will provide a relatively smooth transition for the children!  THAT makes my job of relaxing on this month MUCH easier!  Now, I'm off to do more of that! 

**NOTE: 
If you would like to see a bit more detail of the Guest Teacher Cheat Sheets I talked about in this blog post, hop on over to Prekandksharing I wrote about the details of those cheat sheets!

Hanging File Folder Organization

I meant to share this creation with you LAST week...but, as you might have been able to tell by my last post, the week just kind of got away from me! 
Last weekend I saw THESE very cute file organizers.  Then when I went to visit my mom (who happens to be a retired teacher...and who tends to donate supply items to ME), she gave me a whole box of colored plastic files folders (these are the ones that open to form a sort of flat- squared off bottom to hold more papers). 

I knew exactly what I was going to do with them...make hanging file folder organizers!  (I actually created these within a few hours of receiving them!)

Now, my version is clearly NOT as cute as the original!  But they are extremely functional!  

1. I inserted the file folders into each other (so when you are using them, you are actually just inserting the paperwork into the front of the file folder (the next file up becomes the back).  But because these have the squared off bottom, there is plenty of room!).  
2. I then punched 2 holes at the top of the entire thing and strung a ribbon loop through the top.  (It is a bit difficult to punch the holes, especially when trying to go through 2 layers.  But it's not impossible.) 
3. In order to attach each file folder to the next one, I punched holes in each file folder at the top and hooked them to the next file folder with a brass paper fastener.    I have had these hung for a week with no problem with this system! Initially, I wasn't sure if this would be strong enough to hold the weight of multiple file folders and packets of paper!  But, it seems to work just fine! 

These hanging files are labeled with each child's name and hold each of their small group (IEP goal work)- activity schedules as well as rubrics and tracking sheets. We also have a folder in each to hold the previous tracking sheets.

I LOVE how organized this has become.  I love how simple and quick it is to find exactly what we need!  This has been a great way to keep everything in one spot and help teacher associates find everything they will need to track the work they do with a child! 

Organizing All of our Stuff...Part VI

Here's a VERY quick and easy organizing idea I have used for a while in my teeny, tiny classroom!  No...really, my space is very limited in my classroom!  (I know...I know, I'm not the only one!)  I basically have a small corner of the classroom devoted to my desk and 2 shelves devoted to resource books and binders to organize all my information and paperwork!  

However, I often run out of space for all of the binders and books I have here.  I was constantly taking a binder down then accidentally putting it on another shelf!  Because of this, NOTHING would fit correctly...and I was, yet again, out of space. 

So I came up with a very quick way to make sure that I don't run out of space because I am unknowingly rearranging!  Basically, I've attached a colored sticker to my resource books and binders.  Red for the binders that belong on my desk, blue for the resource books and binders that fit on my shelf and yellow for the books and binders that belong on my large wooden shelf! 

This may seems silly, but it's worked for me!  When I start a new binder or add a resource book, I find a shelf that it will fit on and slap on a sticker!   This way, I know it definitely fit on a shelf at SOME point...so it's POSSIBLE to find a space to put it back on the shelf!  So, if you also are space-deprived and need to make sure there is space for books and binders, feel free to give this a try!  It won't make your classroom grow...but at least it will keep you from feeling like you are losing your mind!

If you would like more ideas on organizing, I've written just a few times about things I have organized. :)  So feel free to head over to:  Organizing All our Stuff...Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV and Part V.

(For full disclosure:  I don't remember reading about this tip anywhere...but it's been sitting in my draft posts for so long that I can't be sure about this!  Please let me know if you've seen this tip out there somewhere so I can provide a link!)

**This post is linked to Rainbows Within Reach classroom organization linkie!

Organizing All of our Stuff...Part V

I keep thinking I'll come to the end of these "Organizing" posts...but, there's just way too much to organize around here!  Well, here we go... on to post number 5!  You can catch up with I HERE, II HERE, III HERE and IV HERE if you would like!

Now, if you have complete collections of songs on an Mp3 player, keeping track and organizing Cd's may not be an issue!  I simply don't think most preschool classrooms are ready to completely do away with Cd's.  If we're going to keep them, we need some way to keep TRACK of them! 

Quite a few years ago, I decided I was sick and tired of messing with CD cases and those bulky plastic holders for the Cd's.  For a while I tried a small vinyl CD holder.  It worked...but not well.  I ended up buying a MUCH larger vinyl CD holder with 4 CD spaces in each sleeve, rather than only one or two spaces. 

This has made all the difference in the world!  Before, I would have to fight with finding the song number for any CD that didn't have the songs listed directly on the CD itself.  Now I simply slide the CD in one section of the sleeve and opposite this, I slide the list of songs. This case holds a total of 208 Cd's. (...if you use every space for Cd's.  Since I am using one side for the song lists it obviously doesn't hold as many.)

I tend to have several Cd's by the same artist.  Therefore, I organized the Cd's in the case by artist or type of CD.  I simply attached sticky tabs to the side of the CD sleeves to separate the Cd's.  Here are some of the organizational tabs for the Cd's (Although, I'm currently in the process of reorganizing since I have a few more Cd's to add!):

1. Greg and Steve
2. Dr. Jean
3. Laurie Berkner
4. Carole Perterson
5. Curriculum Cd's
6. Mother Goose
7. Rest/Nap time 
8. Raffi
9. Hap Palmer
10. Nature Cd's
11. Simple Preschool Cd's
12. Routines and Favorites
13. Books on CD

Now I know many people have put their FAVORITE songs on Mp3 players.  I haven't yet.  Instead, I burned 3 Cd's of routines and favorite songs.  This way, the routine songs we use during the day are quick and easy to find.  Because I burned our first routine songs of the day in order, we can go from #1 (clean-up) to the next few songs in our routine pretty simply.  (I do think at some point I will put all of these on an Mp3 player).

(NOTE:  I HAVE all the Cd's I have burned onto the routines and favorites Cd's.  I have just placed them on several Cd's to make it easier to find!)

I've also created labels for each CD so I know where each belongs (labels are attached to the pocket where the CD belongs).  Although, I certainly won't pretend they actually are put BACK correctly during the day, this does help tremendously as I'm picking up Cd's before I head home! 

At the end of the day,  I simply put all the Cd's back where they belong, song lists are next to the Cd's and everything is in one large CD holder.  This takes up much less space and stays organized much longer than anything else I have tried for Cd's!  

**This post is linked to Rainbows Within Reach Organize your classroom linkie!

Organizing All of our Stuff...Part IV

Organizing supplies for the week is a never ending nightmare in most preschool classrooms!  OK, maybe just mine!  The children in my classroom tend to require large realistic items rather than smaller paper or abstract items.  Which, of course, take up a great deal of space! 

My supplies for the month in a 3 drawer cart.

I've tried lots of different ways to organize supplies for the week, but my biggest "problem" (if it truly IS a problem) is that I often switch things up!  Since, we should be planning each day around the interests and needs of the children, I don't view changing things as a problem.  However, this does make it tricky to organize!  So, I've basically decided to use multiple ways to organize. 

Our basket for weekly supply items.

Previously, I found an organizational system on Teach Preschool, using a basket and expandable file folders.  It was simple and easy to set up, but didn't quite work for me.  So, of course, I used the basic idea and adapted it so it fit my organizational style and what works for the classroom I teach.  (I'm not as linear thinking as some people- I tend to organize things based around ideas and topics, rather than days of the week.  And as I said, I may change things mid-way through!  If my system doesn't make sense to you, you may be a more linear thinker, and should go with the simple system Deborah suggests at Teach Preschool.)

I just recently added the 3 file envelopes for hard copies of activities
flannelboard stories etc. that I plan to do with the children for the week

So, here is how I set up my organization for our daily, weekly and monthly supplies: 

1. First, I have a 3 drawer cart that holds large supplies for the month.


Each drawer is labeled:

    A.  Drawer #1: Art, sensory, science and cooking supplies

    B.  Drawer #2: Stuffed Animals, Puppets, Books and Listening Supplies

    C.  Drawer #3: Outdoor, Center time, Transitions and Extra Items


I simply throw stuffed animals, art materials, sensory materials, books etc. that I plan to use for the month in these drawers. It's really just a hodge-podge of various items that I anticipate that I will need sometime during the month. Often this becomes my basic materials for the month, with more added for a specific week or day.

2.  On top of the 3 drawer cart, I have a basket for weekly supplies. I take any item I will need for the current week out of the monthly drawers and throw it in the weekly basket. This way it's simply in my line of vision so I remember to pull it out and actually USE it!

3.  I have recently added the third organizational tool:  3 expandable file folders that sit in the back of the weekly basket:  


These are each labeled as well:
     A.  File #1:  Songs, flannel-board stories and finger-plays
     B.  File #2:  Art and play-dough projects
     C.  File #3:  Book activities and projects 

These file folders hold hard copies of activities I have found on the Internet or in books that I plan to use during the current week.  They also hold words to fingerplays, songs etc. that I plan to use and don't already know.  I basically have paper-clipped together the hard copies of the items used for a week, then each week the new hard copies will be placed in front.  The files are expandable and will hold many weeks worth of hard copies of activities, so I will simply keep adding, until I am forced to take some out and file them away in a more permanent file! 

Oh yes, that would be how I organize!  I'm all for systems that don't require me to move things too often!  If you would like to see how I've organized our paper-work, books or how I have labeled the books follow the links to read more.

Organizing All of our Stuff...Part III

You had to know it was coming...Part III, that is!  I do enjoy organized chaos around me, and teaching preschool pretty much gives you an endless supply of items to organize!  If you have not read Organizing all of our stuff...Part I and II and want to catch up...click HERE and HERE!

When I made up my book lists, and organized and alphabetized my books, I also needed a quick and easy way to know which childrens books are mine and which are the school's books.  I know most teachers already have labels on their own books as well as labels on school books.  I just needed a quick and easy way to distinguish between home and school books without having to LOOK at every single label!  Here's how I did that: 

I ended up making up two labels- one for my books, which I attached to all my books on the front cover, and then separate labels for the school books, which I attached to the lower part of the spine of the book.  This way, I can easily spot all the school books as they are on the shelf since the flower shows on the spine!  It may seem that it would be difficult to spot these on soft cover books, but, truthfully, the red flower shows up very well!  I can scan the entire bookshelf and pick out the books that are mine within a few seconds.

Because the books are often going between home and school for planning and storage, they do often get mixed together.  Labels give me a very easy and quick way to distinguish between the books so I can separate them.  My husband thought it was silly to put my name as well as the classroom name on the labels for my home books (in the event I would teach another classroom) however, in the event a book would be left somewhere else in the school, it could now easily be returned to the classroom! 

Organizing all of our "Stuff"...Part II

So, you thought I had forgotten about part II, did you!?  Oh no, of course not!  Here's the story behind organizing all of our stuff...part II:

About the time I decided I needed to organize ALL of my books, I also happened upon this website: http://www.clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.com/ .  Needless to say, I went a bit crazy with the organizing!  I'm just being honest.  I WENT CRAZY!  I finally had to admit I had a real problem when I found myself printing out labels for my LABELS!  But, since there is no twelve step program for organizing gone overboard, I kept organizing and created a "teacher binder"! 

This just gives you an idea of how thick my "teacher binder" really is!
Crazy, I know!

The original idea was PURCHASED from the Clutter Free Classroom web site (I only adapted this for my preschool use).   I used the basic set of forms I purchased (VERY affordable) and then added and created the forms I needed for preschool use.

As early childhood educators we know that there are many routines that require procedures when multiple adults are working in the classroom.  In order to make sure everyone is on the same page and following routine procedures in a way that is appropriate for our program, I created a list of 24 general procedures for our classroom. 

While many of these are simply our general program procedures, I added some that I felt were important to address with any new teacher associate and for guest teachers to view when they are new to the classroom. Here are the 24 procedures I ended up writing out:

1. Anecdotal Notes
2. Attendance
3. Bus
4. Cod Red (lock down)
5. Daily Notes
6. Diapering
7. Dismissal
8. Face to Name (a school district form)
9. Fire Drill
10. Gentle Technique
11. Gym
12. Incident/Hurt Alert Forms
13. Key words
14. Meal Forms
15. Outdoor Nature Classroom
16. Red Alert
17. Sanitizing Schedule
18. Sensory Breaks
19. Sign-in Sheets
20. Small Groups
21. Storm Drill
22. Team Meetings
23. Transition Out of Classroom
24. Transition from gym or outdoors to classroom

This section of my "teacher binder" starts with a list of all of the procedures.  Behind this is a page or more as to how to correctly follow each procedure.  This gives me a very quick way to work with new teacher associates on how to handle specific circumstances.  Here's a quick example of one of the procedures I wrote:

                                 Anecdotal Notes

Sticky notes are located in the drawer near the door.

Small Group time, outdoor learning, lunch and center work are all good times to take anecdotal notes

Examples 8-9-10  At Sm. Groups Tommy said "choo, choo" and pushed the car on the carpet. (teacher initials)

Anecdotal notes need:  where or when this happened (small groups, lunch...etc.) what the child did, what the child said (if any) number of times child did this (if more than one)

Anecdotal notes should NOT have: any opinions (he liked to paint, he was fussy, she wanted to play) should NOT describe feelings (he felt left out, she was mad/sad/upset) 

Anecdotal notes should be kept short.  These are just a quick snapshot of what the child did and said.

Place the completed anecdotal note in the child's folder.  Try to figure out what section the anecdotal note would fall under.  If you are not able to fit it under a section, put the note on the back or on a blank sheet.

This binder not only holds the Procedures information, but just about all information a guest teacher would need when coming in to the classroom. Therefore, it's left on my desk each night in case I would need a guest teacher the following day!   I may have gone crazy organizing, but that new teacher associate or guest teacher may be thankful for all my crazy work! 

**This post is linked to Rainbows Within Reach classroom organization linkie!

Organizing all of our "stuff"...Part I...

The past week off has given me some much needed rest and relaxation, time to recover from a cold, time to begin work on an upcoming IEP and time to do a bit of organizing.  My husband says I am very organized...I just laughed and told him to take a look at the stack of "stuff" next to me! 

A while back, I became convinced that I MUST organize every book I have!  So, I pulled out all the children's books that belonged to me and took them home to my very small home office.  I bought a new bookshelf and started organizing.

Yes, I know, the books are falling over...I need to replace quite a few I took out!

I decided to organize the books according to several broad categories.  Others may not agree with how I organized these books, but it is easy for me to find what I need.  Therefore, I'm sticking with it!  I kept it simple so I could quickly go through categories and find the books I wanted while planning for the upcoming week. 

A view of the dividers I made for each section.

So, basically, I sat down and created more piles of "stuff" in my very small home office...which, of course, did NOT help the organization for a while...and made me a bit claustrophobic in my very small home office!  In the end, it was worth it! 

I stacked the books according to the category I felt they fit into best and then alphabetized the books within each category. After I had each in the category I felt they belonged, and alphabetized; I typed up a master list and filed this in my teacher binder.

This way, when I am planning I can simply go to my master lists (I have one for home, one for school) go to the category I want and find the books I want to use in the classroom. 

The categories I decided to use are:

1. "All About Me/Health/Community and Community Helpers",
2. "Animals and Insects",
3. "Colors/Shapes/Numbers/A,B,C's/Early Concepts",
4. "Classics",
5. "Cooking",
6. "David Books",
7. "Fall (Halloween, Thanksgiving)",
8. "Garden/Planting",
9. "Music",
10. "Nursery Rhymes",
11. "Rhyming Books/Concept Books",
12. "School/Life Events",
13. "Social Studies/Science Concepts",
14. "Spring/Summer",
15. "Winter/Winter Holidays"

My teacher binder with the first page of my "home master list" of books

Of course, you could divide the books up much differently.  I just wanted to keep things broad and easy to organize and, of course, easy to find when I needed a book quickly!  I kept to very similar broad categories when I made my master list for school books, so I could look up and find books in the same category both at home and school. 

After I categorized and alphabetized all the books, organized them on the shelf and typed up the master list, I made small dividers for each category. I simply printed off a label for each category, attached this to a large index card and slid it in between the books to divide the categories.  Now I have an easy way to find the children's book I want quickly while planning!

Now I'm off to replace those books on the book shelf...can't have that pile of "stuff" next to me when my husband comes home.  I'd hate to have him think HE'S the organized one!