• ​Desks
  • First, decide which side is the front (whiteboard, smartboard)
  • Type of desks
  • What will students keep in desks?  How should it be organized?
  • Flow of traffic-plan with chairs sticking out as if students were in them
  • Partners?  Groups? (You can always do both and have students change formation throughout the day)
  • As the teacher, you should have access to every single desk and be able to move freely between and among students
• Walls
  • Plan out space for each content (self-contained, language, content?)
  • Put up only posters you will use and reference.  Add cutesie stuff and fill in LATER. Seriously. Not only does this save you time, but it’s actually more meaningful if students are part of the process of building out your shared classroom.
  • Put up things like alphabet and rules posters that won’t be changing in harder to reach spots (up high).  Make the easiest accessible spots on the wall for things that will change (word walls, anchor charts, etc.)
  • Be careful with staples (you will have to remove all of them at the end of the year- consider pushpins)
    • Ask your school/other teachers what is expected for classroom tear-down at the end of the year
• Carpet
  • Carpet: in spot that will make it easy for you to teach from and where students will fit.
• Teacher desk
  • Teacher’s desk should be in a position where teacher can see all students (maybe even at the back)
    • Most teachers don’t spend lots of time sitting at their desk.  This is a great spot for keeping personal stuff.
  • Teacher supply kit/things to keep at school:
    • Advil, deodorant, chapstick
    • First aid kit (band-aids, sanitizing wipes)
    • Sweater
    • Extra pair of shoes (flats or flip flops for after school)
    • Snacks (non-perishables: popcorn, granola bars, etc.)
• Teacher table
  • This is for pulling small groups (guided reading, intervention, etc.)
  • Teacher table should be positioned so that you as the teacher can see the whole room from your seat
  • This space should be kept clear so that you can work with your students at any time.  Do not plan to leave copies or materials on the teacher table
  • You will need your materials (guided reading books, math manipulatives, whiteboards, etc.) easily accessible in a bin, crate, or shelf behind you.  I recommend putting your small group table against shelves for this reason.
• Computers
  • Need to find connections in the room
  • You need to be able to see what’s on the screen while students are working from your small group table or while circulating
• Whiteboard space
  • Objectives (painter’s tape)
  • Homework (painter’s tape)
  • Pen and paper person?  Technology person? What technology do you have?
• Must haves for your first day:
  • Stapler/staples
  • Scissors
  • Tape (painters, scotch, duct tape, packing-not shipping)
  • Expo markers/chart markers
  • Ballpoint pens/pencils
  • One packet of lined paper
  • Pencil sharpener
• Other helpful things to have:
  • Kitchen timer (you can make it a student’s job to set it)
  • Lock (for personal items left overnight or when you have a sub)
  • Clock
• Paper Organization
  • Organize hard and soft copies by standard (this will make your life SO much easier in your second year)
  • Most classrooms have a file cabinet.  Keep one master copy and file it by unit->Standard
  • Recycle all extra copies (you think you will use them but then you never do)
  • You don’t have to hand back all student work
  • You need places for the following:
    • Memos and important documents from your campus
    • Student information (binder)
    • Turned in work to be graded (tray)
    • Graded work to be tracked (tray)
    • Tracked work to be handed back (tray)
    • Copies or lesson materials
      • I use a “mailbox” that is divided by content, with slots for handouts, exit tickets, tests, labs, quick facts, etc. by content)
      • Other teachers use file folders set up by day
    • Data reports
    • SPED forms and accommodations
    • Emergency forms (to be kept by door to grab on way out)
    • Forms to be passed out (field trip, reminders, parent newsletters, etc.)
    • Worksheets that you use consistently throughout the year (hanging folder)
      • Student of the week, grid paper for math, formula reference sheets, fast finisher activities, reading logs, conduct sheets
• Teacher vs. student materials
  • Decide whether students are allowed to use teacher’s materials
  • Students need access to materials
  • Take a picture of trays/bins with materials to tape on the bin itself so that kids can see exactly how it is supposed to be organized and clean up well
  • I recommend keeping some teacher-specific expo markers and perhaps things like sharpies.  An easy way to know which ones are yours are wrapping a piece of painter’s tape around it.  You could always get some fancy tape too. This keeps your expo markers from being dried out if you’re the only one using that specific set.
• Backpacks
  • Lockers?  At back of room?  Cubbies? At chairs?
• Tips
  • When something isn’t working, change it!  Just get stuff organized so that you know where it is for now, and you can enhance your organization once you get a feel for what you actually do and don’t need on a daily basis.
  • If you find you’re not using something, (like on a counter), put it in the closet and move something else to that space that you do use frequently.
  • Don’t get too comfortable.  The name of the game in teaching is #flexibility.  You will receive new boxes of materials, new students, or even switch classrooms.

Remember to SMILE!!  You’ll never have it perfect for the first day because you don’t know what your students will need yet.  Part of the joy of being a teacher is co-creating your classroom along with your students so that it is a SHARED space 🙂

Always in your corner,
Kiki