I have been a special education teacher for 25 years. I have been energized by the new teachers in my district and on social media. This energy has been set into motion by the many questions new teachers have around classroom set up, data collection, paraprofessional training, administrative collaboration, parent support, and the list goes on quite extensively. I thought I would attempt to put my experience down in a space that can be easily accessed and interactive with anyone who wanted to be a part of the conversation. My goal is to share my experience to hopefully sustain and inspire the love of teaching that brought us to this point in our life journey. In sharing this goal I realize this is a great place to begin by asking, “What is our goal?”

The summer is a time for teachers to reset their classroom through alterations in physical spaces and content used to meet curriculum demands (if you have that autonomy). In my communication with new teachers, and reading social media posts one common question is, “I am a new teacher, how do I set up my classroom?” This is the perfect time of year to think about goals! Goals are not just related to the proficiency of a students acquisition of knowledge, but goals related to students, classroom, school, and community. When you zoom out from the specific child you can see why a classroom in rural New York may look very different from a classroom in New York City. Goals are a good thing and should not be intimidating. My classroom is a self-contained classroom where most of my students are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. We are located in a suburban middle school in upstate New York. One of the biggest goals in my classroom is functional communication. Functional communication is not just a question response goal, it is a sharing of knowledge, it is transactional. It is increasing my student’s ability to advocate for themselves, and to share that ability with anyone who walks in our room. Functional communication is about expressing wants and needs, and sharing knowledge and understanding. That is one big goal!

This goal is where I begin to think about classroom environment. I need to ask myself how I can set up spaces to model, promote, and reinforce the use of functional communication? This begins with all of the teaching staff that works with my students. We all meet (virtually or face to face) to discuss important communication cards that we will all carry to support this communication goal.

Next, I begin to think about how students will communicate daily in our classroom. Who will need communication boards, where are these communication boards located, and how will I teach other staff/students throughout my school to use and honor these communication boards.

I then think about how students can communicate their needs across all spaces. I create a classroom supply boards for each work area.

I also create a set of classroom expectations for students during whole group instruction, 1:1 instruction, and special areas instruction.

In consideration of my goal, I also begin to prepare the students ability to prepare their own daily schedules. This can be a daily handwritten checklist for students, or a cut and paste picture schedule for students so they can learn to independently navigate their day!

Take a minute in July to breathe and think about what are the goals for this upcoming school year? How can you create physical spaces and materials to promote these goals? What materials and supplies will I need/have access to promote the achievement of goals, and a mastery of content?

In the next post I will tackle the issue of materials. Not all districts have access to specific materials to meet your classroom needs. I will explore how to navigate the lack of materials when creating your classroom environment, and planning teaching units across subjects. This can be overwhelming, but hopefully I can help make it manageable.

Be Kind Always,

Heather Kurto