Dividers

If you've watched my classroom tour video, you know that my classroom is sort of a maze.  Each area is clearly defined with physical boundaries.  Some of the dividers are play panels, that divide larger areas, which I love - they hook together and can also be bracketed to things to create "walls", they even have "gate attachments".

I discovered that using those large dividers between desks (for individual work stations) took up a *lot* of room and also made it harder for us to see everyone at once.  I tried using the cardboard type study carrels on the desk, but the students knocked them off, bent them, or ripped them.  Purchasing individual study carrels would be expensive. Daddy to the rescue again :-) I asked him to create some mini-dividers with a solid base that would be difficult to tip over.  I wanted something just big enough to block visual distractions from the student on either side.  These work perfectly!!

 He used PVC pipe, plastic cable ties, fiberboard for the divider and plywood for the base - so it was very inexpensive.  Again, like the footstools, they could be more aesthetically pleasing if you wanted to put more money into it, but I'm more function-oriented :-)

My classroom's physical setup

Here is a video tour of my classroom this year.  The camera work isn't the best, I apologize.

Untitled from Nicole Mays on Vimeo.

My classroom is set up with very clear physical boundaries defining each area.

• This defines the space so that the students understand where they are supposed to be
• This minimizes visual (and some auditory) distractions from other areas of the room
• This provides obstacles to discourage "runners" from eloping (or at least gives us a bit more time to catch up to them)

As you will see from the video, the main areas of my classroom are

• the entry "hallway" where the students put away their backpacks in the morning and where we line up when leaving the classroom
• laundry area
• kitchen
• bathroom
• storage nook and closet
• whole group instruction area (tables)
• carpet/circle time whole group instruction area
• individual work desks
• computer stations
• other various areas (the small whiteboard easel, swing, books, listening area, etc.)
• teacher desk/area (at the back of the room)
• teacher work area (at the front of the room)
• Sensory room (separate room)
  

When we do small group work, the groups are either in the sensory room, on the carpet, or at one of the tables in the front of the room.  ADL (Activities of daily living) obviously take place in the bathroom, kitchen or laundry area.  Whole group work either takes place at the tables (if there will be writing, using manipulatives, etc.- anything where the students will each be doing their own activity) or on the carpet (when we use the wiimote whiteboard, story time, etc. - anything where we will be working on one activity together as a group).
I am tremendously lucky to have a lot of storage! I also use shelf units as dividers, and then cover the shelves with curtains (I use curtains to cover EVERYTHING, as you can see - out of sight is out of mind and it keeps little hands from getting into everything - also minimizes visual distraction as the curtains are a solid, calming blue). The shelves provide even more storage.
You will also probably notice the light covers.  These are available in different colors, but I kindof have a blue theme going in my room anyway, and I have found blue to be a calming color for most of my kiddos so I go with blue. They tone down the harshness of the flourescent lights but still leave plenty of light for us to see.
The wooden dividers between the individual desks were made by my dad, as were the footstools on some of the chairs that you see and the stairs in the entry "hallway".
The next few posts will be about room setup, and I'll go into more detail about some of the areas and things that you see in the video.