Top four tips for setting up your classroom for success!
Setting up my classroom always takes me so much time. Even though I usually set up my classroom in the same way I always struggle with what will be best for me and my students in the year to come. I had to move rooms again this year so it took me a little longer to set up and honestly, it’s not completely done. But that is okay. I got what I needed to be able to reference for the first week and the rest will come later. I wanted to share my top four tips for simplifying your classroom set up and setting your classroom for success. These are the four things I focus my time on during my in-service days.
#1 Arrange your desks to promote engagement, discussion and easy teacher access.
I like to have my desks in a U-shape so that I can see all students and I can easily walk around to check and stamp student packets. This is my desk arrangement this year:
Desk arrangement
I concentrate my students to the inner U as much as possible so that I can quickly do a loop through and have access to help, talk to and check the work of EVERY student within seconds. I have space in my classroom to widen the U shape and add more desks to the inner square if necessary. I could also turn the inner desks to face forward and walk between them
#2 Have materials for students accessible and hide what you don’t want them to access
Entrance at the back left of the classroom
When you enter my classroom to the left, at the back there are two shelves and the lockers. On the shelves I put out supplies I want my students to be able to access on a regular basis. I keep the colored pencils, scissors, whiteboards, and some dictionaries. I keep supplies I don’t want my students to have free access too (ahem, glitter) in the closets.
Since I don’t usually have a homeroom, I let my students share a locker to keep their French materials.
On the wall opposite the door I have a couple of closets. In one I typically keep the art supplies for project and old textbooks I don’t use. The other closet has games, my construction paper organizer, classroom decorations, books to rotate in and any other resources and supplies.
In between the closets I usually have a folding table that I didn’t really use so I am trying something different. I put up the giant café poster my students were obsessed with putting up last year and some bean bags for reading time.
On the other side of the big closet I have my book shelves and plastic drawers.
The plastic drawers are for student portfolios. They are labeled for each class. I had to get a new set for the additional classes I have this year. On top of the drawers are a blue paper organizer. I use this for my UA classes for their packets so the paper passers can access them easily at the start of class. Since I only have two UA classes at a time this year I may switch this up but it has been working nicely for the past few years. I also keep clipboards accessible near the front since some students like to sit on the carpet during class.
The book shelves have bins of printed books I wrote. They are organized by level and topic. I will be adding labels later. The bottom shelf has higher level books and chapter books. On top I have plastic displays for new release books and a featured book of the week.
In the corner is a book display stand where I put the children’s books (for native speakers) and the comic books.
#3 Use prime real estate wall space for resources you and your students will actually use
This is the front of my classroom. I AM SO EXCITED TO SHARE THIS HACK. My verb posters drive me INSANE. It takes forever to hang them all individually on the wall, the sticky tack doesn’t stay so they end up on the floor and I need a giant ladder to hang them back up. This year I had the best idea! Shower curtain liner. I hot glued the posters to the shower curtain and then hung the curtain up with command hooks and used a little sticky tack on the edges to keep it flush.. At the end of the year I can just take the whole curtain down in two minutes and hang it back up in the fall. This will save me SO much time if they stay the whole year. . Since it has been working I would upgrade my curtain for the next time and add more glue on the posters to make sure they were completely on. I bought another shower curtain to hang my question words on the other side of the window.
I have a desk on the side of my smart board for my computer so I can sit to type the shared writing. My teacher desk is in front of the window near the small desk so I can easily transition back and forth. To the right of my desk I have a counter and cabinets.
My white board is on the wall to the right of the touchscreen. I hung my posters with numbers, colors and emotions above the board so they are still accessible but we don’t reference them as often as the others and I know they will make the effort to look if they need to know the answer.
On the board I have a pocket chart that has cards for the date and weather. I am thinking about having a student do this as we get more into the year. On the other end of the board I have space for each grade level and I write our goal for the current unit. I was writing the goal for the day but that was just too much and I would forget to update so I switched to the unit. I usually project a daily goal as part of the lesson.
#4 Create simple systems to help you stay organized and sane!
This is where I store my teacher books and binders, emergency sub plans and other supplies I want to be easily accessible in class. On the counter I have some organizers to help me with my lessons. My drawer set has drawers for “To copy”, “to read/sort”, and “to file” that I can quickly add papers to.
The crate has color coded files for each class. I adapted this idea from Angela Watson’s 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Club. Each class has files labeled Monday-Friday, a next week file, and an “en plus” file. When I make copies for the week I can quickly drop the copies into the next week file and then move them to the correct day. That way I can just pull them out when class starts. The En plus folder may have extra copies for early finishers or other activities we can do at any point. In the crate I also have files for each class for papers to hand back when they’re graded. A folder to keep assessments that are incomplete or that need to be redone. A “keep” folder with old attendance records and master copies of important papers.
Lately I have been pulling the folder for the current unit out of my filing cabinet and keeping it in the crate so I can quickly find other materials while planning. I started using this file system and the turn in drawers when I was teaching on a cart and it was a GAME CHANGER for keeping me organized and I have continued to use it ever since. It allows me to plan ahead and keep all materials easily accessible. This would be my number one tip. I highly recommend trying it out to see how more organized and prepared you feel.
In the paper organizer I keep some extra activities like logic puzzles for early finishers, graphic organizers and papers we regularly use so I can quickly access them if I decide we need them for that day.
Next to the cabinets is my large filing cabinet. The top drawer is for 7th grade (French 1A) and the second drawer is 8th Grade (French 1B). The third drawer has a mix of additional material I don’t currently use and materials for my Unified Arts classes. The fourth drawer has files for my budget, observations, permission slips, newspaper clippings, etc.
Updated image with question words
At the end of the lockers there is just enough space for my plastic drawer unit. Each class has a drawer labeled with their class name and this is where they turn work in. Having this designated space has helped me so much. This helps me to keep their work organized and not cluttered on my desk. I leave it in the drawer until I am ready to grade it.
I also keep coloring pages for early finishers and drawers of blank paper.
Under the class goals on my is a desk with the pencil sharpeners, the sign out sheet and a tray with copies of the weekly packet so students can easily grab a new one when they come in. I also keep hall/nurses passes in the desk so students can fill it out for me to sign. On the other side of that desk is the door to come in.
In summary, my four tips for setting up your classroom for success are:
#1 Arrange your desks to promote engagement, discussion and easy teacher access.
#2 Have materials for students accessible and hide what you don’t want them to access
#3 Use prime real estate wall space for resources you and your students will actually use
#4 Create simple systems to help you stay organized and sane!
How do you set up your classroom to help keep you and your students productive and organized?
Comment below to tell me how these tips have helped you and subscribe for more!
