This school year is our first in our brand new building, meaning that everyone on the teaching staff set up their rooms all over again.  I remember one teacher in particular, who sat in her room for hours, mulling over potential set-ups, “listening to the space” to determine how to most effectively organize her room.  It was because of her example that I took a step back to think deeply about my own classroom set-up.

There’s something very personal about setting up a classroom.  It’s one of the first impressions you give to your students, and it has a major influence on the development of classroom culture and the day-to-day flow of each class.

To me, having an effectively organized classroom means utilizing the space in a way that feels intuitive to students and myself.  It should make students feel comfortable and make them feel like part of a classroom community.  It should allow students to move fluidly through the classroom to avoid wasted time.  It should make student resources readily available and easily obtainable.

Classroom layout and organization is one of those aspects of being a teacher that requires A LOT of trial and error.  What works for me might not work for the teacher down the hall.  What works for 3rd Graders might not work for 10th Graders.  In my first year of teaching, I took a shot at classroom organization and learned what did and didn’t work with that set-up.  In this second year, especially with the “blank slate” of a brand new, never-before-used classroom, I was able to really consider the purpose of my classroom and how I could arrange it in a meaningful way. Let me know what you think!:

Bins for my English and Creative Writing classes to drop off homework and class work.

The big lesson board: this has everything I, a student, or classroom visitor would need to know about the lesson for that day. It helps keep us all on task sometimes!

Next to the assignment drop-off bins is a bare desk where I leave handouts for students to pick up on their ways into class.

This year I got fancy with the schedule. Everything looks better in a grid!

Student portfolios stay in those crates before and after class. Above is my missing work folders for students who are absent.

These heavy duty paper shelving units have become my person “In” and “Out” organizers for assignments I have to grade or give back. One shelf on each unit per class.

The class library. It’s growing, slowly but surely.

My awesome view of the northeast!

The desks in my room are arranged in staggered rows of four, facing diagonally in towards the Smartboard.

The first-person view from my desk!

Although I prefer keeping documents organized on a computer, I realized it’s nice to have hard copies when I need to make copies or reference something quickly.

An assortment of things on the doors of my closet: a Nelson Mandela poster, a sign up sheet for the drama club, an extra credit flyer about finding typos, and the sign-in/sign-out and late-to-class logs.