Make your structure work for you!

After you have set up an amazingly structured classroom – it’s time to utilize that structure. Use all of the wonderful division you have created for storage, seating, and the tools that help your classroom run smoothly!

Now some of the photos I have shared this week may be completely freaking you out. If you have a kiddo who loves dump – knocking down items, get your mind out of the gutter! 😉  – having open containers of markers and crayons and such hanging out the middle of the classroom seems completely insane and you have probably doubted my credibility thinking, “This fool thinks I will leave a row of binders unattended like that…. suuuuure.” I haven’t forgotten about you and I do completely get it. Some of our kids may need a space that has minimal distractions. If your caseload is more along those lines –

• use bins with lids on all of the shelves
• use cloth tablecloths or shower curtains to cover open shelves
• get cabinets with doors
• keep cabinets locked
• store only what you will be using that day out in the classroom and keep any supplemental material and other resources in a closet or in large storage tubs
• keep a covered plastic file organizer by each center for worksheets

Start working on your students getting more used to open containers because in the community these are things they will see on an every day basis. The grocery store doesn’t keep the apples in a neat covered container – they are out in the open. So use baby steps to get your students ready for this by leaving a bucket of crayons on the table and giving reinforcement when the student does not knock them over. It’s a slow process – but it will get there!