Classroom Set Up - Part I

My classroom set up has not changed much from last year to this year. I have two goals in how I arrange my classroom: one, I want my students to be able to use every square inch of the walls as a resource to further their independence and critical literacy skills, and two, I want the classroom space to run its own systems in the most effective, efficient way possible.


These are some photos from around my room. I have the steps of the writing process above the computers to remind the students of the most common steps to creating a piece of writing. As we read Ralph Fletcher's How Writers Work, I'm constantly referring to these steps - physically and verbally - so that the students begin to put them into practice, consciously.



I organize my board so that the students always know what to expect from each day. I have the date at the top, the "sponge" (activity they must complete when they first come into my room), objectives (more for my administrators than my students), the daily agenda for both literacy (reading) and language arts (writing), the plan of the week for both classes, the "exit slip" (closure activity the students must complete at the end of the day's lesson), and reminders about homework, etc.




I have my students keep binders in my room to stay organized. In the binders we have three tabs: "wonderful words" (vocabulary and spelling), "grammar/notes," and "journal." They keep their binders in separate bins for each period. Binder clerks, assigned every three weeks, pass out the binders at the beginning of class.

Working folders are kept in the white drawers, and they hold student drafts as they move through the writing process.