Happy Halloween ladies and gents! I’m so stoked to join up with some of my favorite SPED bloggers to bring you our Tricks and Treats Blog Hop! I’m going to share one of my favorite SPED hacks with you today. If you haven’t checked out some of my other hacks, you totally should. I am all for simplifying things and making my life easier. Check out this post to see how I hack my visual schedules!
Today I want to share a Independent Work Station hack I use daily that is a HUGE part of my program. My student participate in Independent Work Stations 2-3 times a day. That can make for a lot of set up and prep. I have shared my independent work stations in many posts. This is how I prepare my works stations #2 and #3 for students on a daily basis.
I find it’s important to have a rotation of jobs so my students don’t get bored. I set up an awesome teacher prep station this year that I LOOOOOVE! Check it out:
In my teacher prep station there is a desk with (an adult sized) chair and 2 file cabinets. These file cabinets are my lifesaver. Not only do they store all of my daily tasks, they also store all of my extra folder tasks. (Don’t mind my crazy sticky note, I’ve been out so much lately that I’ve left a semipermanent sticky note for subs)
The “Jobs To Do” file is my go to file. I’m in that puppy a couple times each day. Take a peek inside:
If you follow my blog, you know I’m a huge fan of color coding. Each student in my classroom is assigned a color when they enter my class. They keep that color for their entire career in my classroom. I have divided this file cabinet up with construction paper in the students class color. Behind each file are the tasks each student can complete. When it is time to reset work we simply have to open the cabinet, pull the next appropriate jobs and set them up. It’s that simple and not a lot of thought goes into resetting.
Then, after the work is complete, my aides and myself reset the jobs then put the tasks on the desk in the teacher reset area.
I then refile the tasks into the file cabinet and we’re ready to go again! A lot of my students are working on the same skills, so I rotate the jobs through the students tabs. It makes for a great variety of tasks!
Now, are you ready for a treat?! Click here to grab a brand new Adapted Book I made for Halloween!
Hop over to Life in Special Education’s blog to get some more Tricks and Treats!
Have a Happy Halloween!
Great idea! Thanks!
Thanks for the book!
Sarah
Years That Ask Questions
I really like this idea! I have one filing cabinet that I barely use… and I'm sure that I'll "inherit" another this year as the school spreads out our furniture inventory. Great tip!
Thanks so much for joining the hop. 🙂
Stephanie
Great tips and adapted book!!! Thank you!!!!
Love your adapted books! Thanks so much!!
I love the idea of giving each student a color! I'm totally thinking about working that into my classroom! I also love how you used the filing cabinet in a way that your students can use it too!
I wish I had a filing cabinet. I'm definitely lacking in storage. Great idea. Thank you.
Mandy
A Special Kind of Class
You are so organized I can't even handle it. Like, seriously, come and organize my life please 🙂
Breezy Special Ed
What's on the clipboards hanging on the wall?
This really inspires me!!
Are your data sheets on clipboards by child or skill/goal (ie, time on task, adaptive, math, etc)? When making file folders, do you make the same one in each color of your student's assigned color or random colors, or ????? Thank you so very much for your time, knowledge, and sharing!
I have data stored in the places where data is taken in my classroom. This helps me and my staff make sure that data is actually taken. Then I file the data in each student's binder when their data sheet is full.
When I prepare file folders, I just prepare them. They'll be part of my stock for years so it doesn't make sense to me to color code them. I just file them in my cabinet behind the student's color so it's quick and easy for me to grab assignments from day to day.