I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I’m blessed with a HUGE classroom. It’s great because my kiddos need room to move! Another blessing is that the adults in the room also have a space to call their own. I call it “teacherland” and I think it’s better than Disneyland!
If you haven’t seen my room layout, check out {this} post.
So I have this cut out in the back of my room that is PERFECT for my Teacherland! Back there I have a desk, laminator, paper cuter, binding machine, and all the goodies to prep materials for my little buddies. And a refrigerator and coffee maker to keep my IAs happy. 🙂
It all starts at the desk. It is not “my” desk. It is simply a teacher desk. This allows us to pull out materials and leave them there as needed. If you’re in the middle of a prep project and need to run a group, no worries! Leave it out and someone else can pick up where you left off. When I started my class, I begged for a white board and was able to get one for my teacher area. I put it back here so I could leave notes for my IAs and other service providers who come in the room. I currently have a dry erase calendar on the board so we can make sure we prep art, DTs, etc for each day. Nobody wants to be scrambling the day of!
See those files next to the desk?! Those are getting labels today from 1-31 and they will hold daily materials FOR A MONTH! The organizer on top of my desk is for high priority prep (PECS, visual supports for lessons, etc.).
Now here are the goodies! On the counter behind the desk all the fun machines and misc prep jobs are stored!
I have to say, having a prep center has really been a lifesaver in our classroom. It has been great to be able to start and leave a task without having students going through the supplies or losing little pieces in transport back to the storage area.
How do you make prep time work in your classroom?
I am jealous you are so blessed to have that area in your room. As a first year teacher last year I did not really use my prep time to work on classroom lesson, I worked on IEP's and learning that process. This year I have gotten the hang of it so now I will have to think about a place for prep as I put my room together. It will problem be in the teacher area which is a little corner of my classroom where I keep the refrigerator and microwave. Thank you for your post.
Wow, I LOVE Teacherland! You have it so well organized, it looks fantastic – great post!
I want to go to teacherland! I just started a prep-station, but I have to admit it isn't quite there yet!
Soooooo jealous of your work area. I have a back closet which I am grateful for that not only houses as much as I can fit neatly but a washer and dryer because I teach sped middle school life skills. I don't think anyone outside of us sped groupies realize how much stuff we have and the amount of organization and prep that goes into each day. Your organization is on point girlfriend…keep it up! You have inspired!