3 Suggestions For Setting Up a Special Education Classroom | How to Study

3 Suggestions For Setting Up a Special Education Classroom

Whether you are a brand new teacher or have worked in the field for 25 years, here are some suggestions for setting up a classroom for children with special needs.

Suggestion #1: Find out as much as you can about your students.

Sometimes new teachers go in and start setting up their classrooms without first learning anything about their students. This is a mistake, especially if your students have special needs. For instance, I had a student this year who had pica, meaning she ate a number of inedibles such as glue sticks, chalk, pencil erasers, and more. Because I knew that, I knew to keep these items locked up instead of putting them out on display the first day.

Read through cumulative records. Review IEPs and Multi-factored evaluations. Call parents or even do home visits if permissible and advisable.

Suggestion #2: Take inventory of what you have and Draw out a classroom diagram.

Make a list of what you have and what you need. Make sure you have enough desks, chairs, and tables for your students. If you are going to use tables and chairs, I suggest you try to get chairs for each of these places, so you will need twice as many chairs as students.

Draw a rectangle. Add doors, windows, bulletin boards and other “static” items. Draw out your basic classroom as below.

Suggestion #3: Don’t get fancy. You don’t have enough time. Set up a basic classroom.

A basic classroom for children with special needs generally includes:

•A Circle time/large group area with a large carpet which will include the following: Calendar, daily sign-in, lunch choices, and a daily schedule

•Desks or tables for independent work labeled with student names

•Cubbies or other storage areas labeled with children’s names

•A teacher desk or table with the following: a file for each student, basic desk supplies, a calendar and a notebook for lesson plans/substitute plans and parent contacts.

Put away or cover up all non-essential materials.

Children with special needs, particularly children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, do not do well with a lot of visual stimuli. Classrooms should use muted colors, if possible, minimal overhead lighting, and very little clutter. I’ll admit that this is a challenging task for me because I tend to have a lot of classroom materials but it is necessary. If I can’t put away items due to lack of storage, I try to put them in plastic storage bins or cover them with flannel-backed tablecloths.