HELP…How am I going to set-up my self-contained preschool classroom?I find myself in unfamiliar territory going into the school year. After 20 years of teaching early childhood special education, this was the year I was going to find a new endeavour and leave the classroom for another adventure. I love teaching and my passion for working with children with special needs will remain forever, but I was really ready for a change. I was done with the challenging behaviors, paperwork, managing a team, did I mention challenging behaviors? Long story short, I did not get the position that I had my heart set on and accepted a position that I ended up turning down. Why you ask, well the thought of now teaching something entirely new in the midst of a pandemic was keeping me up at night to say the least. I find myself back in the good ol classroom and on a committee representing self contained teachers to help figure out how we are going to adapt to the new recommendations and procedures to keep us all safe. This my friend has been an excruciating task. The logistics of revamping an entire school system in a few weeks is anyone’s worst nightmare. My colleagues and I have all fallen down the black hole of despair as we have been meeting over zoom to go over all the details, but have also made some great strides on doing the best we can in these unprecedented times (which by the way is my new most hated word!) I wanted to share the daily schedule that I will be trying to put in place with my students. A little background, I have a total of 8 students in my am and 8 students in my pm with 2 paraprofessionals. The students range from moderate to severe disabilities. Social distancing and mask wearing will probably not be doable for any of my students, so I have also decided to completely rearrange my classroom, which makes me want to cry since I love my classroom and the set-up. We can do this though, together! I will post pictures of my classroom soon! Here is the tentative schedule that I am planning on doing. Notes about the schedule are on the bottom.
Daily SC Schedule 2020-2021
7:50-8:00/11:20-11:30 Arrival Routine/Wash Hands
8:00-8:20/11:30-11:50 Table “Play” Time: Kids separated by tables using own materials
8:20-9:05/11:50-12:35 Learning Center/Small Groups (15 minutes per center):
- Circle Time/Story
- Wash Hands/Snack Time
- Work Time (Academic Skills)
9:05-9:25/12:35-12:55 Gross Motor: Playground, Gym, Commons, OR Sensory Room- (waiting to hear our assignment)
9:25-10:10/12:55-1:40 Learning Center/Small Groups (15 minutes per center):
- Wash hands/Art Time
- Movement/Music
- Play Time (at a table or specific area)
10:10-10:20/1:40-1:50 Pack-Up and Dismissal (Buses come 10 minutes early)
Notes:
- 2-3 kids will be assigned a group/center and it will remain the same kids each day and will remain the same throughout the year as needed. The teacher will rotate with each group throughout the day and then switch groups the next day. Use a timer and song between transitions to the next station.
- Each area will be wiped down before moving to the next center
- Each student will have a bag for writing and art supplies, small manipulatives, snack items, and visuals that will travel to each center with the teacher that rotates with them. The teacher will carry a bin containing all individual materials in her group to each center.
- Each student will have own sensory bins made and stored near the art area
- Toy will be sanitized after use at the end of the session and will be put in a rotation. Limited number of toys will be available for students to use each day.
- There will be separate areas in the room for each station. The circle time and movement station will be in the same area utilizing the video monitor for music time for both stations. Stations will be set-up with materials needed at the beginning of the day.
I hope this can help other teachers out there who are asking themselves how we are going to do this. We are going to show up and do the best we can and that will be ok. And like the super teachers of the world that we are; we are going to do it with a smile on our faces under our masks!
