Special Education Classroom Layout
Have you ever wondered how to structure and set up your special education classroom layout? When I first began teaching special education I really struggled with this! I knew it shouldn’t be set up like a general education or mainstream classroom, but no one shared examples or ideas of just HOW to set it up.
To be honest I learned as I went. My class was pretty empty the first week of school and as I met my new students, and observed their needs the classroom layout sort of, built itself.
I want to share a few tried and true ways to set up your classroom, that will work in MANY different special education settings. I even share a chicken-scratch layout of my classroom that I will be implementing myself in the fall. I’m uploading my chicken scratch version because I like to keep it real around here!
Ok, I told you the image was a ROUGH draft!! I’ll still explain every area before you come for me on that one.
I needed some very specific areas to be represented in my classroom. I also have some non negotiable areas like the washroom, kitchen and sensory room which I have no control over placement.
1- Have a designated meeting space area
This is the area that we meet in the morning and afternoon for songs, morning meeting, and some social skills activities. We have a specific table colour and signs that help students know and remember where this location is. We spend A LOT of time here so it’s pretty important to have.
2- Have an area for 1:1 work
This part is a delicate dance. We have some students who work in pairs for work time, and some students who are at the 1:1 level. The goal is to always build independence and move students toward whole group instructions, but this year I am working with early learners so they aren’t at that point, yet! Think about where you want the 1:1 work to occur, and think about using your classroom furniture and patricians to create a quiet area. On my rough draft, its the pink highlighted areas that are our 1:1 work spaces. I’ve added some shelves and patricians to make it a quiet corner.
3- Have a calming area or sensory room
This area is a space where students can work on self regulation if they are in distress. Our calming room has pillows, bean bags, and soft lighting that supports students regulation system. We have worked with our occupational therapist in our district to develop this sensory room for our students.
4- Have an area for eating
This one is pretty simple to navigate as often times schools will have specific areas for eating designated for students. We have a kitchen in our room, so we have a large table by the kitchen where students can eat together. All of our students are able to feed themselves, so we don’t have to think of any alternative feeding spaces this year.
5- Have an area for floor play (STEM toys, etc.)
Every student loves to play with toys to some extent! We have the floor play area where students can play with their bigger toys, LEGOS and other STEM activities. We limit this area to 2 students at a time so personal space can be honoured and teachers/staff can also fit in as we are often teaching specific play or social skills at the floor play area.
