Classroom Setup Tips For Success: 8 Guiding Questions for Designing Your Space [episode 83]

Emily
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today’s episode, we’re sharing some questions to help guide you as you set up your classroom for a new school year, and a teacher approved tip for corralling clutter.

Heidi
We start our episodes with a morning message just like we used to do at morning meeting in our classrooms. This week’s morning message is how do you organize your students school supplies? Emily and I are gonna answer this a little bit later in the episode. So let’s get right to our community responses.

Emily
Yeah, we had some good ones. Lauren said table supplies for crayons, glue, scissors. So when we rotate for centers, there’s materials at every table. This year for other stuff I’ll have buckets at each table all the math books in one bucket, writers notebook in one etcetera. Previously they each had a bucket of their own but I think one bucket for that item will cut down on transition time.

Emily
Lea said for the past few years we’ve done individual toolboxes. We’ve also done a caddy at each table that is communal. Michelle said I use table tubs for pencils, scissors and glue sticks. Students keep their own crayons and personal supplies in a pencil box inside their desk.

Emily
Liz said I use the Trofast bins they fit perfectly inside their desks. They kept their art box inside the bin with their own supplies. She also mentioned doing the pencil wars to say pencil so I guess you can Google that.

Emily
Heather said my kiddos keep their supplies in a plastic shoebox. We call it their supply box. The boxes are numbered and stay on their tables, their crayons, markers scissors, pencil sharpener, a couple glue sticks and erasers go in there. They also get two dry erase markers that are numbered. They start with a couple of pencils with their number and are given a new number of pencils every week. I got the idea of numbering from one of my teacher friends and it works well.

Emily
These are great ideas and we’d love to hear your ideas for managing school supplies. Come and join the conversation over in our teacher approved Facebook group or on Instagram at @2ndstorywindow and that’s what the two.

Emily
Did you know the good classroom management begins well before the first day of school? It’s true. Your classroom management begins with setting up your classroom and preparing for your students arrival. As Harry Wong says the three most important words for a teacher are preparation, preparation and preparation. Good ole, Harry.

Heidi
When it comes to preparing your classroom setup, it is a far bigger task than just putting up some desks. It takes a lot of thought and a lot of decisions at the start to set up your space for your new school year.

Emily
And honestly, it should take a lot of thought. Your classroom space is about to become your and your student’s second home for the next nine months. Deciding how that space should function and feel is not something to take lightly.

Heidi
The time and attention that you put into designing your space will have far reaching benefits for your whole school year. And one good thing, you can always adjust your classroom later if you discover a problem, or things aren’t working the way you want them to.

Emily
So yes, we want to approach these plans with care. But also know you can always make changes later.

Heidi
The goal is to create a classroom that functions smoothly and feels right for you and your students. So we’re going to go through some important questions to ask yourself as you start planning and preparing the setup of your classroom.

Emily
We’re going to cover a lot of questions here. So I would recommend listening once through the whole episode and then coming back to listen question by question when you’re ready to start working out the details for yourself. So let’s get started.

Emily
The eight main questions you should ask yourself are how do you want your space to feel? What kind of learning and teaching do like to do? What physical spaces do you need in your classroom? Where will your students sit? What will the students need? Where might there be problems? What can you do with the walls and vertical spaces? And how will your space build community? And then we’re going to dive into each of those questions as the episodes go. So Heidi, bring us back to the first question.

Heidi
So that first big question is how do you want your classroom to feel? This is the most important question of this whole process. And that is why we are starting here. There are a few things to consider. First of all, how do you want your students to feel in the classroom? So for me, I want my students to feel safe, like that’s the number one priority. But I also kind of want to have a welcoming homey feel in our classroom.

Emily
For sure. Then consider how do you want your space to feel when others walk in? I know that I want other students who may visit our classroom or other adults in the building or parents to feel warmth and calm when they enter my room.

Heidi
And don’t forget yourself. How do you want to feel when you walk into your space every day? So I just want my classroom to feel like it is my home away from home, spend enough time there, it should feel like that. Yes. And I also want to feel like it reflects my personality and my values as a teacher. I want to feel like it’s a place where I can connect with my students, and that allows them to connect with each other.

Emily
Perfect. Now let’s move on to question two. What kind of learning and teaching do you do? This one will vary a lot by teacher and remember that there is no right or wrong answer. Some things you might want to ask yourself are: Do you do a lot of group work? If you do a lot of group work, you’re going to want to plan for spaces that allow that.

Emily
It’s difficult for students to work in groups, if the room has little floor space, and your desk arrangement doesn’t have desks close to each other where group could meet. So what else should you ask yourself Heidi?

Heidi
Well, you also need to consider if you use a lot of technology, and if so what technology do you need to factor into your setup? Now if you use your smart board, or you project a lot onto your whiteboard, you may want to take that into consideration when you plan your desk arrangements. If you’re using laptops or tablets, you need to consider how they will be stored, how the students will access them, how they’ll be charged, and where the kids will sit when they use them.

Emily
And another thing to consider is do you like to have students work or read on the floor? My students were on the floor every day either for work time, partner work, reading time, or all three. I made sure that my room was set up in a way that there was open floor space in several areas of the room. But luckily for lower elementary aged kids, especially that doesn’t require huge open areas, groups of three to four kids can easily work together in a surprisingly small space. And they will find those spaces.

Heidi
They are very little people. So the third question to ask yourself as you’re planning your room setup is, what physical spaces do you need in your classroom? Right. So think about obviously desks, maybe you have a classroom library, maybe you want to do centers, you might need a space for gathering in a circle that is different than a space where sitting at the rug, you might need a small group area. Just a good idea is to make a list of all the spaces that you need your classroom to have.

Emily
And then think about the furniture that’s going to be in those spaces. Is there any provided furniture in your room already that you need or want to work around like bookshelves or tables. If there’s something in your room, you don’t want, see if it’s possible to give it to another teacher or ask someone at the school if it can be stored somewhere. That’s not always possible, but worth checking out if there’s furniture in your room you don’t want.

Emily
And when it comes to furniture, let’s talk about the big one. Do you want a teacher desk? If you do, where is the best place for it? Going back to Harry Wong, he says to maximize your proximity to minimize your problems. So if you do want a teacher desk, plan its location carefully.

Emily
But also ask yourself, do you really need a teacher’s desk? I get rid of mine. Many teachers find that after ditching their teacher desks, they don’t even miss it at all. I was able to do the majority of my work at my little computer area that was built into my counters, and my horseshoe table. Both of those were in close proximity to the students.

Emily
And that worked great for me, I didn’t need a separate desk that would have eaten up so much of the space in my room. I’m thinking about my classroom right now, I can’t even imagine where that would have fit in there. But if you do need or want a teacher’s desk, or if you have one in your room that you absolutely cannot remove, you’ll want to account for that as you plan on your physical spaces in the room.

Heidi
Another thing to consider with your physical spaces is are there any teacher only spaces? And what spaces do you want to allow for kid access? I think in most classrooms, a lot of your spaces are going to be open to the kids. But some teacher only spaces might be like inside of your cupboards, your personal teacher areas, your supplies and all of that. So decide what the teacher only spaces will be and then be sure to make it clear to students where they should and should not go

Emily
And one last thing to consider with your classroom space is do you need any spaces for others? Do you have a classroom aide that needs a dedicated space in your room? Do you have parent volunteers that will be coming into your classroom frequently and need a place to work or a place they can access materials to use for their volunteer time? Plan for those in your space if you need them.

Heidi
So onto question number four. As you are putting your room together, ask yourself, Where will your students sit? You may not have a choice of what’s available to you in your classroom, but most likely it is either desks or tables. There are pros and cons either way with that. So if you’re lucky enough to have a choice, choose whichever one works best for you.

Emily
After deciding on tables or desks think about what layout you want to use. Is there a certain direction you need your students to be facing? Think about that previous question about how do you teach? Do they all need to be able to see the smartboard easily? Do you usually teach from the front of the room? Choose a layout that best supports the way you like to teach.

Heidi
Once you know your layout for your desks or tables determine your teacher proximity zones. In his book Tools for Teaching, Fred Jones refers to three zones of proximity. And this is so important to keep in mind. The closer the student is to the teacher, the more likely they are to be on task.

Heidi
So the green zone where the kids are mostly on task is the kids that are only two to three desks away from the teacher. The yellow zone where the kids are probably on task, are about four to five deaths from the teacher. And the red zone where it’s anyone’s guess, is any student six or more desks away from the teacher.

Emily
We have a whole podcast episode that deep dives into the process of perfecting your seating arrangements. So definitely go check out episode 26 of the podcast and you’ll get the nitty gritty of working on your seating chart and using the zones of proximity.

Heidi
But at the very least just choose an arrangement and figure out your zones and whatever seating arrangement you choose. Because at the start of the year, you don’t know your students, you just have to use what you do know to fill out those zones, the best you can with what you know.

Heidi
So maybe up front, you know, if a student has an IEP that requires accommodations, maybe you know something like a certain student has a bladder issue, and they’re going to need to be able to get to the bathroom quickly. So you need to see them by the door. I’ve had that happen more than once weirdly. So use that information to choose your students seats accordingly. And after that, just fill in the rest.

Emily
And just realize that you will likely need to adjust either the arrangement or who is in each zone after one to two weeks when you know the students better.

Heidi
So now let’s move on to question five. So as you’re setting up your room, consider what your students need. Think first about where the students will be storing their backpacks and belongings and make sure that you account for that in your room setup.

Emily
Then think about what they will need when they first enter the room in the morning. Where will they enter from? What will they need access to first thing in the morning? That might be the lunch cap, the homework basket, the pencils, etc.

Heidi
You also need to consider where students are keeping their supplies. We are loud and proud proponents of keeping student desks backwards and having kids store their supplies in other places. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone else talking about that. But we love it.

Emily
I know I we’re we’re beating the drum for this.

Heidi
So when students desks are backwards, you don’t have to spend time managing behavior issues as they’re playing with things on their desks or searching for lab supplies or spending time cleaning them out.

Emily
Couldn’t agree more. So what did we have them do with their personal supplies? I had them keep their crayons, scissors, glue and a pencil box on their desk. The pencils were communal and stored in an accessible area in the room. They would put the dull ones in one cup as needed and grab another sharpen one. The dull pencils were sharpened for the whole class by two students at the end of the day as a classroom job. Then workbooks, notebooks, folders and other paper materials were kept in stacks of Sterilite drawers on the counters.

Heidi
So now it’s time for question six. Where might there be problems in your classroom setup? This is the time to troubleshoot any potential headaches that might arise. The best thing to do is to walk through your students journey as they enter your class in the morning. You know they’re putting their backpacks away making their lunch selection, getting pencils and supplies and starting work. So what traffic jams might you run into with those steps?

Emily
Think through what they need to do to turn in their work and come to the rug or get ready for lunch or pack up at the end of the day. Walking through all those steps yourself will likely help you uncover some potential problems.

Heidi
Then you should consider what you can do to set up your room to avoid problems later. So obviously we’re talking traffic jams here. How can you space things out in your room so you aren’t creating bottlenecks in the flow of your day? But also, as you walk through the steps of your day, do you see any management issues that might arise? How about organizational breakdowns that might occur with the way you have things set up?

Emily
The last thing you want to troubleshoot in advance is your desk arrangement. You should sit in every seat in your arrangement and see what the students will experience when they sit in that spot. This is a great way to see if any of them are going to have an awkward or uncomfortable angle to see you when you’re at the board. And maybe you’ll discover that in certain seats, the sound wall is obstructed, it’s hard to know what problems there might be for students, if you don’t put yourself literally in their seats.

Heidi
Of course you can’t foresee every problem. There will definitely be issues that become apparent once you are in your routines. And that’s okay. It is never too late to pivot and adjust as needed.

Emily
On to question seven, what should you do with the walls and vertical space in your room? Now I’m pretty sure the only thought that I gave to my classroom walls as a new teacher was what cute DJ anchors bulletin boards I put up in my classroom, DJ had a really cute camping theme. And no shaming in a theme. If you want to do one, you absolutely should. But there is much more to think about with your classroom walls than just what decorations belong on them.

Heidi
So maybe start by thinking about your whiteboards. That’s kind of the focal point of your room. How much whiteboard space do you have? Some teachers have multiple huge boards, and some only have one small board. And that’s gonna make a difference about where you put things. If you’ve got tons of space, for example, you could post your daily schedule, or other items right on your whiteboard every day. But if space is tight, you might just need to project your schedule to save space for using your board for other things.

Emily
Another thing to think about is how can you use your vertical space for organization and instruction? So think about using your walls for your lunch count, your bathroom, sign out your sound wall, I did some of these on my cupboard doors, those organizational and instructional displays should get first dibs at your open space before decorative things.

Heidi
So instead of a themed bulletin board that you’re changing out every month, could you do a bulletin board for student work and just fill it up slowly as the year goes on, but you’re not having to manage every month. If you want some inspiration, our friend Joanne over at head over heels for teaching on Instagram. She does an amazing job at this she she should write a book.

Heidi
But she starts off the year with mostly blank wall spaces that will be filled in by the students as the year progresses. Yes, I love how she does that.

Emily
And that brings us to our last question How will your space build community? Those collaborative bulletin boards and displays in Joanne’s classroom really add to the community she’s building with her students each year. Her students feel involved and invested in even the displays in her space as they evolve over time. So what an amazing way to make each student feel like their contribution is valuable, and that this space is also their space.

Heidi
There is so much to think through. But trust us it is worth the effort to consider all of these details and make a very careful plan for your classroom at the start of the year. And if things don’t go quite right, and when problems arise, as they will, you can always adjust it’s never too late to make a change.

Heidi
So to recap, the questions to keep in mind as you’re planning out your room this year are: how do you want your space to feel? What kind of learning and teaching do you like to do? What physical spaces do you need in your classroom? Where will your students sit? What will the students need? Where might there be problems? What can you do with the walls and vertical spaces? And how will your space help build your community?

Heidi
So we are working on a digital tool to help you strategically map out your room layout and your seating arrangement. It’s still in the tinkering phase, but we’re working hard on it. If you want to know more about it, make sure to join us in the Teacher Approved Facebook group where we will announce all of the details.

Emily
And we’ll for sure add the link to the show notes. Once it’s ready. We’d love to hear your thoughts on setting up your classroom space for success. Come join the conversation in our teacher approved Facebook group.

Emily
Now let’s talk about this week’s teacher approved tip. Each week we leave you with a small actionable tip that you can apply in your classroom today. This week’s teacher approved tip is put your clutter in a box.

Heidi
So with a new school year especially if we have just given our classrooms a pretty facelift. It is so easy to think that we are going to be our ideal teacher selves from here on out. From now on right we will have all of our copies made a week in advance, and from now on, all of the surfaces in our classrooms will stay clutter free. But we probably will get behind on copies and a pile or three will start to form on your desk.

Heidi
And okay, I don’t have any tips for the copies. But when it comes to clutter, you can either beat yourself up about it, which is definitely my go to or you can just get a basket. For years, I got bogged down in dealing with clutter, because in my mind, I needed to develop the perfect system for managing it before I could deal with it. I know it’s not rational, but that is where I was.

Heidi
We both have a problem. Right? If it’s not perfect, why bother? We’re working on it. And in the meantime, the piles just keep growing along with to self recrimination. But a few years ago, I heard this tip, and I wish I could remember where I heard I tried to go back and find it and I couldn’t. Maybe you know if you know where this tip is from, let me know.

Heidi
But the suggestion is to just put it in a basket. If you have a spot in your house that collects clutter, maybe it shoes by the door, or the mail that stacks up at the end of your countertop, just put a basket there. And then whatever collects in that space looks intentional. And that same idea totally applies to your classroom.

Heidi
So if you have a space in your class where clutter collects, maybe the papers that collect on the corner of your teacher desk, or all those materials that you need for the small groups that back at your table, just put a basket in those spaces, the clutter is still gonna accumulate. But at least this way it is contained and it looks like it’s meant to be there instead of looking like your classroom is out of control.

Emily
I love it. so practical.

Heidi
To wrap up the show we are sharing what we’re giving extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra credit this week?

Emily
I’m giving extra credit to cocoa floss. Oh, I’ve heard that this is one of those things I’ve seen influencers talking about for years, but I could just never bring myself to try it because it’s definitely a more expensive upgrade over regular floss. But after my dentist nicely accused me of being an over aggressive floss or rude. I figured I’d give the Bougie floss to try.

Emily
So it says it’s the world’s best dental floss. Well, I can’t claim to have tried all the floss in the world. I think their claim may be legit. It’s made of a softer, slightly textured weave that makes it more effective and soft. It doesn’t shred either, which is something that drives me crazy. The floss I used to use and cocoa floss is also infused with coconut oil, which is good for your teeth.

Emily
I feel like this is an infomercial. I’m not being paid to get a miss. And it comes in really cool flavors, which I think is great for people who may have a hard time wanting to floss every day. I don’t have that problem. So I just use the regular mint. And the containers are refillable. So it’s eco friendly. And I’m a big fan of that. So if you’ve been thinking about it, or you need more motivation to floss, I think cocoa floss is worth a try. What are you giving extra credit to?

Heidi
So my extra credit goes to the TV show Crime Scene Kitchen on Fox and I really think they needed to rework that name. Yes, it sounds terrible. So unappealing, but it’s a fun show. It’s got this kind of funny premise. So teams of bakers get to inspect a kitchen where a dessert was made. That’s the crime scene. And they have to use the clues there to determine what dessert was made. And then they go back to their own kitchens. And they have to recreate the desert based on the clues.

Heidi
So it’s kind of wild. The team that is farthest from the goal. It gets eliminated each week. It’s fast paced, and it’s fun to try to guess the desert from the clues because like, I’m not a baker, but I’m sitting there like It’s like watching true crime. We’re like, Oh, I could have solved Yes, obviously you guys. It’s blood orange rinds in the compost bin.

Heidi
And, honestly, there’s one of the few new shows on at the moment. So yeah, if you need a summer watch, this is a fun one.

Emily
And it’s got Joel McHale as the host, which makes it fun too.

Heidi
That is it for today’s episode. Deep dive into our questions as you’re setting up your classroom this year. And don’t forget our teacher approved tip to put your clutter in a box.