“What should my special ed classroom schedule look like? Do you have an example of yours?”
I can’t begin to tell you how often I get sent that through my email and social media messages. It’s more than 3 times a day on average, I would guess.
I usually try to reply to as many of these as possible. But, that can be difficult somedays when I get so many messages to look through. So, I decided to make this blog post, sharing an example of one of my days in the classroom for you to see and adapt.
The Day
I’ll explain Monday’s plan so you can get an overview of what the day looks like for us.
Monday 9 – 9.30
Registration, Greeting & Assembly
Arrival
When students arrive, I have 2 members of staff greet them at the door (students are brought to our classroom doors). Students take off their coats, bags and hang these up. 1 member of staff takes out the home/school communication books, drinks, snacks, lunch boxes etc. While the other greets the students and directs them into class.
Registration and Breakfast
In class, the rest of the members of staff are sat down at the table with breakfast prepared. Students come in and are directed to sit down for breakfast. We use this for our registration. Students have to check in using their photos on a board that’s passed around and then answer a question of the day. I.e. do you prefer dogs or cats? It’s just a quick and fun question of the day activity to get them working on their question and answering skills.
Breakfast is usually toast with a choice of butter or jam, crackers, fruit and something new each week – like a croissant or a bagel. There’s no pressure for students to try. Staff join in with breakfast – setting an example of eating, trying new foods.
Choice
When students have finished their breakfast, they can go off and have their ‘choice’ time – explained below. While 1 student does the cleaning up with a member of staff. Once this has cleaned up, we have our greeting.
Our greeting is done in front of the IWB. The greeting is an interactive Powerpoint where students check themselves in, tell us how they’re feeling, brain break songs, counting, how the weather is etc. It lasts around 10 minutes.
Assembly
On Mondays and Fridays we have assembly. So, once our greeting is finished, our students get to have a few minutes choice before heading into the hall for assembly.
Assembly is sing and sign – students can get up and dance to the songs, sign, sing etc. It usually last 5-10 minutes the most. Then we head back to class.
9.30 – 9.45
1:1 Work
My students work files are set up on their 1-1 work stations. Members of staff will sit with the students and work through their morning book and then a few activities from their work files – these adapted work binders – I don’t have enough staff for every student to have 1:1. So, I’ll have 4 students working with a member of staff each, while the other 3 students have choice with 2 members of staff overseeing. Once the students have finished their work, the other students will switch with them so that we rotate through the work. Work lasts 3-5 minutes depending on students ability.
9.45 – 10.10
Speech Sessions
We run speech sessions in our classroom. The speech therapists create a list of targets for the students, and then we incorporate these into group activities. The class is split into 2 – with myself taking the higher ability students, and another member of staff taking the lower ability students.
These are group speech sessions getting students used to sitting down, taking turns, and working on their targets. Students have members of staff sat between them to stay on task. There is a visual schedule included so students know what’s happening when, and how long they have left.
This usually lasts 10 minutes the most. When finished, students have choice and then get changed for PE.
10.10 – 10.20
Physical Education
Students have PE. All members of staff accompany them. This is run by an external PE professional.
10.20 – 10.40
Playtime
2 members of staff go outside with students, while the rest go on their break.
10.40 – 11.30
Rotation Stations
The 2 members of staff who were outside with students go on break for 20 minutes. The students come in and sit and have a quick snack and drink. Then, we move onto rotation activities.
One member of staff will work on a craft with the students on a 1-1 basis rotating through all students. Another member of staff will work on a literacy activity on a 1-1 basis rotating through all students. The rest of the staff in the class will watch the remaining students who are having choice.
11.30 – 12.00
Multi-Sensory and 1-1 Work
4 members of staff go to multi sensory with the students for relaxing time. Myself and another member of staff remain with 2 students. This is our chance to work on a 1-1 basis with them in a quiet classroom with no distractions. This time is used to work on their IEP targets, any assessments etc.
12 – 12.30
Lunchtime
Staff sit with students on the lunch table.
12.30 – 1.00
Playtime
The same 2 members of staff who were on playtime duty this morning, go out again. I change playtime duties everyday. The rest of staff go on break for 30 minutes.
1.00 – 2.00
Breaks & Rotation Stations
The 2 members of staff go on 30 minute break. Students come in and sit down for an afternoon interactive greeting session (like this morning, just working on different skills like months and seasons)
Then it’s time for rotation activities again. One member of staff has a hidden letters sensory tray and another has a craft. They work with students on a 1-1 basis. The other members of staff watch the students who are having choice. This is a time for them to join in with play, reading, and building relationships.
If activities are finished early, I’ll pull out some fine motor toys, or games for students to rotate through with staff.
2.00 – 2.30
Playtime
2 members of staff who have not been out on play duty today, go outside. The other members of staff stay inside and clean up the classroom and prep for snack.
2.30 – 2.50
Snack Time
Students sit and have snack with a drink. Snack usually consists of toast with butter or jam, crackers or a biscuit. This is also a time used for communication and for students to start to decompress.
2.50 – 3.20
End of Day Routine
2 members of staff do the toileting, brushing teeth and face washing with students 1 at a time, rotating. 1 member of staff fills in the home/school communication books and packs the bags to go home. The rest of the staff sit with the students at the IWB. Students watch songs, stories being read (YouTube).
At 3.15 goodbye songs are put on YouTube. 2 members of staff go to the door and will call students when they are ready to be collected and sent home.
Adaptions
Now each day has a similar layout, except for;
- Mondays when we have PE – the rest of the week, this is changed to things like IWB games, group games, iPad work, science etc.
- Wednesdays. In the autumn/winter/spring we go out every Wednesday morning on a class trip. In the summer we go on full-day trips on a Wednesday.
- Therapy Thursday which you can read about here.
- Friday’s also differ. In the spring/summer – we go swimming on a Friday morning. In the autumn/winter – we go to a soft play area. Friday afternoons are more laid back. We have sensory play, Enterprise and craft time.
If you want to find out more about how to manage and run your classroom, check out the online training we offer here. I also talk about our weekly schedule here, planning, staff management and so much more. Not only do I provide you with information, help, support – but I also give you a huge amount of resources to get you started too!
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