If you’re looking for resources to help you plan for the upcoming school year, try using a special education classroom planning checklist!
Your classroom planning checklist could contain a number of different items and areas of your classroom to set up. Below are a few common items:
- IEP at a Glance
- Independent Work Stations
- Centers
- Schedules
- Data
An IEP at a Glance is a one-page summary of each student’s IEP goals, motivators, interests, and specially designed instruction. The IEP at a Glance should be posted somewhere in your classroom where it is easy to reference when needed and alongside a clipboard or notebook which will contain data sheets.
Independent Work Stations are areas that can be set up throughout the classroom for each student in which they can complete their work independently. It could be a study carrel or desk with dividers around it. Within the work station, visual or written instructions should be posted for tasks to be completed while at the station. Include some sort of organization system such as bins for completed work, a visual schedule / mini-schedule, and visual timer.
Create Centers within your classroom based upon the goals and needs of the students in your room. Centers are separate spaces in a classroom in which a specific activity should take place. For example: a Sensory Area, Art, Computer, Writing Center, Vocational Skill Center, etc.
Post a visual schedule for your classroom where it is visible. All members of the educational team as well as the students should have access to the schedule. You could post a daily and/or weekly schedule for your room depending upon how frequently activities change.
Set up a clipboard, notebook or some other data collection system for each of your students so information can be recorded and stored alongside the IEP at a Glance.
The above are simply suggestions to help you in the set up of your special education classroom. Feel free to get creative and make your own checklist with areas that work best for you and your students!
The special education resources on this page were authored by Watson Institute’s special education consultant, Lisa Plastino, M.Ed.
Two templates are available for the Classroom Planning Checklist. This checklist is a planning tool to assist when setting up the classroom. The Checklist includes five categories: IEP at a Glance, Independent Workstations, Centers, Schedules, and Data. Resources for each of the checkpoints on the list are provided throughout the site.
Additional Classroom Planning Checklist
Resources for each of the checkpoints on the list are provided throughout this site.
If you have questions or concerns about the Watson Institute’s use of this information, please contact us.