My classroom is the ultimate form of self expression extension, but as a teacher on the spectrum that's a double edged sword. As my first administrator commented once the only thing that kept me from being put on an improvement plan during my first year was that I knew exactly where everything was and what I was doing. It wasn't that I wasn't organized; it was that my organization didn't make sense to anyone but me, a common issue for people on the spectrum. I've forever appreciated my principal's understanding of my differences, but I also took it as a challenge. I didn't want to be known as the gifted young teacher with the messy room; I knew I could find the middle ground where my room made sense to me but also to neurotypicals. I wanted my room to be a place where everyone was comfortable, and that goal has taken me years of reflection, work, and turning down a half dozen offers from other to organize my room to bring that goal out of my mind and into my room.
My room is constantly changing based on the needs of my students, but here it is at the moment.
Purchased during my first year teaching 6th grade this rolling organizer is the beating heart of our room. It stores the snacks, water bottle stickers, and Disney pin currently available for purchase through our classroom economy as well as student supplies like dry erase boards and markers, scissors, glue sticks, calculators, and the homework turn in and return bin.
Some of my students haven't left our village in several years, so last year I started subscribing to a monthly subscription of snacks from around the world to help build global context for my students.
By popular demand, the newest addition to my room is a hot chocolate bar where students can purchase a custom cup of cocoa. I was reluctant to try this at first, but it's been a fan favorite from the start and goes a long way to brighten up those cold winter days for many of the kids.
Playmobil imaginative play toys have been a staple in my room since my first year teaching 2nd grade, and when I headed up to 6th grade my, at the time, small collection came with me, to the shock of some of the lower elementary staff who had hoped I'd leave them behind for the younger kids to enjoy. Over the last 6 years in 6th grade my collection has tripled in size as the Playmobil sets have become a key part of grammar lessons, inspiration for fiction writing, and the foundation of our spring unit on stop motion videos.
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