My Daily Schedule- 2014-2015
I get a million questions about how I schedule my day. I keep it super simple. Literally, THE most simple schedule ever. I keep everyone on the same schedule and make individual accommodations within each rotation/activity. By keeping the whole class **(for the most part) all together, it makes staffing and planning that much easier. I am able to utilize my aides much easier this way!
***for the most part– by this I mean…of course not everyone can be doing everything together due to individual/group services such as speech, or OT. So how do I handle this? Here is how I do it… During APE, my whole class does PE. This means that my students that do not have APE go to PE to do their own physical exercise while those that do have APE go with their teacher. During OT, the rest of the students do a craft of some form while those with OT go to OT. The tricky service is speech. Lucky for me, I have been able to schedule speech at convenient times so that my students don’t miss “core” academics. When students miss something during speech or absences, they get caught up during “catch” up time. I schedule catch up times once a week or so when we have a random occurrence that throws off our schedule (assembly, fire drill, short staffed and can’t run centers, a lot of absent students, evacuative tantrum etc,) Once they have completed all their work up until that point, they can work on a preferred academic task such as computer, iPod, iPad, puzzles, coloring etc.
***but what about those kids that can only stay on task for one minute? Simple. They stay on schedule. If the class is doing calendar, than he/she is participating in calendar. However, embedded in this student’s calendar routine, he/she may know that after each page in his/her calendar book, he gets to stand up and pace for 30 seconds or pull out his stress ball for one minute.) ETC ETC ETC
****but what about those kids that are SOOO much lower than the other’s that they can’t participate with their peers? Simple. They stay on schedule. Every child needs exposure and needs to feel included with their peers. Every activity I do is differentiated. For example, during reading center some students are working on comprehension, some working on sight words, and some listening to a story on a CD. BUT THEY ARE ALL AT THE TABLE WORKING ON THEIR READING GOAL AT THE SAME TIME! etc etc etc
Now, on to my main schedule. I am going to list it out in a simple easy to understand format. Understand that speech services get added in here. We do our best once we get the speech set up! I will go into great detail next week about each scheduled item so that you can get a better picture of how we schedule and get through our day in Room 83!
8:30 All School Morning Assembly
8:40 Morning Fitness/Bathrooming
9:00 Morning Meeting/Social Skills
9:15 Morning Work Centers (Math, Writing & Technology)
10:20 Breakfast
10:35 Recess
10:55 Wash Hands
11:00 Book Time/Toileting in groups
11:15 Afternoon Work Centers (Reading, Science & Technology)
12:25 Calendar
12:45 Lunch (yes we go to a late lunch, the 5/6 graders are scheduled LATE and I’m adamant about keeping my kids with same age peers, even if it means starving myself while I wait for lunch!)
1:40 Wash Hands
1:45 Rest Time/Toileting in groups
2:00 Technology time (THIS IS NEW THIS YEAR… we’re getting a whole interactive software program)
2:30 Get set up for the next day (This is new this year too!)
2:45 Pack up and walk to the bus!
Okay, I know this is VERY vague. And it may seem overwhelming when you see how I run my day. But I promise you, that I will be going over EVERY single element on this schedule in a detailed blog post full of pictures and video’s!
Be sure to check back next week so you can get the “big picture” of how I run my classroom! Maybe you will be able to pick and choose a few elements of my day and tweak it to meet the needs of your classroom and students!
