The Most Important Station in my Classroom
It took me a few years to create what I like to call the most important station in my classroom. I am a big believer that keeping the schedule filled and busy for my students is the key to having them stay on task, reducing behaviors, and maximizing the learning of new skills and the maintenance of old ones. So, I have a lot going on in my classroom and that means we have a very specific schedule and routine that we follow.
I wanted to ensure that I had meaningful activities for my students. And they would build their independence and support them in their goals outside of the classroom. So, I have created centers, stations, that my students work at every day. Students work with a paraprofessional, me, or on their own independently. The one that we are going to be talking about today, and I consider the most important station in my classroom is the Life Skills Station in my classroom.
Setting Up the Most Important Station in my Classroom
Here are some built-in cabinets in my classroom that worked perfectly for this station. I have also used a lot of carts with multiple drawers on them to achieve this as well. The outside of the built-ins has the students’ schedules on them. The laminated schedules ( on colored paper) are what I have determined the students will work on each day. The white strips are where the students schedule with the pictures of the tasks they are completing get taken off by the student, and matched to the task so they know what to complete.
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Some of the drawers and cabinets have tasks inside them such as hanging and folding clothes, putting shoes away in an organizer by matching the pair. And in the corner, you can see our vacuum. All of the cabinets, drawers, and bins have images on them for students to match their schedules. I use these labels/ visuals and schedule templates in this station and it’s what you see listed in the pictures as well.
Looking for some of the materials I have used in my classroom?? Check out my Amazon Idea List with all the storage materials and work task materials I like to use in this station.
A Look Inside:
Inside the cabinets are bins for folding washcloths, matching socks, and also matching and storing shoes and hanging clothes. All of these tasks also have some visual supports that I was able to get from the Unique Learning Systems curriculum to support.
