Setting the Mood: My Classroom Set-Up

When I found out I was getting this class (one for primary students with Autism), I was ecstatic.  It would mean that I would get to return to the type of class that I wanted, but I would also get this class without having to leave my school - the best of both worlds.  It also meant that I would be starting from scratch because it was a new program at our school.  This meant I was starting with nothing.  On the plus side, starting with nothing, I could set up and create the environment and program exactly as I wanted.  The negatives?  I had nothing.  Thankfully because it had previously been a different type of special education class, there was some furniture that was useful, and by some miracle, we had exactly the type of tables I had envisioned being unused in the basement.  The teacher who had the room before the year before me was also extremely organized and had purged most of the things that had been hoarded in the room since the 70s.  What was left we went through together and whatever I didn't want, we pitched.  This meant that I had an organized, clean-slate to set up my classroom with, and this is the end result:

"The Circle"
This is where we do calendar every morning and music and story time every afternoon.

The Quiet/Play Area
Here the kids can relax on the pillows or take a break on the balls.  They can read books or play with some of the small toys in the bins. 

The "Big Table"
This is where we do puzzles in the morning, eat, and do our afternoon table activities.  The two rainbow tables were not useful to our setup on their own, but making them into a giant circle has worked really well.  It creates enough space between each student (defined by the table legs) so that they can all sit there together but are far enough apart to have their own space, but close enough together that we can keep an eye on each student.

Desk Work/Teacher Work
The students have been "paired" based on how well the attention of the teacher/EA can be shared between the two.  The partners share an "office" where they do their independent work and the table where they do their teacher work.  There are two work periods in the morning, so one student works in their office independently while the other works with the teacher.  In the second work period they switch.  Each student also has their own set of drawers where activities that they are currently working on with the teacher can be stored and easily accessed.