COVID & the Classroom

 We all know that COVID guidelines have changed the way our classrooms look and operate.  HUGE change for me!  I have always allowed my students to choose their seat.  They can change it throughout the day.  Now we have to have a seating chart and assigned seating.  WHEW! This was hard for me!  Obviously my students don't know any different, since they have never been in a classroom such as this.  

We have always had tables in the classroom.  I have a confession....I hated them.  Like..HATED.  This year, our district required dividers on any table that had more than one student.  Terrible dividers.  Nope.  I took the opportunity to ditch the tables.  GONE!  Instead.....

I went full flexible seating!  The foam squares mark their "space."  Each morning, students choose the type of seat they want and the type of tray.  Student materials are housed in 3-drawer units spaced across the classroom.  Students keep their same space so their materials stay with them until naptime.  At naptime students stack their seats, trays, and squares, and their space then becomes the spot for their napmat.  Squares, trays, and seats are all sanitized at the end of the day, ready for the next student!  

It's very different, but we are making it work.  Normally we start school mid-August.  COVID pushed us back a couple weeks.  Before we had a chance to start school, we were hit by Hurricane Laura.  Our area, and school, sustained significant damage.  97% of the schools in our district received so much damage, reopening was not possible for weeks.  Before we could reopen, we were hit with Hurricane Delta.  October 19th was our first day of school....FINALLY!  Thankfully my students have been F2F since we started, with minimal disruptions.  Hoping for a non-eventful rest of the year!

Last year...good times!

I  never posted pictures of my classroom last year, so let's take a little walk down memory lane...

My theme was watercolors & llamas...love the llamas!

Here is the wide open full view of my classroom.  I have several types of tables and chairs, as well as open space if a student chooses not to work at a table.

Here is my reading center, courtesy of a Donors Choose project last year. The kids absolutely LOVED it!  The furniture is also easy to clean.  The first day we had it, a student walked by with an open dry-erase marker...and left a mark down the back of the couch.  I nearly cried.  I grabbed a Clorox wipe, and the mark came off easily! You can find the couch here  and the chair here.  (Other colors are available.)

Small group table.  The wobble stools DESTROY my tile floor, so the foam tiles protect it and keep the stools from slipping.

Student Computers...'nuff said.  Oh, and the board turned into our Brag Board.  If a student presented exceptional work, whether curriculum related, free writing, or even art, we posted it to the Brag Board.

I incorporated some new seating!  A caterpillar chair...how could I resist!?!?

I decorated the hallway!  This was a labor of love.  I'm lying.  I paid my teenager and her friend to make the pencils! LOL  I saw the idea on Pinterest, but no one had any type of template for it.  So I had to make my own.  Those pencils are made from construction paper and then laminated.  They worked GREAT for holding student work!

This might be my favorite part of last year.  I found this antique telephone table on Facebook Marketplace.  It was in rough shape.  But after a little love, some paint, and new fabric cover, I have the coolest seat in the school!  Seriously....it is.  Here is the BEFORE pic.....

AFTER!!!!💖💖💖💖💖

I'm sad that our year in the classroom was cut short.  There were so many things we missed out on doing, but we made great memories while we were together!