EMPTY CLASSROOM TOUR | My New Classroom Setup | Back to School 2020

Summary

In this engaging classroom tour, "Teach with Tress" takes us through her new school setup as she returns to in-person teaching in Fall 2020. Having moved her classroom multiple times, she now navigates a new indoor space, adapting to COVID-19 guidelines. The video emphasizes creating an organized and vibrant learning environment, discussing the strategic placement of furniture, storage solutions, and decor plans. The teacher also highlights her excitement to leverage whiteboards, bulletin boards, and smart technology to enhance the educational experience.

Highlights

• Moved from portable to indoor classroom for a new setup. 🏠
• Adapting to COVID-19 guidelines for classroom safety. 🚸
• Creating dual small group areas to manage space better. 👥
• Exciting bulletin board space for student work and learning aids. 📌
• Plans to organize a 'chill zone' for student relaxation and breaks. 😌
• Integrating technology with smart boards and whiteboards together. 💻

Key Takeaways

• Exciting new start in a fresh indoor classroom after moving from portables. 🏫
• Adapting classroom setup to meet COVID-19 guidelines, ensuring safety and functionality. 😷
• Creative use of space to maximize learning opportunities and maintain organization. 📚
• Utilizing numerous bulletin boards and whiteboards to enhance teaching tools. 🖍️
• Continued dedication to creating an inviting and supportive environment for grade five students. 🎓

Overview

In the video, "Teach with Tress" showcases her transition back to the school environment as she prepares for the upcoming academic year. She shares her excitement and the challenges of setting up a new classroom indoors, having moved from the portables. This is her third time changing classrooms at this school, bringing a fresh experience and new opportunities.

With the ongoing pandemic, the teacher discusses implementing necessary adjustments to her classroom to adhere to COVID-19 protocols. These changes include setting up spaces that limit sharing of resources among students, such as lockers and small group areas, and ensuring safety while maintaining a functional and engaging classroom environment.

The tour reveals the strategies to optimize the class layout, like enhancing the use of bulletin boards for student interaction and creating designated zones for learning and relaxation. The teacher is eager to incorporate technology, using combined whiteboards and a smart board, which she believes will make instruction more cohesive and interactive for her fifth graders.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Classroom Overview The chapter titled 'Introduction and Classroom Overview' kicks off with a warm welcome to viewers, accompanied by music. The host greets the audience as they tune in to the channel, announcing the plan to provide an empty classroom tour. It marks their first visit back to the school since it concluded in June. With permission from the principal, the host returns to begin setting up for the new school term.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Moving to a New Classroom The transcript discusses the author's experience of moving to a new classroom within their school. Having previously been in a portable classroom outside, the author has now moved into the main building. Notably, this marks the third time the author has switched classrooms at this school, requiring adaptations each time to the new setup, which differs from previous occasions.
• 01:00 - 02:00: Classroom Layout and Features The chapter 'Classroom Layout and Features' introduces the viewer to the teacher's classroom, which is currently empty. The teacher plans to show the transformation of the classroom after organizing it in a week. The classroom has lockers against the wall, intended for student use. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, sharing is not allowed, and the teacher is uncertain about how this will be managed. The rest of the classroom features are implied to be introduced in the subsequent part after the setup.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Storage and Organization Plans The chapter titled 'Storage and Organization Plans' focuses on utilizing space efficiently in the classroom to accommodate changes in group sizes due to new circumstances. The narrator discusses plans to have two small group areas, each capable of working with three children, as opposed to the usual five or six. This setup aims to enhance the use of space and allow for better assistance from a student aid. Additionally, the narrator highlights the limited storage available in the classroom and considerations for making the best use of it.
• 03:00 - 04:00: Desk Area and Display Boards The chapter discusses the importance of having a well-organized desk area and display boards in a classroom. The speaker expresses excitement about having a counter for organizing papers and handouts, which is not present in their current classroom setup. A bulletin board located near the desk is highlighted as a valuable addition for displaying students' creations, schedules, and other important items.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Front Classroom Setup The chapter discusses the initial setup of a classroom, focusing on the front area. The teacher mentions wanting to keep reference materials handy throughout the year and plans to add personal touches to their desk later. Currently, the front is a bit chaotic due to desk arrangements, but the teacher appreciates having two large whiteboards and a smart board, as was the case in the previous year.
• 05:00 - 06:00: Reading Area Plans The chapter discusses the spatial organization in a classroom setting, focusing on the integration of smart boards and whiteboards in a unified space to create a defined 'front' of the classroom. The teacher reflects on setting up a reading area amidst constraints, suggesting flexibility and adaptability are required in this planning.
• 06:00 - 07:00: Materials and Student Access The chapter discusses the setup of a classroom, focusing on the transition of a bookshelf from the teacher's classroom. It mentions the challenge of creating a comfortable space for students without using rugs and pillows, which cannot be easily cleaned and sanitized. The teacher highlights the need to comply with guidelines while ensuring students have access to necessary materials, including manipulatives and books.
• 07:00 - 08:00: Prayer Table and Chill Zone In the chapter titled 'Prayer Table and Chill Zone', the focus is on organizing storage and materials specifically for kids. The narrator emphasizes the need for labeling and assigning materials to avoid sharing, which seems to be a requirement. To streamline book selection and minimize unnecessary transitions, the narrator plans to place book bins on a top area, allowing children to access only the books designated for that week. The chapter concludes with the narrator mentioning that they have ordered new book bins from Amazon to implement this plan effectively.
• 08:00 - 09:00: Bulletin Boards and Additional Resources The teacher is considering the placement of bulletin boards and a prayer table in a Catholic school classroom. She mentions the possibility of moving the prayer table to a central gathering area for better utilization. The back of the classroom is envisioned as a 'chill zone' or a space for a break box that students can use.
• 09:00 - 10:00: Open Space and Desk Arrangement The concept of open space and desk arrangement in classrooms is explored, emphasizing the importance of having a dedicated area where students can relax and take a break when needed. Instead of leaving the classroom, students can use this space to recharge. The chapter also discusses planning for small group areas and the flexibility of deciding on the final setup. Additionally, the abundance of bulletin boards available for use in the classroom is noted as a fortunate aspect of the space arrangement for the year.
• 10:00 - 11:00: Closing and Future Plans The chapter discusses the teacher's excitement for having more bulletin boards and whiteboards in the classroom. They reflect on previously having limited display space for student work and look forward to being able to display anchor charts, references, and other educational materials for various subjects. The teacher is also pleased to have additional resources that may be utilized by other subject teachers, such as French and music.

EMPTY CLASSROOM TOUR | My New Classroom Setup | Back to School 2020 Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 welcome to my classroom [Music] hi everyone welcome back to my channel in today's video i thought i would take you through an empty classroom tour so i just stopped by my school today and it's my first time being here since school ended in june and we got to go ahead from our principal to come back and start setting
• 00:30 - 01:00 up our classrooms now that all of the work that they were going to do over the summer has been completed so if you have watched my previous videos you would have seen that i moved from my classroom outside in the portables into the building and now i have a classroom inside so this is my third time moving at this school and it is my third different classroom so the setup's a little bit different than anything i've had before so it's
• 01:00 - 01:30 going to be a new experience so i'm going to take you through show you what my classroom looks like empty and then when i'm in here in about a week i will work my magic and i'll show you what it looks like then as well all right so when you first walk in i have some lockers against the wall here and these are going to be used for some of my students but because of covid kids aren't allowed to share so i kind of need you to stay tuned to figure out how that's going to work because i don't know yet either and then over here i'm really lucky to
• 01:30 - 02:00 have this really good storage area and also my small group area can be here i am hoping to have two small group areas this year because normally in my small group area i can work with like five or six kids at once but this year things are different so working with three kids but if i have two different spaces i feel like i could use it a little bit better and also my student aid will be able to help me over here this is the only kind of storage that i actually have in the classroom where i'm going to keep
• 02:00 - 02:30 materials and things so i'll need to figure this out but lots of options here and i also really like having a counter this is not something that i have in my classroom right now so i think this will be great for organizing papers and handouts and things like that so we come over here this is my desk area and i always really like when i have a bulletin board close to my desk because then it can be like my bulletin board and i can put up anything that the kids make for me or give me as well as our schedules and things like
• 02:30 - 03:00 that that i will want to reference throughout the year and then my desk definitely needs to have some life added to it but i will be sure to get to that when i'm back in here so at the front of my classroom it's a little bit kind of chaotic up here right now with all the desks and everything but i'm really fortunate in that i have two really big whiteboards at the front and a smart board um in my classroom right now that i had last year i had
• 03:00 - 03:30 the smart board in one space and the white boards in a different space and so it was kind of hard to figure out where the kids should be facing because we use the smart board and we use the white boards so i do like the fact that it's all in one space this year and that will be considered to be the front of the classroom so then over here is probably going to be where i will set up our reading area again not totally sure what that's going to look like with restrictions and rules and things like that but a bookshelf comes and it's
• 03:30 - 04:00 actually the same bookshelf that i have in my classroom right now so that'll be a really quick transition we're not allowed to have rugs and pillows and things that can't kind of just be wiped down so making this a good spot where kids can kind of hang out while still following the guidelines is going to be a challenge but we'll figure it out over here is probably where i will keep some of the manipulatives and other books that actually my students need access to
• 04:00 - 04:30 so while my storage at the other side will be mainly for me this will be more so for materials that the kids are using they're not allowed to share so everything kind of needs to be labeled and very specific into who gets to use what on top of here i'll probably put their book bins where it will actually have the books that they're allowed to read for that week so that i can kind of minimize that like picking a book and then reading it for a day and then putting it back and just the transitions that we're kind of not allowed to have this year so i actually ordered some new book bins on amazon that i will be
• 04:30 - 05:00 using and i think they'll actually fit perfectly right here and then back here i teach in a catholic school so we have our prayer table i don't know if i'll keep it back here i kind of prefer to have it more in like a gathering space where we can actually utilize it so it might actually be better suited in kind of a more central area i could more so imagine back here being my chill zone or the area that i put the break box and a space that kids can use
• 05:00 - 05:30 when they just kind of need to chill out and relax or they need a break from their work or a break from their peers i find that having a space in the classroom works a lot better than asking them to leave or go for a walk or something like that so this will likely be the area that i set that up this would also be another space that would be an option for my second small group area so we will see which one i decide then i'm so so fortunate this year and that i have a ton of bulletin board
• 05:30 - 06:00 space in the classroom that i've been in for the past two years i had one bulletin board and i always used it to hang up students work because there was nowhere else to display it so now i have so many bulletin boards that i'll get to decorate and display anchor charts and references and things for different subjects that we actually need to have up and then bonus two more whiteboards back here so one of these might be able to even be used by their french teacher or the music teacher so i do have some options
• 06:00 - 06:30 of space in here that i can really utilize and that i'm so much luckier to have this year because i know that i didn't have it in previous years so i'm going to value it a lot more and then really it's just a wide open space i need to figure out how i'm going to kind of arrange my desks i know that i think the general consensus this year is that they're in rows and they're spaced out so i don't have a lot of choice there but figuring that out will be interesting maybe i can find a way to
• 06:30 - 07:00 kind of put a more fun spin on it but we'll have to see anyway that's it i'm just going to enjoy the little bit of summer that i have left and then i will be back in here using up all my time to create a wonderful space for learning and growing together this year in grade five so i plan on filming my entire process from start to finish of setting up my classroom for this school year so make sure you are subscribed so you don't miss out on that if you enjoyed today's video i
• 07:00 - 07:30 would really appreciate it if you could give it a thumbs up and i look forward to seeing you next time bye [Music] you