Organization Station-- Classroom Displays

We know many of our teachers are busy creating a welcoming and engaging classroom environment for their students. Today's Organization Station will feature some of the great Classroom Displays we have seen throughout the region.

One popular classroom display is a Morning Meeting area including the calendar, weather, and morning message. 

Anne Rosenbaum
Orchard Park Elementary, Kettering

We love this Interactive Morning Message which is predictable for students and incorporates picture symbols to help student read more independently!

Emily Ottmar
Stevenson Elementary, Mad River

 This Morning Message easel has a great example of a change card which primes students when there is going to be something different in the schedule. It is important to use the card for preferred (such as extra recess or Fun Friday) as well as unpreferred changes (fire drill, indoor recess) so that the change card doesn't develop a negative association. There is also a visual lunch schedule like the one below that can be made using the calendar template in Boardmaker.

Brian Frimel
Bradford Elementary, Bradford Exempted Village Schools

Morning Meeting displays can also be used to target math skills.

Or you may like to have a separate time for a Math Meeting in which many math skills can be targeted daily.

This Math Meeting display works on number words, counting coins, place value, ten frames, tallies, addition and subtraction, time, greater than and less than, and using a number line and 100s chart. The "Number of the Day" is the number of days that students have been in school and is used to practice each of these skills each day. 

Displays can also be used to show what learning targets or I Can statements will be targeted. The display below has a spot for displaying all of the I Can statements for the unit. When a skill is targeted, the statement is moved to the "What are we learning today" poster and the related activities are listed so students know the expectations for the lesson. 

Brittany Bush
Spinning Hills Middle School, Mad River

Emily Ottmar
Stevenson Elementary, Mad River

Displays can also show the targeted vocabulary for a unit.

Taylor Ruef
Stevenson Elementary, Mad River

Laura Brown
Perrin Woods Elementary, Springfield

 Classroom displays can also be used to communicate expectations like these great posters for evaluating coloring and written work.

Or for communicating which materials are needed. We love these whole class visuals from The Texas Teacher:

There are also great displays for making lunch choices:

Considerate Classroom

Anne Rosenbaum
Orchard Park Elementary, Kettering

 Another great way to use Classroom Displays is to recognize the efforts of students and staff such as through a Worker of the Month display for high school students working in the community or a Compliments board for Paraprofessionals.

Jennifer Jette
Vandalia-Butler High School, Vandalia

Tabitha Eaton
Main Elementary, Beavercreek

 There are many different ways to display student work and art. We love these reusable personal bulletin board where students can hang up their work in the hall on the clothespin.

One important consideration to keep in mind is that many students can be easily overwhelmed visually which can lead to difficulty with self-regulation and focusing. When thinking of where to place classroom displays, consider areas of the room where students are not facing all day during instruction or consider displays that can be moved such as on a flipchart holder or easel. Additionally, portable dividers or study carrels can be used to block out distractions when students are working on other tasks. 

Brittany Bush
Spinning Hills Middle School, Mad River

Kendall Koehler
Normandy Elementary, Centerville