Ellen Will
Dr. Gratz
SERP 475
The University of Arizona
Classroom Organization
CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION and ROUTINES
Questions about Organization
1) What are the daily and weekly
schedules? Provide copies.
2) What happens when students
dont complete/turn in assignments
and/or forget materials? Explain
and give an example.
How this looks in my classroom
8:15 am-School begins, students start
the day by eating breakfast, then filling
out a mock job application.
9:00 am- Students get folders out and
begin doing academic worksheets
10:00 am- Class takes a break and goes
outside to walk around the track a
couple of times.
11:15am- Students are given lunch
where they eat inside the classroom.
12:00pm- Students continue doing work
till the end of the day.
After lunch on Thursdays and Fridays
are different:
Thursday's- students go to the library to
check out new books.
Friday's- Students get to go to the Eagle
Buck store, also get to do a cooking
lesson with the other special education
class.
If the student complete an assignment
not to the best of their ability the
teacher, aids, or myself will ask the
student to redo the assignment until
they do it correctly. These students do
not receive work to take home and
complete because they do not have the
support at home to complete it. They
are given iPads to take home to use as
a communication device, however most
of the time the family members will
take it and use it for other recreational
activities (Facebook, other social

3) What happens when students
are absent and/or missing
assignments? Explain and give an
example.
4) Where are materials, equipment,
and resources located and how do
students gain access to them?
Provide a floor plan of your
classroom to illustrate your answer.
Describe routines that are in place.
5) How and when do students move
about the classroom and for what
purposes? Describe routines or
procedures that are in place.
6) When are students allowed to
sharpen pencils, use the restroom,
get drinks of water, get materials
or equipment? Describe routines or
procedures that are in place.
7) How are seating arrangements
determined? Who decides? Teacher
or students or teacher and
medias, games, etc.) Their families are
usually good about remembering to
send the iPads back to school with the
students but they are never charged.
The teacher does not have any
deadlines for the students academic
work so if they are absent they can just
continue the work where they left off
and turn it in when it is completed.
The materials, equipment and other
resources are located in the cabinets in
the back of the classroom. Most of
these cabinets are locked so the only
way a student can gain access to them
is by asking the teacher for a specific
material or piece of equipment and the
teacher will retrieve it for them.
Students rarely move around the
classroom, however because they have
autism, sometimes the students feel
the need to get up walk around for a
second then sit back down. If they do
get up out of their seats for something,
usually it is to get a drink of water, to
go outside when it is time, or to go to
the bathroom when they need to.
Students are required to ask to sharpen
pencils, use the restroom, get a drink,
or get materials or equipment. All of the
cabinets in the classroom are locked so
students cannot freely open them to
retrieve their needed materials. Also,
they must ask to go to the restroom
because they are always accompanied
by one of the adults in the room. A
group of students are taken to the
bathroom right after they finish
breakfast and then again after they
finish lunch. However, if they ask to go
earlier, most of the time the teacher will
take them. We have a water fountain in
our classroom that students are allowed
to drink from but they first ask to get
some before getting up.
Seating arrangements are determined
by the academic level that the students
are at. There are three tables and at
students together?
8) In general, how is the classroom
organized and arranged? Is there
good flow? How would you
change or modify the arrangement,
if it were your classroom? Why
would you make those changes?
9) What are students expected to
do as they enter the classroom and
prepare for instruction to begin?
Describe any routines or
procedures that are in place.
Describe any teacher cues used.
Give an example of each a
procedure and a teacher cue.
each table the severity of the students
autism increases. At the first table
those students have mild autism, they
are verbal, and are almost at grade
level, also are able to do most of their
assignments independently. The next
table is slightly more severe, these
students are doing more independent
work, and are slightly verbal. The last
table has the most severe students, all
these boys are non-verbal and require a
communication device. Most to all of
their work require assistance by the
teacher or the paraeducator. Each table
has an paraeducator and the teacher
remains at the more severe table. There
is one adult for every two students.
There is a good flow in the classroom. I
would not change to much about the
physical set up or their daily routines. I
like how they are placed based on their
academic abilities, especially because
there is such a wide range of abilities
amongst the students. However, I do
not see the teacher actually give
instruction to the students, most of the
time they are just completing
worksheets out of their folders, so if I
were to change something I would
change the amount of instruction they
are given and try to academically make
more progress.
When the students enter the classroom
at the beginning of the day, the
students are expected to put their
backpacks in their lockers, eat
breakfast, complete their daily job
application, then get their folders to do
their academic classwork for the day.
This routine happens everyday right
away. The students do not require any
cues by the teacher because most of
these students have been with her
several years so they know the routine.
Plus these students do not need the
cues because they do this routine every
single day. If the teacher does give a
 cue to a student it is usually a verbal
one reminding an individual student to
either put their backpack away or get
their application. Most of the time, if
needed, the students only need one cue
and they finish the task.
10) What are students expected to Before the students leave the
do before they are dismissed from classroom, they are asked to stop what
the classroom? How are students they are doing and put away their
dismissed? Describe the routines folders. After they do this they usually
or procedures used to dismiss know to grab their backpacks if it is the
students. Are they effective? end of the day. After they grab their
Explain your answer. backpacks the teachers walk all of the
students to the front of the school
where they either get on the bus or are
picked up by their parents. Yes, these
methods are effective, these students
in particular respond really well to
routine. Rarely do they need cues to
complete a task because most of their
tasks are daily routines.
Additional observations or comments:
The students have the same routines every single day. Rarely have I seen
their activities change. I do not see the teacher ever give instruction to her
students, however that may be because she works mainly with the severe
students. Most of the time the students at her table work out of their folders
most of the day. I do not know if there is much progression out of the more
severe kids because most of their work has remained pretty consistent when
it comes to the difficulty level.