Take a peek inside Claire's classroom!

Written by: Heidi Dull, DCTF Recruitment Ambassador and 2010 Fellow

Today I had the opportunity to take a look around DC Prep's Benning Road campus at Claire's classroom and school and I wanted to share some of the great things I saw!

Right when I walked into the school I saw this large bulletin board reflecting the school's attendance goal. This board helps convey the important message that attendance matters to both students and teachers.  The H.O.T. tracker appears outside of every classroom in the hall for students to check themselves in with each morning as a daily reminder that being at school on time is important for success!

 

  

And here we are at Claire's door! It is a special education pull-out room so I like that she named it the "learning lab" so students understand the importance of coming in and getting right to work.

 

Walking in you'll notice this room is pretty tiny- Claire has done a great job squeezing in all the necessary components of a successful, engaging class. Let's take a look!

 

One great thing for every classroom to have is a BIG GOAL! This helps students keep track of their progress and holds both the teacher and students accountable for success. Below is a picture of Claire's goal as well as two other data trackers (one for number recognition and one for letter identification) that I saw in another preschool class nearby.

 

 

 

 

In Claire's classroom I saw many things focused on classroom culture that aligned with having both high academic and behavior expectations of students. Her school uses the "Shine Model" to track student behavior throughout the day. Students are "shining" when they are following all rules and meeting expectations- the goal is for the entire class to earn shines throughout the day to recognize this great behavior. Tracking student behavior as a whole class can be a great way to create buy-in and increase community among students.

 

In order to track behavior students must know what is expected of them. This poster creates a visual for SLANT- a common expectation for how students should participate in classroom lessons.

 

Claire clearly posts a student friendly agenda which is great for students in special education classrooms who benefit from consistency.



 

 A great practice is to set-up a "calm down" area for students. In this area of the classroom students can either choose a way to calm themselves or spend time talking it out with friends.

 

 

What students were learning was obvious as I walked around, especially through large anchor charts that students could use to refer back to at later times.  



 

 On my way out I caught this little framed picture near the door. It holds notes from people who come into the classroom and see great things happening. I loved that Claire had made a space for celebrating both her students and herself for wonderful work!

 

 

 As I walked through the hallways on the way out of the school I noticed these two great bulletin boards. One focused on the early childhood theme of fairy tales (with student writing samples) and one celebrating Black History Month.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this peek inside a real DC school and classroom as much as I enjoyed my visit!

 

Thanks for reading!