About The Blogger: 

Hi! My name is Abby Zwetzig. This is my 8th year as a special education teacher and 4th year as a high school special education teacher. I teach students in grades 9 through 12+ (ages 14-21). My class is a self-contained room that consists of a variety of needs and abilities. My students spend the entirety of the day in my classroom other than PE for an hour every morning and when we go on Community Based Instruction trips. In my classroom, I focus on life, functional, and vocational skills to help set my students up for success post-high school.

Morning Meeting

This is our front board. We use the board every morning during morning meetings. We start on the right side and go over jobs, weather, calendar, schedule, and vote on lunch. After going over what’s on the board, we have a slide for the question of the day (anything from a vocational question to identifying a workplace sign) and CNN10. While my students watch CNN10, they work on their Morning Meeting Binders in their seat back covers with SpedAdulting’s Daily Warm Up sheets. We use the Promethean board throughout the entire day. I have slides that line up with each section on the schedule that tell my students what we are doing during that time for each day of the week. The presentation also has timers to help students learn time management skills letting them know when we move on to the next thing on the schedule.

This is Quinn, our mannequin. One of my class jobs is Teacher Helper. Every day, after morning meeting the Teacher Helper dresses Quinn. My students choose appropriate clothing and shoes based on the weather. During job time in the afternoon, the Teacher Helper changed Quinn into PJs for the night. When they are changing her, they put the clothes she wore for the day in the appropriate laundry bin (light or dark). This is also a great way for students to practice fine motor skills such as buttoning and zipping as well as practicing the front and back of clothes and right/ left shoe.

Chrome Station & Turn In Bin

This is our Chromebook Station and our Turn In Bin. We store our Goal Work Binders and Work Bags in the drawer. Like the other places in my room, I have the charging devices Job Poster. Inside the drawer are my students’ Goal Work binders. They use the binders daily. Inside the binders are tabs with each day of the week and behind the tabs are reading and math worksheets that correspond with the students’ level and IEP goals. When the work is completed, my students put their worksheets in the Turn In Bin (top left of cabinet). Students must find their names and file their completed work in the appropriate file folder. The bags that are next to the binders are the students’ Work Bags. Inside the Work Bags are task cards that correlate with the students’ IEP goals (reading, math, and life skills) and personal information sheets. Each student is assigned a color in the classroom based on their favorite or second favorite color. This includes their Work Bags, Goal Work Binder, computer charger, desk labels, backpack hooks, etc. so that students can either identify their name or color when finding their things.

Kitchen

I hit the classroom jackpot and while I don’t have windows I am SO happy to have a full kitchen. We use the kitchen at least once a week to cook. As you can see we have an oven/ stove, dishwasher, refrigerator, and dishwasher. We also have a microwave, toaster, air fryer, crockpot, and other things like cups, plates, utensils, and more. We have other adaptable equipment like knives, an egg cracker, pizza cutter, and more. We also have everything labeled to help students identify where things go when cooking and doing the dishes. As well as the Job Posters from SpedAduling on how to make coffee and do the dishes. We also use the kitchen during class job times for the following jobs: coffee helper, dishes, water manager, and lunch helper.

We also have a washer and dryer in my classroom. Like in the kitchen, I have the Job Posters from SpedAdulting to teach my students how to do the laundry. We use the washer and dryer to wash student items, Quinn’s (our mannequin) clothes, and do PE laundry during job time.

Small Group

This is our small group table and supplies. We use our small group table to work in small groups or 1:1 with students. We move it away from the wall once a week when we do our vocational wall. We switch out the Interactive Bulletin Board once a month. We always start with the coffee shop to prepare our students for opening the coffee shop they work at at our school. Also pictured is our supplies, everything is labeled so students can access it as needed. Another idea from SpedAdulting I have in my room is a script on how to answer the phone. My students answer the phone and follow the script to learn how to appropriately answer the phone and pass along a message.

Sensory Room

We have two sensory rooms attached to my classroom. One is smaller and has rugs and bean bags. The other is larger with a futon (we use this to learn how to make a bed), a tramp, a stationary bike, a treadmill, a swing, and bean bags. When we watch movies, we watch them in the sensory room. The small sensory room is open for morning and afternoon free time whereas the large one is only open in the afternoon. If students need a sensory break throughout the day, they can use the sensory room as needed.

This is the door to our large sensory room, bathroom, and small sensory room. On all of my doors (including some not pictured) I have important workplace signs students will see in the community and at future job sites. Some examples are: “Exit” sign on classroom door, “Authorized Personnel Only” sign on teacher doors/ closets, “Restroom” sign on restroom, and “Open/ Closed” sign on sensory room. My students are able to take sensory breaks as needed in the sensory room even if they are not “Open”. The sensory room “Open/Closed” signs indicate when they are open for free time.

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