Tips for the itinerant teacher, Part 2

Going into various rooms with various setups can be quite a challenge. I teach all of my classes in circle, only going back to tables for projects and the like. Each room has its own arrangement. Some gen ed teachers have whiteboards, others don't (or they are inaccessible or inconvenient to use), some have an easel right at circle, others a bulletin board. Some circles "float" in the middle of the room, with little access to anything upon which I can hang my visuals. And every room is chock full of stuff, making it hard for me to set up without moving stuff around or out of the way. However, I manage. Here are some ways that help me:
*As I said in my last post, I have a bag for each grade level. In that bag, I carry a supply of big clips, masking tape, magnet clips, and large pushpins. (I found extra large pushpins in Walmart. They are easy to manipulate, so you aren't fumbling around with the little ones.)
*Check out the rooms ahead of time so you are familiar with the setup and know what to expect. Teachers love to change their rooms around (all of us!) and I like to get a heads up before I walk in the first day.
*If our district hires a new gen ed teacher, I visit with her before school starts to see how the circle will be set up and to give her a sense of how I will need to use the room.
This eliminates problems down the road. It can be uncomfortable for both the itinerant teacher and the gen ed teacher if a conflict arises over use of the room. I have had teachers who don't want me to put holes in their bulletin board or write on their easel paper. Talking ahead of time allows these kinks to be worked out.
*Use a pocket chart whenever possible to display visuals. There is a wide variety of pocket charts available, from small to big and everything in between. Using a pocket chart makes it easier to display a larger quantity of visuals without having to tape or attach each one to something. Materials just slide in and are easily removed. I have a fantastic pocket chart I bought through Lakeshore Learning many years ago which is velcro friendly on the top half, and space for sentence strips on the bottom half. It is great for sticking all kinds of visuals on and creating sentences or phrases around them.
*If you use a cart, make one side of it a place to hang larger visuals. Wheel it to where you are teaching, and make use of it for display.

The fun just never ends. Look for part 3 in the next week or so.