Student Contributor: C. Hernandez
Community supplies are table organizers where you have a place to put pencils, scissors, calculators etc. Community supplies is a small way to make school days run smoothly.
Community supplies is a shared organizer with materials that is an easy access to all students. Although, we need to keep in mind the type of tables in the classroom. For example, if the room has tables instead of desks, small group supplies should be in the center. If you have pods of desks together then the organizers should be in another spot in the room where the kids can easily access materials during class. During transition is when the class is the highest at risk for distractions and behavior issues. Having supplies ready to go will serve to help students be successful and ensure a positive classroom with smooth transitions.
I placed community supplies in the supportive category because it is the best fit for supporting students during the class. Community supplies is a tool that can minimize time spent getting material and cleaning up. Inclusive having student materials readily accessible helps avoid distractions. When the students need to access supplies and materials teachers risk of losing their attention, engagement, and instructional time. This tool relates to the preventative phase because the organizers can be set up in advance even though they won’t be used until the learning begins. Community supplies best fits with teacher directed and collaborative because it aligns with the characteristics of developing well organized classes. Community supplies is a device that can help make transitions run smoothly because it ensures that there will be no time wasted on instructional time.
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Tool Source: I got the idea of keeping frequently used materials readily accessible from Evertson’s article “Four keys to Good Room arrangement” and from Gus.
This supportive tool had a positive impact on the students in my placement. There are 23 students in the third-grade class at my placement school. The neighborhood where the school is located is primarily suburban. My mentor teacher and I implemented this tool at the beginning of the EWU quarter. I remained in the same placement as the year prior and had noticed that the students take a long time to get their classroom tools ready when doing any desk work. When my mentor teacher and I were looking through the tools, my mentor had mentioned how he has tried the community supplies before and never kept up with it. We decided that we would try that tool this year to see if it helps the students get to work quicker. From what I have observed, the students have been able to find their supplies a lot quicker and are able to start on assignments faster. I really like this tool, and I can’t wait to see how it will benefit the students later in the year when they work on more craft type projects!