Occupational Therapy Classroom Tour

Welcome!

Welcome to another tour of one of my occupational therapy (OT) classrooms! You may have seen my previous OT classroom tour, but as many of you know, I travel between numerous buildings within my district. Therefore, I’ve created an updated classroom tour in another building! We have a lot of the same equipment, but each room has it’s own uniqueness.

This tour, like my first one, is for an elementary building. This shared space is for OT and physical therapy (PT) treatment sessions as well as sensory breaks for students who demonstrate a need and have them written into their IEPs. The building that houses this therapy room also has a self-contained emotional support program. These students access the room at times as well!

Sensory Equipment

This room doubles as a sensory room! I am blessed to have access to similar equipment that I had when I worked in outpatient pediatrics. It can be really helpful when planning engaging and beneficial therapy sessions for students. We can target a lot of sensory systems and strength building with this equipment. Take a tour of my sensory room here!

We also store a lot of classroom sensory supports [like seating options!] in my room! That is a big part of my job – find the “just right fit” between the classroom environment, the student/their skills and what is required of the task!

You may see me building obstacle courses throughout my days as part of my treatment sessions! I typically do this as a warm up or in conjunction with a handwriting activity!

Don’t have a sensory room space?

Absolutely no worries! It is actually uncommon to have such a large space with so much sensory equipment in the school setting. There are tons of ways to engage students in a multi-sensory way on a budget [check out my blog here!]. Simply Special Ed also has a FREE Movement Break resource that I have seen teachers use to engage their whole class in movement/sensory activities!

I also like to pair self-monitoring and self-regulation intervention with any sensory-based strategies and the Simple Sensory Self-Regulation Toolkit as a visual!

OT Materials

I use my kidney table as a “desk” in this classroom. On this day, I had some laminated SSE resources to cut out! I’m planning to use the Morning Meeting Real Pictures resource to help some of my students who are still struggling with days of the week, date, month, year, etc. We are going to pair it with their handwriting instruction since their is booklet option! I also had some Real Picture Visual Schedule piece to cut out as well!

I like to get my kiddos up and moving as much as possible so I often utilize the chalkboard space whether that be for the time concepts practice noted above or for letter formation pictured below! Check out my blog on multi-sensory handwriting strategies for some more ideas!

I keep most of my “go to” materials in some kind of organizational cart or shelving unit behind my treatment table so I can easily access whatever I need! Staying organized with a large caseload and students working on all different types of goals can be challenging!

I love to play games with my students [that have hidden fine motor or visual perceptual skill components!]. Puzzles are a GREAT way to build on a variety of different skills.

I think being a school-based OT is one of the best jobs in the world! Making the space fun and welcoming for my students as well as functional for me is so important! Share any classroom organizational tips you have in the comments!