I have to start by saying this wasn’t my idea–I saw it on a shared Facebook post and thought it was an ingenious idea! It’s now been 4 months of full-time distance learning (7 months if you count the end of the previous school year) and I can vouch that this board is awesome.

Here are the features:

• It defines the workspace: Instead of sprawling out on the dining table and having no division between which area is for eating and which is for working, this board solves that problem. Everything needs to be kept within that space or in the basket on the chair beside him
• It blocks out distractions: This has been great at blocking the view to the kitchen/family room so Zach is able to be more focused during his Zoom sessions (he Zooms on an iPad which sits on a stand to maximize the workspace area).
• It has fun stuff to look at: You can probably guess what Zach likes based on the board stickers. Those character graphics are just images I found on the internet and printed on sticker paper and cut out. You’ll see from my many project on this blog that I use sticker paper A LOT.
• There’s an interchangeable pocket: I started with the pocket (made with a sheet protector) having a calendar but quickly realized he didn’t need that and more importantly needed a “word wall” for us to write own words he needs to learn to spell.
• There’s a folder to keep daily work: I learned from the end of last year that I needed a better organization system for keeping track of daily work. In the morning I put the daily worksheets on his “desk” and when he’s done we put it in the folder. After that I can take the stuff in the folder and scan it for submission.

Here is Andy’s board which I made a few weeks after and improved on:

I originally included a “sweet treat” box on Zach’s board which I was filling daily until I realized I couldn’t keep up with providing THAT many sweets, nor should I be pumping him full of sugar anyway. I fixed that when I made Andy’s board and had the box simply say “snack” instead, which I could put anything from a cookie to a piece of fruit (a banana actually fits in there).

I also added numbers from 1 to 20 and the alphabet, both lowercase and uppercase. It’s still a big work in progress with Andy’s numbers and letters, but at least he can look at them and recognize them all now!

Lastly, I got smart with Andy’s board and just ordered a ready-made presentation board instead of making it from scratch out of foam board like I did for Zach.