Wow!
Posted by Diane Badden on 15 Jun 2010 | Posted in: Classroom Management, The Mailbox Books
Wow again! Y’all are awesome! Your responses to “Scoop Alert!” and “Paperwork SOS” are so fantastic. Teachers are the BEST! I hope you’re enjoying the comments as much as I am. And if you didn’t get a chance to respond yet, please still do!
I kept trying to post yesterday, and I declare it just didn’t happen. But it’s happenin’ today! Speaking of happenin’, it’s June 15, and you know what that means: the 15 new books I told you about last week are now on TheMailbox.com for your viewing pleasure. And, of course, you’re probably wondering about today’s blog topic (since a response before June 20 earns you an entry into our drawing for a free book). So read on!
This weekend, as I was meandering between booths at a local farmers’ market, I was reminded of classroom learning centers. I imagine it takes a lot of effort to set up and maintain a booth at the farmers’ market. I know this is true for learning centers, no matter what grade you teach. When I taught third grade, I had free-time centers for early finishers, which I changed out monthly. I also had daily center work, which students were required to complete. The prep was challenging but the benefits were tremendous: lots of skill practice took place, the kids loved going to centers (yes, even in third grade!), and I had very few behavior problems.
So let’s talk classroom centers! What types of learning centers do you have? What set up and management tips do you have for teachers who are just getting started with learning centers? What types of centers do your students like the most?
Waiting to hear from y’all,
Diane
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22 Responses to “Wow!”
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More Comments Pages: [1] 2 » Show All Comments
As I finish reading the comments it seems space was a big concern. If you have a window ledge or countertop the children can reach you can use tape to divide it into sections. At each spot hang a chartlet with skills you want the children to practice and place a pointer at each spot for children to play teacher and put some other activity there as well. Children often prefer to stand when working on something. Another option would be to divide your dry erase board or chalkboard into sections. Put letter, number, or word rings on stuffed animals’ necks using a ribbon and shower curtain ring and have the children say and write them on the board.
I do literacy centers during my guided reading groups. I have around 8 going at a time for a class of 24. I try to keep it to 2 or 3 people per center as I have found in my school at the Kindergarten level this really helps with management. At the end of each rotation I ring a small bell which signals clean up and gathering time to view where the students are going next. I rotate the center cards and place up the reading groups if they are to meet with me at the table. All the centers focus on skills practice for things we have learned in the classroom, such as Computer, Word Wall, Sound Sort center, Alphabet, Writing, Library, Listening, Words Galore (this comes later in the year as they are building and reading words here), Rhyme and Tell (for practicing reading nursery rhymes), handwriting center and art center. Some stay open all year and the activities just become more challenging, others I take away and replace. I use activity choices within each center, so I don’t have to make a new activity each week, just straighten it out and make sure it is stocked. I love centers as I enjoy working with the small groups and giving the students the opportunity to work independently.
Centers…I need them so that I can work with children individually and in small groups. The children need them so they can have some down time to themselves, be creative, practice cooperating and problem solving, and sharing. I have been teaching a little over 20 years, most of them with kindergartners and have noticed a trend in children not knowing how to really play, create, build, be imaginative. Most don’t know how to stay engaged with blocks, dolls, and other open ended materials. I felt being able to choose what you play with and who you play with was valuable. I learned so much about the children watching them interact and play. The only problem is now that my teaching assistant is working only a couple hours a day she is not here at center time and it is difficult to oversee the children’s behavior and activities and accomplish writing conferences/ tutoring. I am deciding over the summer whether to continue to let the children choose or micro manage so that I can pull children to work with them.
As a preschool teacher, I definitely use centers. They are the best way to teach children to use their skills independently. Most of the centers are fairly common, house, blocks, writing, math, puzzles, listening, computers, art, sensory/science, etc. The children love most of the centers, but blocks, house, art, puzzles, and sensory/science are the constant favorites. I try lots of different things in house and the children LOVE it! Their favorites this year were an igloo, where we went ice fishing, a music store, where they could practice all of their favorite instruments, and a gym, where they got to run on the treadmill and do exercises on the ball and with therabands, which I got from our PT.
I have required learning centers for must preschools,
block, dramatic play, art, science, manips./puzzles, litercy,circletime, listening, music, computers and a be by myself area. My students love center time their favorite areas are blocks, dramatic play and art.
I love centers! My advice to teachers who are getting started would be to get a resource book (or talk to a colleague) to explore different management techniques, then figure out what works for you and jump right in! Not all management styles work for every teacher’s personality!
I’ve been teaching for 17 years, and I don’t mind a little “noise” during center time, so I do “free choice” centers — my kindergarten students choose from @ 8 centers, and are supposed to stay on task and complete 2-3 centers a day; centers stay the same all week, for 3-4 days (depending on our special schedule). They have “center folders” with a “center report”, where they color to record their choices (centers are color-coded). They must visit all centers before revisiting a favorite. When training at the beginning of the year, center choices might include playdoh, lego, coloring (things that don’t need a whole lot of teacher assistance). Later, centers include the following: books, LIstening to books on CD/tape, writing, read-the-room, math, art, science, games, “extra” (misc. activities that don’t fit elsewhere), or ??
A few years ago I had a friend who felt that if she did centers, she would “lose control” of her class. On the contrary! If you look closely, all of the students are engaged in meaningful learning activities! Sometimes I feel like George Peppard on the A-Team — “I love it when a plan comes together!” (And sometimes, not so much!!)
I love learning centers/work stations, but space is at a premium for me, so I rely on products that can do double duty. For instance, I do have a Playdough Place, but it includes letter & number cutters in addition to homemade activity mats I can change out according to the theme of the moment. My Science Center includes a plastic box full of transparent magnetic chips mixed in with solid non-magnetic chips on which I placed little stickers of fish, butterflies, farm animals, and jungle/safari animals for categorizing, counting, and/or graphing in addition to teaching magnetic properties. And I decorated one of my Book Nook walls with a folder storage holder that holds literature-themed file folder games. The Mailbox Magazine and Books patterns have proved invaluable to me when adapting and creating educational material for my centers/stations!
I have two types of centers; play centers and learning stations. Learning stations are the areas my students have to complete tasks in each week. On Monday I give them a map of the different stations and they have till Thursday to do the work that is in their folder at each station. I give them an hour every morning to work, then we meet for circle time. After classwork and Fridays the kids have free play. Centers help to keep the students active and has helped with tattle telling and fighting. Knowing that they have work to do they get busy right away. One tip I found that it makes clean up faster and easier if the centers are color coded. For example homeliving is pink and purple, & blocks is blue.
I have used centers in my 3rd grade classroom for 12 years. I have 6 centers that students rotate through, and allow up to 4 students in each center at a time. Students can choose any order to rotate through the centers, but must complete them all before repeating any. Each student keeps a daily log sheet where they summarize what they did in their center that day and also rate their own behavior in the center. At the beginning of the year we model what Outstanding, Satisfactory and Needs Improvement behavior in a center looks like. Reminder posters are around the room, so I have very few behavior issues - peer pressure to make sure they can rate themselves an O is better than me rating them! During center time, I work on interventions with individuals or small groups and schedule any “pull outs” so students never miss direct instruction or seat work assignments.
I use centers daily in my prek room. Because of space issues Mary I do put cneters in different corners of the room on the floor. It all depends on what they are using of course. Storage bins can be really helpful in keeping things together.
I teach kinder and I start out introducing 4 centers the first week (puzzles, sand, homeliving, & library or blocks). Then after that I keep though and intro more. I have up to 15 but normally have 8 to 10 open at a time. Then I switch out when they get bored with one. A great literacy center book is Literacy Work Stations by Debbie Diller and then of course I add activities from the The Mailbox.
I have taught Kindergarten for the last 5 years. I use centers for skill practice in writing letters, letter recognition, letter sounds, and high frequency word practice. I use different types of centers or stations. Sometimes it is actually writing letters, other times it is a game, and other times it could be a puzzle, or a puppet that begins with the letter we are learning. My first year of teaching Kinder it took me alot of extra time after school to get all the materials together and get the station ready for the next day, but now it does not take that much time. The kids love stations and cannot waituntil the next day that we do stations.