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A Teeny Tiny Teacher

Centers – Revolutionized!

Two more days until Spring Break.

TWO MORE DAYS, I said.

🙂

Thanks for all the help, suggestions, and solutions on my Frog Problem.

I truly appreciate it.  I am taking each one into consideration and under advisement.  Then I will consult with an Amphibian Expert and let you know what I decide.

Okay.  Remember that one time when I blogged and Instagrammed about Desktop Organization?

It changed my life.  Seriously.  I am still really obsessed with it and, just today, my teammie saw it and was super impressed and obsessed, as well. 

It’s the little things.

Well, this same teammie, who shall be called Heather because that is her name so that’s what we’ll call her, told me about a special Center Organization that she had seen on a blog or Pinterest or Instagram or I Don’t Know Where and It Is Practically The Best Thing Ever In My Entire Seventeen Year Career Next To SitSpots.

No joking.

But here’s the thing.

It is so obvious and so genius and so remarkably simple that you might just think that I am stupid.  Especially if you have already blogged about this and I read it and I commented on it.  I am here to say I didn’t get it.  I did not get it.  That is what I am saying.

You might want to say to me, “Teeny, are you nuts?  You haven’t run your centers this way before?  Whyever not, ye little one?”

To which I will answer, “I have no clue, I have been living under a rock, I like reality TV, I like ice cream, and I like to sleep.  The End.”

Well, not The End.  I am also an idiot.  It’s okay, I’m okay with it.  I can take it.

So.

Anyways, maybe, just possibly, you might need this little tip, too.

And, if you do, I do not think you’re nuts.  I think you’re right there with me when it comes to watching The Housewives and eating your way through the candy aisle that says Seasonal and has Cadbury mini eggs.

Ready?

Number Your Centers.

There.  That’s all.

I blocked out the kids names, but there you go.  I have 8 centers.  It’s a beefed up version of The Daily Five.  Except that I have The Daily Eight.  And sometimes I call it The Occasional Eight.  Or The When-We-Can-Get-To-It Eight.
In the past, I had specific center cards that said Fishing, Memory, Listening, Write the Room, ABC Center, Post Office, etc.  I mean, I had cards COMING OUT OF MY EARS.
And then, when I found a new center or created a new center or stumbled upon one when looking at a blog, I had to get on my computer and make another darn card.
I felt like I was always making cards.  Cute cards.  With words and clipart.  But still.  It was hard.  I mean I had to make the cards all by myself.
THEN . . . the next step in this simple organizational tip is . . . 
The blue baskets on the right are my math materials.  
Focus on the green.
THE GREEN!
You number the baskets and you PUT THE CENTERS IN THE CORRESPONDING NUMBERED BASKETS.
BRILLIANT, I tell you.
GENIUS.
Besides all those cards I used to make, I had tubs and tubs and more tubs behind my whiteboard.  Clear plastic tubs, Dollar Tree tubs, Really Good Stuff expensive baskets, I am telling you, I had containers of every kind.  And on each one, I would put a label with words and clipart that matched the center card.  You know, those cards that I had an absolute abundance of.
Which meant, if I found or made a new center, guess what I had to do?  I had to find a tub.  I had to make a corresponding label so that it matched the center card in the chart.  I had to rearrange everything behind my whiteboard because I just didn’t get it.
Oh my word.  Oh my word.  I can’t think too long about this or I will be really upset over all of the time I lost making cards and labels and looking for tubs when I could have been sleeping or making an ice cream sundae with chopped nuts and whipped cream.
The easy simplicity of this . . . I cannot get over it.
If you are worried about where Centers 7 and 8 are, rest assured.  
Number 7 is the Writing Center because I always have a Writing Center and just switch out the activities.
And Number 8 is the Listening Center because I always have a Listening Center and just switch out the activities.
Do you know how easy this is??!
Because sometimes, in the past, I would put Write the Room activities in a gallon sized ziplock bag and staple it to the wall to save on space and/or because I couldn’t find a tub and/or because a stack of 32 pieces of Write the Room paper do not deserve a tub, and then my kids would see the Write the Room card and ask one of two questions.
One:  What does that say?
Two:  Where is that center?  I can’t find it.
To which I would reply, “Do you see the Bossy e?  It’s Wr-I-te the Room.  And it’s hanging up in a bag.  See?  Over there.  No.  Over there.  No.  Next to the Writing Center.  No.  Don’t sit down!  It’s not AT the Writing Center.  It’s next to it.  Under the window!  Oh never mind.  Just read a book.”
I have sort of kind of started cleaning out all of the mismatched tubs behind my whiteboard and emptying them of a recording sheet and some picture cards.  
I am slowly filling up binders with page protectors . . . my plan is to just have a few binders behind my whiteboard . . . and then when I need the Rhyme Time center, I’ll grab the recording sheet and the cards from the binder and voila . . . put them in a numbered basket and call it a day.
Obviously, not everything can fit into a page protector in a binder, but I have already given away about 15 tubs.  I put them in the teacher’s lounge with a note that said, “FREE TUBS TO A GOOD HOME” and they were gone within the first hour.
Hmmmm.
Maybe I should try that with the Red Frog . . . 
I am sharing my numbered cards, but they only come in green and blue right now . . . I have no plan to make a decor pack so if you can use these, it is your lucky day!  If not, I understand.  I get that.
Click {HERE} to download.  There are also some headers for Centers, Writing, and Listening, as well as a blank one.
And, if you think I’m nuts or an idiot or behind the times, I am.
‘Tis true.

Comments

  1. Karen Ganon says

    Thanks for the labels and the ideas. (I think you need to get rid of that frog before the kids get attached to it! Whatever you do, DON'T let them name him!)

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  2. ~christina says

    Wow looks like I have a project for tomorrow! I like the binder idea for organizing centers not in use too. Thanks for posting, now i can go to bed 😉

  4. Stephanie Stewart says

    Omg, I had a BAZILLION mis matched tubs in my possession last year. Every year I just collected more and more and MORE. So at the start of this school year I finally, with SERIOUS uncertainty and conflicted emotions, put about 3/4 of them up for grabs in the lounge….I could not believe how fast those suckers were snatched up!!! And then again, I could. Since that's how I collected half of them. And yet I still walk through places like the Container Store and Target every week browsing the bins and think about which ones I want to replace all my current bins with. I think it's a sickness. A real live teacher disease with no cure. #teacherproblems

  5. Mrs. C. says

    You are ahead of me! I have been teaching 30 years and just this year I numbered my math stations and used letters to identify my reading stations. Talk about a time saver!!!

  8. Mackenzie Oakes says

    How do you store your centers? When I am not using mine they are currently just stuck in a drawer. I am looking for a good way to store them until I need to use them. Any suggestions?

  9. Katie Knight says

    Oh my love, sometimes it takes a while for things to click! You are not behind the times! Love the new cards in your room. Cute cute cute!

  10. MissCoffey says

    Oh my gosh, I totally feel your pain. I finally figured out a solution that worked for me. My centres shelf has 16 bins on it. 16! Too many options for the kiddos. But I had no where else to store what I wasn't using. So this winter I simply stuck some snowflake cut outs only on the centre bins I wanted them to use. No centre labels, and it was easy to see which centres were "open". Since we use an "inquiry based" learning style, I don't assign students to centres and I don't tell them how long to spend at each one. Now they just know to go to a snowflake centre of interest and they've stopped messing up my extra centres. I love your cute number labels. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to snag them to use instead of snowflakes (if spring ever comes).

  11. Samantha McClure says

    To which I would reply, "Do you see the Bossy e? It's Wr-I-te the Room. And it's hanging up in a bag. See? Over there. No. Over there. No. Next to the Writing Center. No. Don't sit down! It's not AT the Writing Center. It's next to it. Under the window! Oh never mind. Just read a book."

    You are really making my day! I am so glad I am not the only one that says this 5x a day! : )

    Samantha
    Teaching on Cedar Street

  13. Erika says

    Duh!! Why didn't I think of this? I have a gazillion cards too. Phooey! Wasted time, paper, laminating, etc. Thanks for sharing!

  14. Lisa says

    Love the look of your centres! Such a great idea. I want to do this with my math centers now. Thanks for sharing the labels.

  15. K8esmama says

    U r funny! Great ideas, thanks for sharing!

  16. Susie Sincock says

    I laughed so hard at this bossy e paragraph you wrote up there… This is totally ME!!! I think I may have to consider numbering my centers! Sooooo funny. Thank you!

  18. Jennifer Reynolds says

    I too, am behind the times…..and with a huge number of students in my class this year, was wondering how in the heck I was going to organize and display center materials. Now I know! Thank you!
    ~Jennifer

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