Monday Motivation

I’m linking up with Jen at Teacher by the Beach for Monday Motivation!  Today is all about Center Organization and, truthfully, I don’t know how I’m going to say what I’m going to say in a new way because I feel like I have blogged about centers 13,241 times.  But maybe that’s just me or you’re new here or you just like reading my ramblings that go on and on so I’ll just forge ahead anyway.

To be clear — my centers are at the END OF THE DAY.  I do not do centers during our guided reading block.  More on that later.  Like in another post or this would be the longest post in the history of mankind.

In the exact same way that I organize my classroom library, I organize my centers.

I use numbers.

I first blogged about that in this post {HERE}.  I was OBSESSED with this new way to organize my centers and I haven’t changed since.

Here is an example of my Centers chart from a couple of years ago!

Next to each number, I put a card with a list of student names on it (I took the cards out to protect my students’ privacy before taking the picture).  The kids on the card next to the number go to that center.  Because I have a million thousand hundred LOT of kids running around and because I don’t want ten kids in one center arguing over who gets to use the clipboard, I ALWAYS have eight centers and each center has four kids in it AND THAT’S ALL.

Four kids to a center is just friendly.  And smart.  And yes, it’s still 32 kids no matter how you divide it, but it works for me so there you go.

I’ve seen people have centers with just TWO kids but I think that’s because they only have TEN kids total and are living in a fantasy land that only exists in my mind.

Ahem.

So!

The reason I use numbers is because I never ever ever ever have to change the numbers.  I have tubs on a shelf nearby and each tub is numbered 1 – 6.

Don’t panic.  I didn’t forget Centers 7 – 8.

Center 7 is my writing center (which I’m going to post about next week for Monday Motivation so stay tuned) and it actually has a designated counter with stools and all sorts of Writing Center paraphernalia that would never just fit in one tub on a shelf.  And Center 8 is my listening center which is at a little round table in my room and has 4 cute chairs, and the round table and four chairs do not fit in a tub, either.

Here’s why I’m obsessed with this way of organizing centers.

All I have to do is switch out the activities in the tubs when it’s time for a new round of centers!!!  I’m not looking for a basket or a tub or a matching specific card or anything!  I just move the student name cards AND THAT IS ALL!

Okay, that’s not actually all because, obviously, I have to switch out the centers and look for stuff that is meaningful and pertains to what we might be learning about, BUT STILL!  Baskets, tubs, labels — that’s half the battle, if you ask me!

I keep all of my center “stuff” behind my whiteboard which just so happens to be ABOVE the shelf where my center tubs are housed.  That’s called convenient, if you didn’t know.

The other thing that’s super important here is that I do not run centers Monday through Friday.  I used to.  Back in the olden days.  And that meant I was changing out center stuff on FRIDAYS.  At the end of the day.  When all I wanted to do was go home and rehash everything I’d done wrong all week and then sleep until Monday (new-teacher-trouble).  OR . . . I’d come in on Monday morning and have to change out center stuff which was not ever a good way to start the week, either.

My centers just run for 8 days because I have 8 centers.  So after 8 days and, by the way, it’s never on the same day because an assembly might pop up or who knows, we don’t get to it because I decide at the last minute to do an art project instead (veteran-teacher-triumph), I’ll change the centers then.

The following centers STAY THE SAME throughout the year.  I just switch out the skill or the season or the month.

Center 2 — Reader’s Theater to practice reading and fluency.  My kids BEG to do these, never tire of these, take them to recess, and use them during Fun Friday.

Center 5 — iPods with reading and math apps

Center 6 — Write the Room

Center 7 — Writing Center

Center 8 — Listening to books or doing a Listen and Learn activity

That means I really and truly only have to come up with 3 “new” center ideas for each rotation because half stay the same.  I’m telling you — sometimes I get smarter as I get older.  The other times, I just get tired.

For the other 3 centers, I use a wide variety of activities.  Here are some examples that you can find on TpT:

Play dough Sight Word Cards  by Miss Kindergarten

Stamping Sight Words by Miss Kindergarten

Pattern Block Puzzles by Little Kinder Warriors

Pin-It Sight Words and Word Families (by me)

Reader’s Theater for Reading Practice and Fluency (by me)

Just Fold! Mini Books (by me)

Write the Room (by me)

Write the Room by Lori Rosenberg

Write the Room by Mrs. Winter’s Bliss

Write the Room by Marsha McGuire

Picture Cards for Sorting and Other Activities (by me)

Here are some ideas that I’ve used for years (and aren’t on TpT):

Fishing for sight words, numbers, phonics skills, etc

Post Office

Beads on Pipe Cleaners

Linking chains (letters, numbers)

Water Color (letters, words, numbers)

I will try to add to both of these lists as I think of more!

🙂

And that about does it for Center Organization!!

🙂