Centers have become one of my favorite times of the day as a teacher. It wasn’t always that way though. When I first started doing centers in my classroom it felt like mass chaos, and chaos STRESSES me out. I know some people totally thrive in organized chaos, but I am not one of them. So after almost a year of tweaking my center time, I finally found how to make them run smoothly for the students and myself. Here are the 3 classroom management ideas for centers that made the biggest impact things that made the biggest impact on my center management.
Repeat, Repeat, Repeat!
At the beginning of the year, we go through the expectations of each center very thoroughly. It will take us a good week to cover each center individually. We have time to practice the expectations without any curriculum really being taught, but it pays off tremendously in the long run.
After we set that foundation I continue to repeat the expectations EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. before centers. It may not be all of the expectations but every day I take at least two minutes before we start the centers to refresh all of the students on what is expected. Saying some quick expectations as simple as: “Before getting to the computer station you need to grab your headphones, then the login card, and you get to work right away.” “Always ask three before me!” “Keep your bathroom sign held in the air until I can see it and give you permission.” These daily small reminders truly help the students remember the expectations. They also help tremendously with management during center time.
Reward Bracelets
When I am working with the students at my table I really don’t want to continually be interrupted to correct behavior. So I found something that really seems to help with that. I bought these gel bracelets from Target in the dollar aisle a couple of years ago. You can really find anything similar for your classroom as well. What I use these for is to reward behavior. When I have a second at my table where the students are working, I look up and find two students who are on task. I then ask them to come to get a bracelet and give specific praise for what they were doing right. For example, I would say “Tyler, thank you for working quietly you can come to get a bracelet.” That way he gets the positive reinforcement and other students hear someone is practicing one of the expectations.
I also really pay attention during a transition time for the students. Transitions always seem to be a tricky time for management. What I want most during transitions is that their previous center was cleaned and that they get right to work at their next center. I’ll be intentionally to look for students doing those things and reward them with a bracelet and specific praise.
After centers were done for the day I had each student that had bracelets come up to the board. Some kiddos may have had more than one and some may have not gotten any that day. They then were able to get a Dojo point for every bracelet they had. I would collect the bracelets and give them their points. This simple tool limited the behavior disruptions and truly made a huge impact on my management structure during centers.
(Learn more about how I use class dojo in my classroom here.)
Center charts
Lastly, using my Center Rotation PowerPoint Charts has made a world of difference. They automatically change so I don’t have to worry about getting up from my table to change them. It also helps me so much with time management. Rather than me trying to look at the clock and guess how much time is left, the timer on the PowerPoint is just an easy glance. Since I don’t have to get up to change the rotations I have the opportunity to set up my table for the next small group and focus my attention on the students transitioning.
Also, I now never get the “What center am I at?” question anymore. All the students see where their next station is on the board and move there. If a student went to the bathroom while we transitioned to the next center they just go up to the SmartBoard and easily find their new center. It has helped a great deal with smooth transitions, time management, and student independence in my classroom. If you are interested in checking them out you can find them here!
I hope these classroom management ideas for centers can help in your classroom as well. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions!
Keep creating your own sunshine,
Ally
