Centers Anyone?    

Just yesterday I came across the most gifted centers teachers I have ever seen! Scholastic has always been a leader in supporting teachers, but I was totally unaware of their Top Teacher area until Barbara brought this particular idea to my attention on Facebook. Erin Klein is a second grade teacher who has created a hybrid flipped classroom like none I've ever seen. Her gift is for organization, sharing and creating a practical and appealing classroom environment. On her Scholastic blog, she has shared how she has leveraged technology in ways that are so creative. Not only is she utilizing a modified flipped classroom, she has trained her students to become very independent learners in 2^nd grade! Her real gift is that she has made all her classroom organizational forms available for download. Now there's a Top Teacher for sure. I encourage you to check out her blog. It may be one of the best out there. I did notice that Scholastic is highlighting 10 Top Teachers, but for me, Erin is my pick!

Just yesterday I came across the most gifted centers teachers I have ever seen! Scholastic has always been a leader in supporting teachers, but I was totally unaware of their Top Teacher area until Barbara brought this particular idea to my attention on Facebook. Erin Klein is a second grade teacher who has created a hybrid flipped classroom like none I've ever seen. Her gift is for organization, sharing and creating a practical and appealing classroom environment. On her Scholastic blog, she has shared how she has leveraged technology in ways that are so creative. Not only is she utilizing a modified flipped classroom, she has trained her students to become very independent learners in 2^nd grade! Her real gift is that she has made all her classroom organizational forms available for download. Now there's a Top Teacher for sure. I encourage you to check out her blog. It may be one of the best out there. I did notice that Scholastic is highlighting 10 Top Teachers, but for me, Erin is my pick!

There is no doubt that stations/centers in the classroom has its pros and cons. Teachers who use centers are the greatest advocates. Teachers who don't use centers have many valid reasons such as pacing guides, pressures of testing, lack of planning time, etc., however I would like to encourage you to try one unit of study in a station setting this school year. So much of what we teach from the front of the room is not absorbed by our students even if they sit compliant, but when they are given an opportunity to get the same work that they may have had to do in class in a station setting, it suddenly takes on a more engaging environment. Being able to collaborate, work at your own pace and get to try technologies that are normally unavailable are great motivators for students. Don't try to overdo it and bring out every great idea the first time you do centers or you will exhaust yourself. Instead create only 4 activities related to what you are studying and make 8 centers out of them (2 will be the same, of course). Put your students in small groups and rotate them through the activities. One of the most unused pieces of equipment in our classrooms is the projector as a station. Have the students do an activity using the teacher computer (logged out of everything important, of course) projecting to the screen. Even a one-computer classroom can have technology in centers. Talk to your colleagues about trying centers and I bet you will get a great deal of support. Who knows? It may be just the medicine needed to add engagement to your classroom.

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.

Scott Adams  

ipadio   

LiveBinders 

Doceri 

NASA's Image Gallery 

Popplet 

Zoey's Room
Finance in the Classroom
Fotopedia 

The Common Good Forecaster  

Google Earth 

UJAM 

Symbaloo.edu 

Google Science Fair 

Stossel in the Classroom
Word Sift 

Lee Kolbert