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Developmental Center
Management |
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Center management is an area that I
receive many requests for help with. The following is a method
of center management that has worked for me in my classroom.
Please note that different methods work for different teachers, it all
depends on your level of noise tolerance and program expectations.
There is no one "right way" to manage centers, you must choose what is
best for you, your students, and your program. |
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When deciding which
developmental center management method to use, first you must take into
consideration your situation:
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Do you have a full-time
assistant in the classroom? |
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How many students do you
have? |
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How many centers do you
have? |
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What ages are the children
you teach? Pre-K or Kindergarten? |
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What are your expectations
during centers? |
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What is your noise/activity
tolerance level? |
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Do you teach in a full-day
program or a half-day? |
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We have 3 center times in our
full-day program, literacy centers, math centers, and developmental
centers. The information on this page pertains to developmental
centers (aka free or play centers). If you would like information on
literacy or math centers click on the following links:
I have the following "developmental
centers" in my
classroom, some of them can also be used for literacy or math centers:
(You can click
on any of the centers listed below to see pictures and info about what
is in each center.)
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My center management technique involves
dividing the centers into groups of 4 or 5 and then grouping the
children into groups of 4 or 5 as well. This method works best
for me since I have 22 children and limited assistance. When grouping centers
you need to take into consideration their physical location in your
classroom. Try to group the centers that are near each other
so the children assigned to those centers are not moving from one end
of the classroom to the other to reach their centers. The
starred centers are "must do's" - children must go there first before
any other centers. Here is
how I currently have my centers grouped:
Group A
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Quiet Toys |
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Blocks |
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Puzzles * |
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Pocket Charts * |
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Library |
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Group B
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ABC* |
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Math* |
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Puppets |
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Pocket Charts |
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Library |
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Group C
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Computer |
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Transportation |
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Dollhouse |
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Listening * |
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Science * |
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Group D
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Playdough |
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Sensory Table |
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Easel
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Home |
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Writing* |
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Next I divide the children into color
groups since many don't recognize any letters in the beginning of
the year. When grouping the children it's important to
take two things into consideration; boy/girl ratio and behavior.
Try to have at least one responsible, mature child in each group to
put in charge and monitor group behavior. Since I have four
groups of centers I group the children into four groups as well.
The color coded name lists can be double sided if you are half-day.
When I was half-day one side of paper had AM names and the
other had PM names, we just flipped them over between classes.
I have included a picture below of what the finished product looks
like for you:
(this picture is old and does
not reflect my current center groupings listed in the table above)
The student groups are yellow, red,
blue, and green and are hanging on a Scotch hook. Each day the
student groups are moved to the right to the next group of centers.
The groups may move freely amongst their assigned centers for that
day. This way they have some mobility and still get the
experience of making their own choices. This center system
allows the teacher more time to work with small groups or do
assessments by keeping
certain students in specific areas of the room, thus eliminating
potential problems. |
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Center Questions
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Where did you find
the pictures for the center chart?
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Most of the pictures
were found at the Microsoft Clip Gallery, free if you use
Microsoft Word. You can also take actual digital pictures of
each
center.
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I teach full-day,
would this method work for me? |
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Yes. You could
divide your centers into different groups for different times of
the day. This same system would work for literacy
centers in the mornings and also for more traditional
developmental
centers like blocks and home living at another time if you made
two different charts- just change your pictures to match your
centers and activities.
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How long does it
take for students to understand this system? |
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It usually takes only 2
full weeks for most children to really grasp the concept.
When first introducing the system to the class it is best if you
spend extra time explaining and demonstrating each day before
center time. It also depends on the level of your
class. I have had very young classes that took 3-4 weeks to
learn the rotations and more mature classes have only needed one
full week.
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What does the
teacher do while the children are at centers? |
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In the
beginning of the year I spend most of my time circulating around
the room at center time to make sure that everything is running
smoothly and reinforcing good behaviors. As soon as
everything settles down (usually about the third or forth week) I
may pull small groups or individual students during center
time to work at a table with me on a variety of skills. We also do individual
district mandated
assessments during this time.
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How long should
center time last?
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The answer to this
question depends on the length of your day and the age of your
students. If you are full day Pre-K or Kindergarten you are
probably going to have two or three center times during your day
and the amounts of time spent at centers may be dictated by your
school. A general rule of thumb is 45 minutes to one full
hour for centers in a half-day program. A full day schedule
in both Pre-K and Kindergarten may allow for literacy centers,
math centers, and developmental centers. Typically the
morning center times are more academic and the afternoon center time
allows for more free choice. We have 45 minutes in our
schedule for "developmental centers" at the end of the day.
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