When I am teaching at my teacher table during centers, I am managing 3/4 of the class and my aide is managing the other 1/4 (the kids at her center). I think your goal at the beginning of the year should be to have kids doing things that don't really require too much management. You want 80% of your focus on the kids at your center so you can do excellent teaching and about 20% on managing the rest of the class. As the weeks go on, you can give more and more attention to your center and less to all the other kids as they learn routines and expectations and how to work on their own. Yes, you can use your teacher computer for the video center. Is it a laptop, Chromebook, or a desktop? Either way, you have to teach them to NOT touch it during centers. My kids learned to just raise their hand and I would run over there and push SKIP ADS. Could they have done that on their own? Yes, but then they start touching it too much and pushing other buttons, etc. Since you don't have an aide, you might want to make that center free drawing and coloring. One piece of paper only, use the front and back, do not come and show my your drawings, etc. This could last for several weeks and by then the kids will be ready to do something more useful at that center. If anyone asks, "Why are these kids just coloring?" you say, "Because I am teaching them how to rotate through centers and I need to focus on my center." If any more questions or I'm not being clear, just ask!
Great video! It was fun seeing some familiar faces in your classroom from last year :) I bet you miss them a lot. The math year long plan is fantastic! Thank you for the HOURS and HOURS you have and will continue to put into it. I really like the last column you added with number stories and your thinking behind it. I will say that finding time for math is a challenge this year. I may need to share my schedule with you to see what you think. We are adding a 25 minute all-school SEL block 4 days/week, and that really cuts into my planning!
Randee, I love this! I have a question - what 4 centers should I have if I do not have an aide to run one of the centers? I also don’t have computers in my room but a class set of iPads.
Would you recommend putting my own teacher computer as a station?
Hi Ashton! Great questions!
When I am teaching at my teacher table during centers, I am managing 3/4 of the class and my aide is managing the other 1/4 (the kids at her center). I think your goal at the beginning of the year should be to have kids doing things that don't really require too much management. You want 80% of your focus on the kids at your center so you can do excellent teaching and about 20% on managing the rest of the class. As the weeks go on, you can give more and more attention to your center and less to all the other kids as they learn routines and expectations and how to work on their own. Yes, you can use your teacher computer for the video center. Is it a laptop, Chromebook, or a desktop? Either way, you have to teach them to NOT touch it during centers. My kids learned to just raise their hand and I would run over there and push SKIP ADS. Could they have done that on their own? Yes, but then they start touching it too much and pushing other buttons, etc. Since you don't have an aide, you might want to make that center free drawing and coloring. One piece of paper only, use the front and back, do not come and show my your drawings, etc. This could last for several weeks and by then the kids will be ready to do something more useful at that center. If anyone asks, "Why are these kids just coloring?" you say, "Because I am teaching them how to rotate through centers and I need to focus on my center." If any more questions or I'm not being clear, just ask!
Great video! It was fun seeing some familiar faces in your classroom from last year :) I bet you miss them a lot. The math year long plan is fantastic! Thank you for the HOURS and HOURS you have and will continue to put into it. I really like the last column you added with number stories and your thinking behind it. I will say that finding time for math is a challenge this year. I may need to share my schedule with you to see what you think. We are adding a 25 minute all-school SEL block 4 days/week, and that really cuts into my planning!
Get creative! You can incorporate SEL into other things pretty easily. Kill two birds with one stone. (What a horrible expression.)
Randee, I love this! I have a question - what 4 centers should I have if I do not have an aide to run one of the centers? I also don’t have computers in my room but a class set of iPads.
Would you recommend putting my own teacher computer as a station?