Teachers in Tiaras

When doing centers in the classroom, a timer is necessary. When students hear the bell ring, they know what to do and where to go (I prefer to have them clean up and then stand quietly by their current center). Sometimes a set time doesn’t always work for students, especially during the first few weeks of school. Instead of setting a specific amount of time, simply push the timer back far enough (a few seconds) to ring for centers to be completed. Or when you see activities being completed, push the timer back about two minutes to allow yourself time to chose who will be going where next and basic housekeeping. Without having a set time for each center, you can determine boredom to end centers earlier or extend time to help with confusion. As the year progresses and the students become more accustom to the centers (and you know about how long they should last), a set time works great!