Tooele School District Spotlight
Tooele School District did an amazing job with setting up their center for success! Check out this great example of a successful center setup.
1. Each “station” of this classroom is color-coded so students can easily distinguish between areas. The centers are set up for multiple students to work independently at the same time. Materials are organized and labeled for easy access by students.
2. In addition to a landing strip, each station has a sign that tells students the limit of people who can work at the station at once. This art center has a limit of four students. Every student in the class has their own unique “key” (a clothespin with their picture on it). Students clip their keys to the dots on the station’s sign when they’re working there. When all of the dots are covered by clothespins, students know this station is full.
3. Another example of a station in this classroom: the music center. This station contains books, instruments (behind the curtain that is removed during choice time), scarves for dancing, a visual stating the rules, and a landing strip for students to “check into” with their clothespin keys.
4. For students needing more structure: attach a “badge pull” to a strip located on the student’s daily schedule. The student chooses visuals corresponding to preferred stations, places the visuals on the strip, and attaches the strip to their clothing. Student rotate through their station choices, spending 7-10 minutes at each one.
5. The instructor in this classroom prepares all needed visuals by printing them on shrinkable plastic and painting over it with clear Mod Podge® so they cannot be destroyed. Once prepared, the visuals live in this pocket chart for easy accessibility.