The Best Classroom Management Strategies for Centers

The best classroom management strategies for centers of any kind is to create independent students. Independence occurs when students know what to do.  Makes sense doesn’t it? 

So, if we have told them how to do the activity provided at the center, how come they aren’t independent?

Maybe we have to tweak for the best classroom management strategies.

What are some effective classroom management strategies?

I don’t think there are too many teachers who disagree with the concept of centers, but I know that there is a belief that setting up effective evidence based centers can take a lot of time.  

Many teachers choose not to do centers because of the time it takes.  Time to create centers, implement the best classroom management strategies, time to mark the work students do at the centers, and time to clean up.There is also a concern that even the best classroom management strategies just won’t work.

Let’s dig into some effective evidence based classroom management strategies for centers, and see how many of those concerns we can address.

1) Have you set up effective classroom expectations as a part of your overall classroom management strategies?

The first step for effective classroom management overall  is to create classroom expectations with your students. Then teach and review those expectations in the moments immediately preceding when you will be expecting to see your students meeting those expectations.  For example, review expectations for lining up right before you send them to line up.

2) Do they know how, when and where to transfer to at the next rotation?

Visuals are one of the most effective and best classroom management strategies. Provide a visual schedule identifying students in each group and where they are to be once a transition to a new center has been completed. I would plan to spend the majority of time during the first few center times at least reviewing transition expectations, and then practicing transitions.  

This is not a loss of teaching time. Rather, it is the very effective teaching time that will make the rest of the year productive. 

Lastly, remember to build stamina over time.  Your students will need to grow from being successful for 2-3 minutes, to being successful for 10-15 minutes. Give them time to become confident in their ability and to develop the neuron pathways for success. Remember both their developmental abilities and limitations as to how much time they can stay on one activity. 

Being aware of your students’ developmental abilities is one of your best classroom management strategies.

3) Have you differentiated as a classroom management strategy?

Have you curated your center activities so that they:

• are skills that have been taught and now need to be practiced
• are differentiated to multiple levels
• provide choice
• have  activities that they know how to use?  Providing similar activities at different skill levels throughout the year means your students know exactly what to do. For example, if you used task cards from my store with differentiated worksheets, you would need to teach your students how to use each type of worksheet.  However, once that is done, the students can work independently for the rest of the year.

4) Have you established accountability as a classroom management strategy?

This might include: 

• include checklists 
• reflection sheets
•  having students present their work.

This does not have to mean a lot of marking for you. Many activities can be self-assessing requiring you to acknowledge the completed work rather than mark them.

Some examples from my store include:

• Write the Room Task Cards
• Colour-by-Code colouring pages
• Digital Resources
• Board Games with Differentiated Worksheets
• Daily Writing Prompts

5) Have you been using positive reinforcement so your students know when they are meeting the classroom expectations?

Positive reinforcement is one of the most effective evidence based classroom management strategies that:

• supports a positive classroom culture
• is as effective for teaching a new skills as reinforcing a growing one
• is useful for developing a growth mindset
• enables students to achieve up to 30% more

Positive reinforcement is, IMHO, the most effective of all the best classroom management strategies that I used.

6) Are you, or an assistant, wandering the room occasion to monitor behaviour and provide immediate feedback?

Yes, I am aware that it is difficult to teach a small group and also to get up and wander around the room while simultaneously teaching a small group.  However, is it possible to do one or two random spot checks?  

By doing this randomly and periodically students become aware that you may show up when least expected. 😉 Proximity is a powerful and one fo the best classroom management strategies.

7) Do you provide formative and summative assessment activities that provide students with an opportunity to show what they know?

In addition to the resources from my store that I share above, there are also two other great self-checking resources that my classes loved:

• Splashlearn
• Versatiles 

Immediate feedback is a powerful, evidence based and one of the best classroom management strategies, and you, the teacher, being able to see your students’ progress without marking a ton of worksheets enables you to easily implement classroom management too.

Neither of the above are affiliate links.  I just like them that much that I am recommending them.😊

8) Are you providing engaging and varied activities for students to use to practice their skills?

There is a difference between activities that are just “fun” and those that are engaging.  

Engagement is associated with improved student outcomes in areas such as critical thinking, grades, and persistence.

Fun creates enjoyment and fights off boredom and distraction.  Also, stress and anxiety can create a fight or flight response, whereas fun has the opposite effect.  

Fun can make learning an enjoyable experience, and this sentiment can generalize to making a student enjoy the topic, class, or learning. Engagement is deeper learning.

What are the best classroom management strategies for centers?

Much of what is essential for centers are also the best classroom management strategies all day every day..

1. Always start by establishing classroom expectations, and provide visual support.
2. Teach and practice the expectations and transitions on repeat, and provide visual support..
3. Differentiate the work.
4. Provide accountability.
5. Use positive reinforcement to teach and reward appropriate behavior.
6. Monitor behavior and provide immediate feedback.
7. Use formative and summative assessment to track student progress.
8. Provide fun and engaging activities.

What are the best classroom management strategies for centers?

Evidence based classroom management strategies all day long are the best classrom management strategies. Just take it one step at a time.