Spring Days! Literacy Centers for the Exhausted Teacher

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Hey Guys! Not to brag or anythingโ€ฆ but as of 1:46 PM, yesterday afternoon I am officially on Spring Break! YIPEE!
All this extra time finally gives me a chance to share my newest product with you! Now those of you who read my blog regularly know I never really just blog about a product, but my newest pack of literacy centers I am JUST.SO.DARN.EXCITED about!ย 

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If you have those, I promise youโ€™ll want these too!ย 
So let me give you a little back story on these center packs and why I am so excited to share them with you!ย 
A little while ago, we had the โ€œStateโ€ come through our school. You knowโ€ฆ where teams of higher up important people who may have never even taught before go around and evaluate your school? Yeahโ€ฆ that kind of walk-through. ย Now, I work at a school where that is not a usual occurrence, so we were all up in arms about it. At the end of the โ€œwalk throughโ€ the important State people had good things to sayโ€ฆ and some NOT so good things to say about our school.ย 
The NOT so good thing (because letโ€™s be honestโ€ฆ you donโ€™t really want to hear about the good stuffโ€ฆ you want the juicy stuff- I feel the same way!) was our centers. Time and time again, they felt like they were seeing students working on meaningless activities during our sacred small group time. OUCHโ€ฆ
This struck a cord with meโ€ฆ could the centers I be using really be โ€œmeaninglessโ€? Surely NOT- I read teaching blog and use centers from some of my favorite teacher authors! But, upon further investigationโ€ฆ I realized that many of my centers were not CCSS aligned, not differentiated, and often times not engaging to my students. So after accepting that I was definitely guilty of โ€œmeaningless centersโ€ sometimesโ€ฆ I got to work!
First thing I tackled: Common Core aligned (which next year will be Florida Standardโ€ฆbut a rose is still a roseโ€ฆ) Thatโ€™s where my Snow Days pack came inโ€ฆ and I also started using more text markings in my center time.ย 
Next, I focused my attention on to differentiation. This one really hurt, ย mainly because I am such a firm believer in that every child learns in a different manner, so itโ€™s important to tailor your lessons to ensure that

every child is reached. Why wasnโ€™t I doing that this year with my centers? Iโ€™ve done it in years pastโ€ฆ and the honest truth? I am exhausted! I donโ€™t have the energy to make up 2-3 versions of EVERY center EVERY WEEK. ย That would be over 20 different centers a week!ย ย ย 

#TRUTH
Plusโ€ฆ nobody has that kind of ink for their printer! Soโ€ฆ I started thinkingโ€ฆ what if you could use the same center in different ways to fit the needs of your students? And that is what I did for my newest CCSS aligned center pack โ€œSpring Daysโ€.
I canโ€™t be the only exhausted teacher who wants to differentiate BUT still have ink in her printer to print out recipes for tonightโ€™s dinner! So I worked to create differentiation tips for each center.
This way you donโ€™t have to have 2 different centers out each center station, but instead you could put one center out and use it in different ways. #TeacherTimeSaver
I also worked to make the centers engaging. This was a hard one. ย Each student is so different and what peakโ€™s one studentโ€™s interest isnโ€™t always the same. But I figured every kid likes to: manipulate and move things, look at colorful pictures, feel like they are a part of the action. So a tried to make each center as movement friendly, colorful, and engaging as possible!
Want to get a closer look at my center pack? You can download a preview and read more at my TpT store.ย ย But hereโ€™s a quick snapshot of whatโ€™s in there:
Okโ€ฆ enough about my Spring Centers! Itโ€™s time for me to enjoy my actual Spring Break! WOOP! Although I will be cutting these puppies out while I am sun-bathing in the backyardโ€ฆ
PS- I forgot to mention I added one more centerโ€ฆ SHHHH! Thereโ€™s 11 centers now instead of only 10! #LuckyYou!ย 
ย 

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Hi, I'm Leigh.

The Applicious Teacher is all about creating hands-on and engaging lessons that align with the standards while still having time for your life. This is your place for ideas, tips, and resources for the REAL teacher!

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