Taking Station Rotation for a Spin

Here’s what I love in life: You want something, you get it, and it turns out better than you imagined.

When I daydreamed about all the good reasons to return to the classroom, at the top of the list was the opportunity to become really good at the station rotation model. This is my own little passion project, and I am so darn lucky to have the chance to implement this structure with students. I’ve run weekly station rotations for six weeks now, and the biggest surprise has been how effective this structure is for responding quickly to students’ academic needs.

I’ll continue to wax poetic on station rotation for as long as I’m teaching, but so far, the most compelling element is how well this model streamlines quick, small-group interventions for students. 

(I’ve stolen ideas from relied heavily on Dr. Catlin Tucker to build my capacity. Check out her work here: https://catlintucker.com/2021/10/station-rotation-model/)

Nuts and bolts:

• Mondays and Tuesdays are short periods, and those days are for mini-lessons.

• Wednesdays and Thursdays are block periods, so those are station rotation days. The 90-minute period allows for rotations every 18 minutes or so.

• Stations are designed as opportunities to apply skills and ideas from the mini-lessons.

Here’s how I arrange groups:

1. Each of the four groups is about eight students.

2. I created a quadrant template that I update every week to assign students to their starting point in the rotation.

3. On Tuesday afternoons, I review who is missing assignments, with a focus on practice tasks from Monday and Tuesday. (I will also go back and see who is missing earlier assignments, especially those that impact their grades.)

4. Station 1 is designated as the Make Up Station, and I group kids based on missing assignments. They start in this station.

5. Once the class is up and running, I spend most of my time monitoring this group in this rotation. This gives me time to answer questions, determine points of confusion, and say “do this right now” and then stare at a kid/kids until they do it.

6. Students who have completed all tasks and are showing mastery for that week start in Station 2. They end up in Station 1 on the last rotation, and that allows for an enrichment or challenge activity for these excelling students. Or simply 18 minutes to chill out and chat.

This quick intervention has been the big payoff so far. Also, the student who walked into my class on a block day and said, “I’m ready for station rotation!”

There’s so much more … stay tuned!

Collaborative Classroom Expectations - Eating Strategy Every Morning

Educators can learn so much from business experts and successful entrepreneurs (and vise versa). When I’m really at my best and most impactful as a teacher, I’m essentially running a small business and the profit is student growth, in academics, in confidence, and in connection with others. And one idea that feels true down to my bones is this:

If you’ve ever tried to make an impact in a toxic culture, you probably feel this in your bones too.

That’s why I spent a not small chunk of time at the start of school intentionally building culture. A few tech tools make this so much easier than it’s ever been.

And it’s not too late to implement culture building! Indeed, it should continue all year long.

Here’s what I did this year:

Step 1: Build a Class Description - Students describe themselves in a quickwrite, things they like, goals for the future, etc. Then they share in pairs, and then in groups of four to find similarities. All groups then share out, and the list of similarities is compiled.

Next, put the whole class list into the generative AI tool of choice, and request an overall class description:

Before posting in class, students have the opportunity to edit the description.

Step 2: Seek Student Voice - Use a digital survey of choice to ask students what they need in order to maximize learning. I had students brainstorm and share with partners before taking the survey so that they had time to think about their specific needs.

Step 3: Create Unique Classroom Expectations - Copy the survey responses into the generative AI tool of choice, and ask for a list of three statements that declare what students need to learn in class. I also asked for any outliers to ensure I wasn’t missing a single but compelling response.

Step 4: Post and Sign - Having each student sign ceremoniously is a way to publicly declare their commitment to the expectations, and also a little silly and fun, which is completely my jam.

Step 5: Review, Reflect, Refine - Take the opportunity to review classroom expectations and reflect on how I’m doing and how they are doing in upholding the expectations. I also periodically discuss how our classroom expectations are different from school rules, but definitely aligned. Cell phones are a real problem so far, and the rule is no cell phones in the classroom. That’s 100% aligned to commitments such as “engaging fully in discussions”. 

Building a culture of respect, shared values, common goals, and a commitment to learning together takes a little time, but classroom culture underpins everything we try to accomplish as educators. So worth the time!

Practicing What I Preach

One of the loveliest and most challenging perks about returning to the classroom is the opportunity to put my money where my mouth has been for the past decade. I’ve been training, coaching, and supporting teachers since before I went into admin, and now that I’m a full-time teacher again, it’s time to exercise those teaching chops. Now, that’s fun. But also a little scary because I’m not 100 percent every moment. Let me tell you where I have been struggling.

Using my resources: I’ve been preaching to students and teachers and colleagues for years to use the tools around them. Dictionaries, websites, notes, textbooks, and so many other resources are just waiting for us to use them. But I’m truly overwhelmed by how many resources I have now, and I’m working to figure out when to use which resource. Case in point: While planning a mini-lesson on citation practice for this week’s station rotation, I tried all sorts of generative AI tools, and the results were, in a word, garbage. Then I remembered the treasure trove that is university websites, and within a few minutes, I had the resources I needed for this week.

I truly need to remind myself why I’m using these resources. My intention is to use the time I’m saving by not creating everything from scratch to know exactly how my students are progressing and then differentiating appropriately and quickly. Definitely need to sharpen this particular saw.

Slowing down to speed up: One of my favorite admin colleagues (Hey, Langton!) used to say that slow is smooth and smooth is fast. But I have so many ideas I want to implement and so many structures and activities from the past I want to revive! And I’ve been very intentionally building culture in my classroom - most likely my next blog post - and working on taking time to make decisions in my life, so I’m adopting Mr. Langton’s wisdom and reminding myself that slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

I tend to walk fast and talk fast and eat fast and change fast, while telling folks about the benefits of slowing down. This journey is really forcing me to look critically at my own speed, in the classroom and in my personal life.

And every day in the classroom is another opportunity to practice what I preach.