Importance of centers in early elementary.

I think the most productive part of the day during my kindergarten placement is when the students are participating in center time. During center time, the teacher assigns students a different game or task to do either individually or with a partner. There is rarely ever behavior problems when it comes to this time and guess this is due to the fact that they have a little more free time then the other times of the day. While the students are busy playing their game, reading in the book center or practicing their writing, my CT is able to do reading or math assessments with small groups and a table. She can focus on a smaller number of kids which is beneficial to each child's learning. Each group is strategically chosen based on their skill level. This way they are all primarily on the same page and have the same struggles. Without center time, my CT would struggle to collect any type of reading assessments.

My responsibility during center times is to call students over that need more one on one focus when it comes to practicing their phonics or numbers. Here we play "fun" games that allow the students to work on their skills. Usually these games are fast pace and I am able to get through about half of the class. Overall, I think students both need center time to have fun and work independently as well as get the one on one time with the teacher that is needed. Teachers also need this time to get their assessments done and develop a deeper look into the progress of each and every child.