Stations.......

I'm not going to lie... I have worked with stations for like five seconds in my teaching career, but this is what I did in the room I was in, and it worked well. I had students grouped into four groups, and they went to certain spots in the room to collect what they were going to need for the first station they were at.  Spot 1-pencil/eraser, Spot 2-folder, Spot 3-papers, Spot 4-basket (books, highlighters, crayons, etc were inside).  Then I rotated the four groups around the four spots by using a signal.  The signal of the day was a popcorn word *or spelling word*.  This took about five extra minutes, but it helped to focus students into what we were going to be working on. Plus, everyone had everything they needed and didn't have to stop what they were doing to get a pencil. 

Also included are a few station organizers (slap it on a file folder, tape the file folder to a filing cabinet, and voila!), my "material hospital" page...and a "signal of the day" page.

As far as signal of the day, I have been in rooms where students use the same signal all day long for EVERY transition, and it helps!

Freebie!