Using Centers in the Classroom with Rachel from Uniquely Upper

Middle School Café - A Podcast for Secondary ELA Teachers

Centers, also known as learning stations, offer a structured approach to self-directed learning activities in the classroom. In today’s episode, Rachel from Uniquely Upper highlights several benefits of incorporating centers, with one key advantage being the ability to provide differentiated instruction for all students. In a classroom with diverse learning styles, abilities, and interests, centers allow teachers to accommodate these differences effectively. Centers promote active engagement, independence, and social interaction, which fosters confidence, cooperation, and collaboration among students.

While traditionally seen as an elementary strategy, Rachel and I discuss how using centers in secondary ELA has the potential to individualize learning to meet the unique needs of today’s students. By providing practice for specific skills through centers, teachers can better address student needs and fill in their learning gaps.

In this episode on incorporating centers in secondary ELA, Rachel highlights:

• Centers provide a fun and engaging way for students to learn - getting students out of their seats and learning in a different way.
• Centers allow teachers to differentiate tasks to meet individual needs. Students can be working on different tasks (or different levels) at the same time making better use of class time and keeping all students engaged.
• How to get started with centers with your class.

Get to Know Rachel from Uniquely Upper

Rachel is a busy mom of four who works full-time on creating grammar resources and providing teaching tips to help busy teachers. She taught for over 10 years before stepping out of the classroom full-time. She spent 2 of those years as an ELA interventionist for upper elementary, where she worked with students and teachers to bridge learning gaps.

Rachel's passion for teaching grammar began when she recognized her students' struggles with skill mastery early on in her teaching career. Year after year, students seem to struggle with grasping the many skills within the grammar realm. This passion was amped up when her daughter (10th grade at the time) expressed concern about not knowing how to identify the various parts of speech. She recognizes the importance of bringing change that helps teachers and students. Through her resources and tips, Rachel hopes to bridge the gap between learning and time.

Connect with Rachel

• Uniquely Upper
• Connect with Rachel
• Monthly Grammar Centers

Don’t forget to play along in the Summer Series Challenge. You can find all the details on Instagram @middleschoolcafe -look for the highlight!

Be sure to join the Secondary ELA Facebook group where we will be continuing the conversation on incorporating centers in the secondary ELA classroom.

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