It is so exciting to see students learning and playing so many new workplaces. They are really enjoying them, and getting so much hands on practice with challenging skills!
There has been a lot of talk among teams about students choosing their own work place. Bridges suggests letting students choose and using a workplace folder to track where they have been. This can be challenging for a few reasons, including: having another folder to manage, students keep track of where they have been so it could be hard for the teacher to quickly see if they are continuously choosing the same work place, and they would need to be reprinted and updated for each unit.
KACD's 2nd grade teachers came up with a great system that will hopefully spur more ideas!
Students check the box when they choose which work place to visit. The workplace icons are attached at the top using velcr so it is easy to switch them when work places change. The teachers have already printed all the work place for the year and cut, laminated, and attached velcro so they will be really easy to change in and out. The chart is laminated, so when you change a workplace you erase all the x's so students know they have not yet visited that workplace.
If assigning work places, you could also use a similar chart and just write days of the week in the boxes. So many possibilities!
If you come up with a great system, please snap a picture and share!
