I knew very early on in the school year that I wanted to base my

research on an aspect of reading. Reading is something that I am

passionate about, both in and outside of my classroom. As I noticed the
variances between reading abilities in my classroom, this passion
became something that was vital for my students. I became initially
aware of the importance of differentiating my reading instruction and
knew that this would be something that would greatly impact my
research.
When I first began considering my research question, I thought
deeply about the hopes I had for my students reading. I hoped to see
growth in my students reading abilities and levels, as well as
heightened confidence in their independent reading. I expected
students to gain an understanding of cooperative learning and use that
to grow as readers. With these factors in mind, I implemented centers
as a learning structure for reading progress.
I began my research with a structured management plan in
mind. Before I even began introducing the centers themselves, I
provided repetitive modeling and practice for transitioning. Students
learned the procedures, observed fellow students and me demonstrate
how to transition, and practiced this multiple times. In the long run, I
am confident that this procedural approach helped me to maintain
student focus and classroom management throughout the centers

process. Preparing students for centers with little details strongly

impacted the learning that occurred during this time.
I witnessed great learning moments as I continuously observed
reading centers. Students learned the true importance of working
together in order to get the most out of this time. Nevertheless,
cooperating with one another was also an aspect of centers that had to
be practiced time and time again. Students were open to having the
freedom to interact with one another and participate in a small group
setting during reading time. However, with cooperation come
disagreements. Students had to quickly learn the skills necessary to be
an integral part of a group. Skills such as negotiating, sharing, helping,
and agreeing were all a vital part of each center. Looking back, these
are all important skills that could have been reviewed using minilessons. Modeling appropriate ways to work with others before
beginning centers in small groups could have greatly benefited the
cooperative work that students participated in. In the future, these
proactive lessons will be an important factor in the introduction of
reading centers.
When I first began looking at my students reading data after
introducing centers, I was disappointed to find that a few of them had
not progressed in the ways that I had hoped they would. Carter, for
example, only increased his STAR reading score by a few points since
he had tested at the beginning of the year. Carter had started as one of

my highest readers, but other students were surpassing him in their

abilities as he stayed at a more stagnant rate. While this seemed
disappointing, it was also an eye-opening moment in terms of the
support I was giving my higher reading groups. Carters minor
progressions revealed to me that I needed to provide equal support
and appropriate challenges to each of my groups, regardless of their
initial reading levels. It was detrimental to the rest of my class to put a
majority of my focus on those students that were reading at a lower
level. I quickly realized the importance of changing my mindset and
kept in mind the significance of each students growth.
Centers also really opened my eyes to the impact of giving
students the freedom to work independently. As an educator, it can be
difficult to let go and let students be in charge of their own learning.
However, I found that setting students up to be ready for independent
work was the key to effective center time. A factor that greatly
impacted independent work was modeling and practicing before letting
students work on their own. This way, students knew exactly what was
expected of them during centers and the objectives that they were
working towards. Using my guided reading time to thoroughly
introduce and practice specific center activities allowed students to
eventually be successful on their own. On February 18, I recorded
evidence of this idea in my inquiry notebook:

I think my lower group is really starting to understand what is

expected of them at centers. Not only are they participating with
one another, they are proud to show off the work that they
complete at their center. Micah, Adam, and Sarah all proudly
called me to their table at the end of center time today. Looking
at the beginning blends that they had identified, I saw such a
sense of accomplishment from each of them. This is something
that I practiced with them multiple times at my guided reading
table, and I could tell that they were finally confident in doing
this work independently.
The independence that my students gained through centers
helped them to be more confident in their reading and willing to take
on challenges on their own. I watched as students began willingly
choosing just right books, rather than the too easy books that I had
observed them reading before. They became more willing to take on
the difficult words that they may find and to persevere in decoding
through the reading skills they practice in centers. Students began
seeing the benefits of their small group work and pointing out the
improvements they had made in reading. On March 11, a conversation
with Jason, one of my lowest readers, filled me with excitement over
the milestones that he had reached in his reading. As I read a new
book with him during guided reading, I began by giving him support in
decoding words. Jason stopped me, excitedly telling me, Wait, I can do

this! I remember working on beginning and ending sounds at a center

with Luke. I think I can use that to figure out some of these words! I
was not only proud of Jason for being able to identify beginning and
ending sounds to decode a word, I was thrilled that he recognized his
ability to do this and was confident enough to be independent while
doing so. This was a huge change from the lack of confidence and
reluctance to work self-sufficiently that I had seen at the beginning of
the year.
When I first implemented centers, I expected students to learn
more about reading skills and aspects of phonics to apply to their
reading. What I found, after a year of reading centers with my first
grade students, was much more than just improvements in reading
abilities. Students gained confidence in their work and a willingness to
be self-reliant. They learned how to work together, while realizing the
benefits of helping others with their learning. Students became much
more understanding of the importance of the little details in their
reading and began recognizing how to be an independent reader. I
watched as my first graders became passionate about being successful
readers. Most importantly, I learned that my students were strong
learners and made great achievements independently.
As an educator, I learned that nothing works perfectly the first
time and adjustments must always be made in order for something to
be successful. I realized the importance of letting go and allowing my

students to make their own mistakes and be responsible for their own
learning. Eventually, I observed just how beneficial this was to my
students growth in the classroom. I gained a better sense of
understanding for how to be a support system for my first graders as
they work to be better readers, rather than doing this work for them.
Introducing reading centers proved to be something that impacted not
only the learning of my students, but also the type of teacher and
reader that I will continue to be.