Ready to remove the "circus" from your centers?
Learn the simple, research-based
process for planning and launching literacy centers that are manageable, meaningful…and 100% misery-free.
Why do some teachers have calm, productive literacy centers…while yours sometimes, kinda-sorta feel more like a 3-ring circus, no matter how hard you try?
You spend so much time picking, planning, and preparing literacy centers that will keep your students engaged—but after five minutes, they’re chatting away with their book buddies and losing the caps to your markers.
You print and laminate all of the instructions, and place them in color-coded center bins—but you still get interrupted 189,747,341 times by kids who aren’t sitting at your teacher table for small-group instruction.
And despite half of your centers being silent and independent, your classroom is a nightmare of noise…and they’re shining laser pointers into each other’s eyes…and glue ends up in someone’s hair. At least it wasn’t yours.
You signed up to be a teacher. NOT a ringmaster, trapeze artist, and lion tamer all at once.
Unfortunately, "circus" is only the beginning of your center-related sorrows!
Centers are frustrating even before showtime.
They require so. much. time!
It takes fifty-gallon buckets of time to:
Find and prepare the “unicorn” centers that manage to be meaningful, interesting, and just-challenging-enough for all of your students...which eats into your planning time, weeknights, and even weekends.
Create materials that are differentiated for all levels of learners...which means creating more than one version of the same center, sometimes. Phew.
Keep your centers relevant...do you really have to create and recreate word sorts on Halloween pumpkins, winter snowflakes, and Valentine’s hearts?!
Except...literacy centers are important!
To master new skills and concepts, children need multiple opportunities to practice them. That’s where literacy center activities enter the picture. Centers provide authentic, independent activities for students to solidify and master the skills we’ve taught them.
Centers tick off so many crucial boxes because they:
- Provide time for students to practice and explicitly-taught skills.
- Tap into students’ natural creativity with engaging activities
- Accommodate different learning styles
- Build student independence and collaboration skills
- Allow for differentiation
- Offer EL students more exposure to language and opportunities
Of course, while your students are engaged in center activities, you’re freed up to meet students’ needs by teaching targeted small groups.
And because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s never been more important to strengthen your students’ literacy skills
Recently, researchers at Stanford Graduate School of Education assessed reading skills of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders and found that:
Students’ development of oral reading fluency came to a halt when schools closed in early 2020.
Their skills were stronger in fall 2020, but their gains weren’t enough to recoup what they lost in the spring.
The biggest impact has been felt by 2nd and 3rd graders, whose reading fluency is 30% behind what it would be in a typical school year.
Students in historically lower-achieving districts—districts that typically serve low-income and minority students—developed reading skills at a slower rate than students in higher-achieving ones.
As a fellow teacher, I know how hard you worked to help your students succeed in the crazy-upside-down world of remote/hybrid learning we’ve been dealing with for over a year. ❤️
So, don’t “send in the clowns.” Instead, let’s roll up our sleeves, together, and get our kids back on track for lifelong success.
It all starts with:
Success With Centers
In just 10 hours, learn the system that simplifies your literacy centers, creates a calm & focused atmosphere for learners,and frees you up to teach targeted small groups.
(In other words? Circus: eliminated. )
Success With Centers is online professional development based on a simple truth:
Literacy centers can be easy for you and meaningful for your students at the same time.
And you don’t have to spend all of your planning time trying to make that happen—really!
The SWC course is
- Designed to Save you time
- Built to prevent you from feeling overwhelmed, lost, or unsure about where to start
The course is divided into short lessons that teach you a step-by-step process for implementing literacy centers in your classroom. My system covers every part of literacy centers so you’ll never have to guess what to do. If you can follow instructions, you can do this program!
By the end of the program, you’ll be able to:
Identify meaningful literacy center activities that are easy for you to plan and prepare.
Implement a management system that maximizes the efficiency of your center rotations while fostering student independence.
Use the physical space of your classroom to your advantage! Placing your center activities in the right places will make transitions smoother, and set up your students for success.
Teach, model, and practice the procedures for center activities and rotations in your classroom—so your students understand (and meet) your expectations for their behavior.
Keep your students focused, motivated, and independent within centers so you are free to facilitate small groups.
When all is said and done, you’ll be able to do literacy centers with complete, unshakeable confidence!
The Success With Centers Curriculum
Module One: Choosing the Right Literacy Centers
Literacy centers are the bomb dot com for allowing your lower elementary students to practice their skills. But are all literacy centers created equal? NOPE.
In this module, we’re going to explore the 5 main categories of literacy centers, and help you pick out the ones that live in the sweet spot of meaningful, low-prep, and engaging for your academic program.
Module 1: Choosing the Right Literacy Centers
Literacy centers are the bomb dot com for allowing your lower elementary students to practice their skills. But are all literacy centers created equal? NOPE.
In this module, we’re going to explore the 5 main categories of literacy centers, and help you pick out the ones that live in the sweet spot of meaningful, low-prep, and engaging for your academic program.
Module Two: Planning and Managing Literacy Centers
Now that you know which centers you’ll be using, the next step is to choose a management system that promotes student independence and learning.
Here you’ll learn about grouping students, allotting the right amount of time for centers…and most importantly, how to make planning centers easier than binge-watching Friends on a rainy Sunday afternoon!
Module 2: Managing and Planning Literacy Centers
Now that you know which centers you’ll be using, the next step is to choose a management system that promotes student independence and learning.
Here you’ll learn about grouping students, allotting the right amount of time for centers…and most importantly, how to make planning centers easier than binge-watching Friends on a rainy Sunday afternoon!
Module Three: Organizing Your Classroom for Literacy Centers
Would you believe me if I told you that colorful plastic bins and printable labels are only the beginning of organizing your literacy centers? Believe it or not, it’s your classroom layout that’s the secret weapon for well-organized centers!
This module will help you plan and design your classroom for maximum efficiency. (You’ll also get my best strategies for storage and organization of center materials…because clutter-free spaces make our teacher-hearts go boom!)
Module 3: Organizing Your Classroom for Literacy Centers
Would you believe me if I told you that colorful plastic bins and printable labels are only the beginning of organizing your literacy centers? Believe it or not, it’s your classroom layout that’s the secret weapon for well-organized centers!
This module will help you plan and design your classroom for maximum efficiency. (You’ll also get my best strategies for storage and organization of center materials…because clutter-free spaces make our teacher-hearts go boom!)
Module Four: Launching Independent Literacy Centers
It’s finally time to launch your literacy centers! And that means teaching, modeling, and practicing the procedures for doing centers in your classroom. You’ll also want to help your students learn how to transition between center rotations while remaining calm and productive.
This part is so important because it’s where you’ll build in all of your expectations for student behavior in regards to voice level, being on task, asking for help, etc. You’ll unlock so many a-ha moments about keeping your centers circus-free—and feel so confident about launching them!
Module 4: Launching Independent Literacy Centers
It’s finally time to launch your literacy centers! And that means teaching, modeling, and practicing the procedures for doing centers in your classroom. You’ll also want to help your students learn how to transition between center rotations while remaining calm and productive.
This part is so important because it’s where you’ll build in all of your expectations for student behavior in regards to voice level, being on task, asking for help, etc. You’ll unlock so many a-ha moments about keeping your centers circus-free—and feel so confident about launching them!
Module Five: Motivating Students within Literacy Centers
By this point, you’ve set everything up for success (and I’m over here applauding for you!). Your mission for the year will be to continue to keep students focused and motivated, so you can facilitate small groups.
Good news—you don’t have to be a magician to keep students on task. This module will share my best high-impact strategies for keeping your kids engaged and independent during daily literacy centers.
Module 5: Motivating Students Within Literacy Centers
By this point, you’ve set
everything up for success (and I’m over here applauding for you!). Your mission
for the year will be to continue to keep students focused and motivated, so you
can facilitate small groups.
Good news—you don’t have to be a
magician to keep students on task. This module will share my best high-impact
strategies for keeping your kids engaged and independent during daily literacy
centers.
Plus you'll also get these amazing bonuses when you enroll!
8-Week Private Facebook Group
Value $75
5 Live Q&A Sessions with Christina
Value $75
10-Hour PD Certificate
Value $25
A printable Course Workbook
Value $5
Wait, that's not all! You'll also get...
This exciting EXCLUSIVE bonus! The Literacy Centers Startup Kit—FREE!
The course is an excellent foundation for doing literacy centers. This kit just gives you the pieces and parts for launching literacy centers so you don’t have to pull them together yourself. Everything has been done for YOU!
- 5 Checklists of Routines
These checklists will guide you on what to teach as you’re modeling and practicing the 5 core centers. Once your students have these down, they’ll barely need your oversight.
- 30 Organization Labels
Organize your center bins and folders. The monthly labels come in two different styles, and I’ve also included labels for the bins students use to turn in their work. They’re functional, attractive, and the antidote to messy centers.
- 5 Anchor Charts
You and your students can co-create a list of procedures and expectations, and then post them in the classroom for future reference. Each chart comes with an answer key so you know what answers to guide your students toward.
- 10 Classroom Posters
Perfect for you & your students to reference as a positive (and visually delightful) reminder of procedures and expectations.
- 5 Editable Weekly and Monthly Lesson Plan Templates
These will save you time for preparing your lessons and keep you organized.
Here’s what’s waiting for you when you enroll today:
Total Value $415
But when you enroll today, you can join Success With Centers for just $97!
THE SUCCESS WTH CENTERS 14-DAY GUARANTEE
Success With Centers teaches you the exact literacy centers program I developed, refined, and used over the course of my 20+ year teaching career. I’m SO confident that if you implement what you learn inside SWC you’ll see a transformation! But if you start doing the work and it doesn’t I’ll return your investment to you for another course!
Meet Your Instructor, Christina
Hi, I’m Christina Winter, founder of Mrs. Winter’s Bliss. I taught 1st grade for 21 years and in that time I learned a lot about what makes lower primary students tick (but not TikTok—I will never understand that craze 😂!).
You could say literacy centers were my superpower. In fact, substitute teachers would leave me thank-you notes saying, “I didn’t even need to be here today! Your kids knew exactly what to do without me telling them! I’ve never seen 1st graders be so productive and behave so well during center rotations. HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!?!”
What can I say? Teaching literacy skills to lower primary students is my JAM. When it comes to teaching, I love nothing more than the energy of a productive classroom. That’s my definition of bliss!
Teachers Love Success With Centers
FAQs
Success With Centers is hosted on the Kajabi platform—so, you can take the course by logging into the website or by using the Kajabi app on your phone or tablet! When you enroll, you’ll be sent a login and password to the course, where you’ll get immediate access to all of the modules. Each module is divided into lessons with videos and downloadable PDFs. Because the video lessons are pre-recorded, you can binge them like your favorite show, or watch them whenever you have time!
Optional, but highly recommended: I’ll be hosting a live Q&A for each of the course modules in our private Facebook community. That way you can get answers to the questions that pop up for you once you start the course. Can’t make it? No problem! All the replay videos will be housed in the course members area so you can watch later.
Yes, of course! My #1 goal is for you to finish the course so you too can experience success with centers in your classroom.
I’ll be available to you in the course’s 8-week private Facebook community and in the weekly Facebook lives (for a total of 5). I’ll be there to encourage you, support you, answer your questions, and celebrate your successes! It fills my heart to serve teachers.
The course takes about 10 hours to complete—and I recommend taking the course over five weeks (and not binging, but you do you), which means one module per week.
For each module, I recommend spending one hour watching the videos, reflecting on what you learned, and taking action. I also recommend attending the one-hour weekly live Q&As to deepen your learning.
So, it’s only about 2 hours per week!
Success With Centers was designed for kindergarten, first, and second grade students. I don’t recommend it for other grade levels.
No need to worry, you will have lifetime access to the course! That means you can take it whenever you want. You can also retake it whenever you want. So, there’s no such thing as “falling behind” with SWC. The only thing you might miss out on is the live Q&As, but you’ll be able to watch the replays. You’ll also have free access to future updates to the course. This is why online courses rock!
No. Even veteran teachers have benefited from the strategies taught in this course. Basically, if you want literacy centers to be easy for you and engaging for your students…enroll in SWC and I’ll show you how.
Yes! Success With Centers is covered by a 14-day, 100% money-back guarantee. When you enroll, you’ll receive instant access to all of 5 of the course modules, the Literacy Centers Startup Kit, any of the action bonuses you received based on when you signed up, and our private Facebook group.
We encourage you to watch a few of the video lessons, and to ask some questions in the Facebook group. Your fellow teachers, my team, and I are here to support you and cheer you on as you build on what you’re learning! We’re confident that if you work through the material, you’ll be able to set up a successful literacy centers program in your classroom.
We just know Success With Centers will be a great fit for you. If it’s not, and you decide to withdraw within the first 14 days of your purchase, we’ll issue you a refund.
I’m so glad you asked—the answer is Yes! The structure I teach in Success With Centers is complementary to Daily 5.
However, what makes SWC different is that it’s full of actionable strategies that help you easily implement literacy centers. If you want to grow student independence and stamina for rigorous work, SWC is for you!
Success With Centers was created specifically for literacy centers. However, the underlying methodology and strategies can definitely be applied to all types of centers!
Is Success With Centers Right for You?
I’m just going to spell it out real bluntly for you!
It is right for you if:
- You’re a lower elementary (kindergarten, first, or second grade) teacher.
- You’ve struggled to keep students on-task, engaged, and at a reasonable noise level during center time.
- You want literacy centers to be EASY for you to plan, prepare, launch, and manage...
- ...and you want those centers to be fun (AKA, engaging & meaningful) for your students! You love a win-win in the classroom!
- You’d rather not have to find brand-new or holiday-themed center activities, because it’s too time-consuming.
- You love helping your students become more and more independent and self-directed with their learning.
- You want to be able to lead small groups without being interrupted 189,747,341 times.
- You have access to the internet and a smartphone / tablet / computer.
- You feel confident trying the course, knowing you have a 14-day trial period.
It is not right for you if:
- You’re an upper elementary (third, fourth, or fifth grade) teacher.
- Your students are always well-behaved, engaged, quiet or speaking quietly, and on-task while doing centers.
- Your literacy centers are time-consuming to plan, prepare, launch, & manage...and you’d like to keep it that way.
- Making your centers engaging and fun for students isn’t a priority for you.
- You enjoy finding brand-new or holiday-themed center activities every week...even though it means preparing materials all weekend.
- Student independence is less important to you than maintaining control of your classroom.
- You don’t really mind being interrupted during small-group time, because you believe “that’s just how it is with centers.”
- You don’t have access to the internet and a smartphone, tablet, or computer.
- The course fee of $97 would be a financial hardship for you.
If you’ve made it all the way to the end of the page…come here for a little heart-to-heart.
The past year has been tough for elementary school teachers. We’re not meant to teach virtually! We need to be in classrooms, with our young students, working with them in a hands-on way. Our students need in-person learning! (I know you know all this.)
The good news is that we’re on track to return to the classroom for full-time, in-person instruction for the 2021-2022 school year. While some restrictions may still apply…we should be able to return to normal teaching.
So after a year like this, why settle for “normal”? Let’s make the next school year extraordinary. Let’s fill it with bliss—for you and your students! Spend a little time this summer learning how to remove the chaos from your school day, and set yourself up for a joyful return to teaching in-person. I’d love to help you do it.
– Christina