Several years ago I tried using stations in my classroom. The students loved the idea of rotating around the room and completing a variety of activities. I thought it went pretty well, but when reflecting on the stations themselves, I realized I needed to make some changes. One of the challenges with stations is making sure that each activity takes the same amount time as the other activities. You don't want one group finished when another just started. You also need enough stations so that none of them are too crowded. This time I started preparing three weeks ago! I decided that six stations would be a good number. We just finished reading chapter 4 of The Outsiders , so most of our stations focus on the novel. If you are thinking of trying this, make sure you have each station labeled with all necessary items handy for students. Also, I made several copies of the directions for each station and put them in sheet protectors. Finally,...