It's about TIME!

I have heard from several student teachers that the biggest struggle they are facing is pacing the lessons. It has been so for me. My cooperating teacher suggested that I use a timer hooked to my WSU name tag and set it for every activity. At first it was hard to remember and quite annoying, however, I quickly found myself understanding how much time I had for each activity and could adjust when I found myself getting behind or going too fast. My cooperating teacher said she uses this time management tool at the beginning of every year for about 2 weeks until she gets a handle on the "feel" of time this particular group of students need for each activity. It has been a life saver for me- or better yet, a time saver!