Saving Time!

We all know that so much time can be wasted if not managed. Waiting for students to put away materials from one lesson and get out something else for the next lesson, waiting for students to clean up the floor, waiting for students to pass papers, and waiting for students to get back to their seats from an activity are some examples of how time can be wasted. Our sweet students tend to want to socialize or will just lazily get to where you've asked them to be.

One way to manage this wasted time is to give a time limit. I learned this from a cooperating teacher last semester and I've used it during student teaching and it's GREAT!

First state what you want the students to do. For example, "I want you to put away your practice books and get out your writing notebooks." or "I want you to pick up as many things off the floor, throw them away, and go back to your desk." Then give them a time limit. For example, "You need to do this by the time I count to 10." Then tell them to "GO!" It always amazes me to see how quickly they complete the task.

Now different tasks take seconds rather than minutes and you can make the most of your instructional time.