Friday, December 6, 2013

Time Management for the Classroom

Dividing Class TimeIt is important that your classes are not always the same not just in content, but in structure. Nothing breeds boredom or complacency more than, well, boredom and complacency.You need to divide your class time up into blocks. This will help you in several ways.1. It will make the time for each class pass more quickly for the students and the teacher.2. It will allow students to change their focus and bring their focus back to you, the teacher, rather than setting tasks and waiting for the energy to run out before you move on.3. It will also allow you to 'do' more and leave the students with the same impression.4. This method of classroom time management will also give more opportunities for the student and you to find the exercises that work best for you and your situation.No one method or lesson will meet the learning style needs of all students. Some students need to be doing, while others need more listening, or visualizing, or one-to-one practice time. Dividing your class time into blocks for several activities will increase the chances of each student getting to do an activity that matches their learning style without being negligent about trying to improve their other areas.Some things to keep in mind.Be flexible. Sometimes you'll find a particular exercise is going very well. Let it run for a bit more. The same is true when an exercise is not working as well as you would like. You can shorten the time and then prepare a different approach for covering that material in a later class.Vary the amounts of time for your blocks. Don't try to stick to a class of 5 ten-minute blocks, or whatever your case may be. One week do two 30 minute blocks. Next time try two 20-minute blocks.Vary the activity and intensity required for the exercises. That is, do an exercise where everyone is seated. Then one where they have to walk around, or stand. Then go back to a seated exercise.Use a stopwatch. This is one of my favorite techniques, and my cooking timer clock is well-known in my classrooms. It also has a magnet on the back so I can affix it to the board, punch in the time, count down the start, and then press "start."This works for you in a couple of ways. It keeps you to your word. If you say, "you've got 5 minutes to do this exercise," your students will know you mean it. It also provides a sense of urgency. The clock is ticking. It even adds a bit of fun, or game-like, atmosphere to the activities and your class.Try these techniques and you will see that you will enjoy your classes more, students will enjoy them more, and the benefit will be that students will want to come to your classes, you will feel better about what you are accomplishing in your classes, and students always learn and remember more when the environment is an interesting one.

Allen Williams is a professional educator, speaker and writer. Get a free subscription to the PowerMeUp Newsletter and Goal Setting and Getting Course with a bonus book for a limited time at: http://www.PowerMeUp.com Read more articles on Personal and Professional Growth and goal setting at http://www.SelfHe

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