Thursday, February 18, 2021

Time Management When Teaching

I was recently asked this question and thought I would answer it here.

“I am a student teacher in a second grade classroom. I am currently teaching math and reading. Math is about an hour and a half long and reading is about an hour long. Right now I am struggling with time management. When I am teaching I either go over the time or I am not reaching the time by a good chunk. What are some strategies that I can use in the classroom to help with time management?”

I like to teach in small segments which helps to hold a student’s interest easier.

I would give an introduction to the lesson and catch their interest for about 5 min. This might involve a short video that gets them interested in the lesson or the use of puppets or anything that will make them interested in learning this skill.

After that, I would show the steps written out for the skill that I’m teaching. I would explain it is like a recipe that we follow when we cook. This might take 5 minutes. (I like to write out the steps and practice it with a friend or family member to see if I missed any steps.) This procedure would be posted for all to see and use as a visual aid if needed later.

Then I would plan on modeling the skill I want them to learn. I would go through each step as if I was the student. Next, I would have a couple of students go through the steps for everyone to see. This might take 5 - 10 more minutes.

After that, I would plan for each student to complete at least three 15-to-20-minute activities in order to practice the skill. I like to use several numbered learning centers located around the room. This would allow young students to move around the room and not have to be still. I would have different centers for students with different abilities. Each student would be given a list of the 3 centers I want them to go to. The students can move to the next one on their list after they finish one. You would move around the room and monitor progress and offer help as needed. If there are two or more students who are finished with all of the activities, let them pair up and compare answers. If they have a different answer, let them figure out which one is right or they can ask you for help. If you run out of time, you just have them finish the last activity they are working on without going on to the next activity. Collect all work so you can evaluate their progress later.

Leave the last 5 minutes to review what was learned. Have everyone return to their desks. Review the procedure one last time. Have the students give you a thumbs up or thumbs down on whether they feel they did well with the lesson.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

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