Keep Your Eye on Time
Glance at the clock every so often, but not as if you're waiting for the period to end. You don't want the bell to ring mid-example or to run out of time with the notes. You want some sort of closure (which I'm not the greatest at, but working very hard on incorporating more often), and you don't want to be shouting the HW over the bell. Such inconsistencies will make the students AND you feel rushed. It also reflects poorly on your style, and shows that you're trying to force too much into one class.
Showing posts with label time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label time. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Teaching Tip #12
Put a Time Limit on Homework
Going over it, that is. Homework shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes - especially if you're like me and let the students go up and put their answers on the board(s) at random. That takes the place of a Warm-Up, in my opinion. Randomness also means all students get a turn, at some point.
Now, there will be times when homework will not take long to go over (yay!) or longer (not necessarily boo).
For example: Today it took almost half an hour for me to go over the homework. Most of my students were having trouble graphing and analyzing their answers, so the longevity of the homework had a sound basis.
If only one or two students didn't understand, however, then that's when I say they need to see me after school.
Again, it's a "know your students and their abilities" way of thinking.
Going over it, that is. Homework shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes - especially if you're like me and let the students go up and put their answers on the board(s) at random. That takes the place of a Warm-Up, in my opinion. Randomness also means all students get a turn, at some point.
Now, there will be times when homework will not take long to go over (yay!) or longer (not necessarily boo).
For example: Today it took almost half an hour for me to go over the homework. Most of my students were having trouble graphing and analyzing their answers, so the longevity of the homework had a sound basis.
If only one or two students didn't understand, however, then that's when I say they need to see me after school.
Again, it's a "know your students and their abilities" way of thinking.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Teaching Tip #3
Put a Time Limit on Warm Ups
Or Do-Nows, if you call them that.
Setting a timer tells a students that you're serious about them not dawdling. It also helps you all get on track. You have x amount of time to check HW, they have that time to do the WU, you can quickly go over it and lead into the lesson.
In single-period classes last year, I didn't do this until the end of the year, and found that 10 minutes can sometimes be wasted.
NOTE: It's not a waste of time if they don't understand and you have to explain the WU concept or answer it in detail.
Or Do-Nows, if you call them that.
Setting a timer tells a students that you're serious about them not dawdling. It also helps you all get on track. You have x amount of time to check HW, they have that time to do the WU, you can quickly go over it and lead into the lesson.
In single-period classes last year, I didn't do this until the end of the year, and found that 10 minutes can sometimes be wasted.
NOTE: It's not a waste of time if they don't understand and you have to explain the WU concept or answer it in detail.
Teaching Tip #2
Don't Be Afraid to Stop
This goes along with my last post, on plans. Here's an example of what I mean:
It's the end of the day, and I have a double period coming up. I'm excited for the lesson, but I'm also excited for the class. We have fun together.
I pray and start the lesson. The students are writing down some things but are not talking - not to each other, not to me, and they're acting very different than usual.
That morning, they had had a class meeting, and I knew from another class that things did not go well. So I asked them questions aloud to which I got nods - yeses and nos - but no straight answer. One had even written YES on one side of a paper and NO on the other.
I had no clue what to do. This was very unusual for them, and I stood in front of my desk with my arms crossed just looking at them. This was not going to happen for 90 minutes. And me asking questions aloud made the silence that much stronger.
Since they were okay with writing things, I decided to follow suit. I wrote out questions on the board and turned for my answers. About 3 questions in, they responded aloud "yes" or "no" and a snowball effect occurred. They vented frustrations, explained they had acted like that all day and felt bad for the teachers but wanted to stay true to the day's mission, and brought up a few other things.
That first bell rang (not all classes in my school are double periods, but the math classes have them most of the time and the science classes have them for labs) but they had exhausted the conversation. I was able to go through some of my planned material at a relaxed pace, and the students all partcipated.
But had I not given them that down time and tried to force the lesson, yelled, or made threats about their grade, they wouldn't have responded to me. Giving students time to just talk at times can be very beneficial.
This goes along with my last post, on plans. Here's an example of what I mean:
It's the end of the day, and I have a double period coming up. I'm excited for the lesson, but I'm also excited for the class. We have fun together.
I pray and start the lesson. The students are writing down some things but are not talking - not to each other, not to me, and they're acting very different than usual.
That morning, they had had a class meeting, and I knew from another class that things did not go well. So I asked them questions aloud to which I got nods - yeses and nos - but no straight answer. One had even written YES on one side of a paper and NO on the other.
I had no clue what to do. This was very unusual for them, and I stood in front of my desk with my arms crossed just looking at them. This was not going to happen for 90 minutes. And me asking questions aloud made the silence that much stronger.
Since they were okay with writing things, I decided to follow suit. I wrote out questions on the board and turned for my answers. About 3 questions in, they responded aloud "yes" or "no" and a snowball effect occurred. They vented frustrations, explained they had acted like that all day and felt bad for the teachers but wanted to stay true to the day's mission, and brought up a few other things.
That first bell rang (not all classes in my school are double periods, but the math classes have them most of the time and the science classes have them for labs) but they had exhausted the conversation. I was able to go through some of my planned material at a relaxed pace, and the students all partcipated.
But had I not given them that down time and tried to force the lesson, yelled, or made threats about their grade, they wouldn't have responded to me. Giving students time to just talk at times can be very beneficial.
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