accounting for every minute:
“When it comes to time, what’s most important is how much time is devoted to instruction and, in turn, what portion of that instructional time translates into student engagement and learning” (Goodwin and Hubbell, 2013, pg. 131).
Finding time to get everything accomplished that needs to be accomplished is a difficult task – not only in teaching, but in our everyday lives. I really like how Goodwin and Hubbell stress the importance of making every minute count. Breaking things down by aiming for bell-to-bell learning, embedding learning into non-instructional time and breaking learning into discrete chunks of time gave me a better idea of how to organize my time as a teacher.
I reflected on the beginning story of this chapter – dealing with the teacher and the first four minutes of his class. I got to thinking how I would change these first four minutes and how to “make every minute count.” Goodwin and Hubble suggest that “another way to make better use of time is to establish procedures and routines that minimize time lost to nonacademic activities” (Goodwin and Hubbell, 2013, pg. 134). Here are some of the ideas I came up with:
Preparation: I want to make sure that I am fully prepared before my students even enter the classroom. I feel that this means that I may need to arrive early to ensure that I have my lesson plans in order, all materials are in place, and that I give myself enough time to plan the day. Or it could mean that I stay late the day before to prepare for the next day. This eliminates the time spent during class hours preparing. Goodwin and Hubbell suggest “many teachers have found it helpful to plan their class minute by minute, if for no other reason than to develop the habit of seeing their time with students as precious” (Goodwin and Hubbell, 2013, pg. 139).
Attendance: I thought that each student, upon entering the classroom, would find their name which would be on a magnet. They take their name, and place it on a designated spot on the board, which shows that they are in attendance. This would save me time later. Rather than spending time either calling out students’ names or referring to a seating chart, all I would have to do is look on the board. I can then enter in attendance while students are working on an activity.
Homework: I would set an expectation that all homework is turned in at the beginning of the class. Since I am hoping to enter a career as a first grade teacher, I would have baskets at the front of the classroom which would be color coded and labeled for each subject. After the students place their attendance magnet on the board, they would turn in all of their homework to the designated folder. This eliminates the time spent turning in homework for each subject throughout the day.
Getting Student’s Attention: I remember back when I was in elementary school. When the teacher wanted to get the students’ attention, he/she would simply put his/her thumbs up. Each student would see this cue, and then put their thumbs up as well. It was a nice, non-verbal cue that brought all of us back to attention. Working with elementary-age students, I feel this is not just an effective way to get the students’ attention, but it is also a fun little game. I could possibly have some sort of “reward” for being the first student to catch the cue, which would help ensure that the students are paying close attention at all times.
I found that the activities that the North Star Academy in New Jersey had in place to be excellent examples of making the most of every minute. I especially liked the idea of a “Do Now” activity that the students start working on as soon as they enter the class. I liked how it got the students learning right away, while also giving the teacher a chance to tackle some housekeeping at the same time.
I also found some great ideas from Scholastic.com:
Here are some more ways Scholastic.com suggests beginners and veterans alike can substantially increase teaching time:
Finding time to get everything accomplished that needs to be accomplished is a difficult task – not only in teaching, but in our everyday lives. I really like how Goodwin and Hubbell stress the importance of making every minute count. Breaking things down by aiming for bell-to-bell learning, embedding learning into non-instructional time and breaking learning into discrete chunks of time gave me a better idea of how to organize my time as a teacher.
I reflected on the beginning story of this chapter – dealing with the teacher and the first four minutes of his class. I got to thinking how I would change these first four minutes and how to “make every minute count.” Goodwin and Hubble suggest that “another way to make better use of time is to establish procedures and routines that minimize time lost to nonacademic activities” (Goodwin and Hubbell, 2013, pg. 134). Here are some of the ideas I came up with:
Preparation: I want to make sure that I am fully prepared before my students even enter the classroom. I feel that this means that I may need to arrive early to ensure that I have my lesson plans in order, all materials are in place, and that I give myself enough time to plan the day. Or it could mean that I stay late the day before to prepare for the next day. This eliminates the time spent during class hours preparing. Goodwin and Hubbell suggest “many teachers have found it helpful to plan their class minute by minute, if for no other reason than to develop the habit of seeing their time with students as precious” (Goodwin and Hubbell, 2013, pg. 139).
Attendance: I thought that each student, upon entering the classroom, would find their name which would be on a magnet. They take their name, and place it on a designated spot on the board, which shows that they are in attendance. This would save me time later. Rather than spending time either calling out students’ names or referring to a seating chart, all I would have to do is look on the board. I can then enter in attendance while students are working on an activity.
Homework: I would set an expectation that all homework is turned in at the beginning of the class. Since I am hoping to enter a career as a first grade teacher, I would have baskets at the front of the classroom which would be color coded and labeled for each subject. After the students place their attendance magnet on the board, they would turn in all of their homework to the designated folder. This eliminates the time spent turning in homework for each subject throughout the day.
Getting Student’s Attention: I remember back when I was in elementary school. When the teacher wanted to get the students’ attention, he/she would simply put his/her thumbs up. Each student would see this cue, and then put their thumbs up as well. It was a nice, non-verbal cue that brought all of us back to attention. Working with elementary-age students, I feel this is not just an effective way to get the students’ attention, but it is also a fun little game. I could possibly have some sort of “reward” for being the first student to catch the cue, which would help ensure that the students are paying close attention at all times.
I found that the activities that the North Star Academy in New Jersey had in place to be excellent examples of making the most of every minute. I especially liked the idea of a “Do Now” activity that the students start working on as soon as they enter the class. I liked how it got the students learning right away, while also giving the teacher a chance to tackle some housekeeping at the same time.
I also found some great ideas from Scholastic.com:
- Analyze your schedule and set priorities. Categorize activities such as reading, math facts review, and oral language learning as high priority and activities such as holiday art activities, free-choice time, and an enrichment video as low priority. Be assertive in cutting down on the time for low priority items.
- Cluster specials such as music and art in order to give yourself a longer planning time and to create fewer interruptions in reading and writing time.
- Offer immediate activities for your students to do as soon as they come in. In many schools, students arrive at staggered times. Many teachers have students immediately begin to read from book boxes or write in their journals.
- Streamline housekeeping by creating efficient ways to accomplish housekeeping tasks.
- Keep materials readily and quickly accessible to your students.
- Use mini-lessons. Mini-lessons are just — that quick, focused lessons.
- Talk less. While it is important for you to have conversations with your students, you will find that the less talking you do, the more students will learn and the faster lessons will go.
- Develop systems for yourself so that you can efficiently accomplish tasks
- Try incidental teaching during in-between times in the day. If you have five minutes before lunch, review a mini-lesson or read aloud a bit of a familiar well-loved story. If young students are lining up, have them sing a song or enjoy shared chanting of a favorite poem (thus promoting phonemic awareness).
Here are some more ways Scholastic.com suggests beginners and veterans alike can substantially increase teaching time:
- Find out which aspects of school time you can control
- Schedule solid blocks of teaching time for each day. You might hang a "Do Not Disturb" sign outside your door during those times.
- Plan for smooth transitions between lessons and always try to have materials ready for each lesson or activity.
- Assign homework to extend practice time. Homework should allow students to practice skills they have already learned.
- Consider how and when you schedule restroom breaks for maximum efficiency.
- Improve student attendance. Attendance has a big effect on teaching and learning time. Impress upon parents the importance of good attendance and teach an actual lesson on how it hurts to miss school.
References
Time management strategies. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/time-management.
Mould, T. (2012, December 14). Time management for educators [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AahrJaIUzo.
Goodwin, B., & Hubbell, E. R. (2013). The 12 touchstones of good teaching: A checklist for staying focused every day. ASCD.
Pinnell, G. Nine ways to save time in the classroom. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/nine-ways-save-time-classroom.
Time management strategies. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/time-management.
Mould, T. (2012, December 14). Time management for educators [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AahrJaIUzo.
Goodwin, B., & Hubbell, E. R. (2013). The 12 touchstones of good teaching: A checklist for staying focused every day. ASCD.
Pinnell, G. Nine ways to save time in the classroom. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/nine-ways-save-time-classroom.