Making the Most of Your Time
Creating time during a class can be one of the most difficult aspects of lesson planning. Teachers must ensure that they have enough time to teach content while making allowances for tardiness, the passing of papers, and a million other things that can crop up during the course of a class. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) provide an interesting study by The National Center for Education Statistics, which states, "teachers spent only 68 percent of school time teaching the core academic curriculum. The rest of their time appears to have been devoted to other nonacademic activities, such as recess, lunch, noncore subjects, (and) classroom management activities". (Be Intentional, Item 9, Managing the crucial factor in learning: time, para. 2).
According to Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) time during classes can be broken up in four different ways:
1. allocated time (i.e., the total number of hours students are required to attend school)
2. instructional time (i.e., time spent in class)
3. engaged time (i.e., the subset of instructional time devoted to actual learning activities)
4. academic learning time (i.e., that precise period when an instructional activity is perfectly aligned with a student's readiness, and learning occurs) (Be Intentional, Item 9, Managing the crucial factor in learning: time, para. 7).
While accounting for this breakdown of time, teachers should aim for bell-to-bell learning, in an effort to minimize the amount of time whey spend managing their classes. However, this can be difficult, especially with large classes. Fortunately there are workarounds. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) suggest that, "teachers may also provide unobtrusive ways for students to turn in assignments, such as having students put their work in a central in-box or hand it in electronically". (Be Intentional, Item 9, Aim for bell-to-bell learning, para. 1). Another way to save time is to have students begin working immediately upon arrival in class. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) note that at North Star Academy, "all class periods begin with a 'do now' activity". (Be Intentional, Item 9, Embed learning into nonistructional time, para. 1)
Minute-by-minute lesson planning is a great way for teachers to visualize the time they have allotted for different activities in class. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) recommend that teachers, "plan lessons and activities in 15-minute increments". (Be Intentional, Item 9, Break learning into discrete chunks of time, para. 1) That way students can be expected to remain on task without losing focus. Another way that teachers can manage learning time is to establish routines. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) note, "at Aspire (Aspire Port City Academy) and other similar schools, teachers and students develop and practice established routines for passing out papers, dividing into groups, entering and exiting the classroom, asking questions, and transitioning between learning activities". (Be Intentional, Item 9, I establish routines and procedures to reduce time lost to nonacademic activities, para. 1). By establishing routines teachers can save time that would otherwise be spent instructing students on where to go and what to do during lessons.
Teachers can also work with their administrators to trim other time-wasting activities like reducing passing time, or creating block schedules (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013) Teachers should also consider conducting time audits of their classes. By auditing their classes, teachers can identify where their lessons gain and lose time. The National Center on Time and Learning provides classroom and school time time analysis tools here and here.
Another innovative method for saving time during classes is to "flip" the classroom. When a teacher flips their classroom, the grunt work that would normally be done during class, like paperwork, is given as homework. This frees up regular class time for discussions and other time-consuming activities that would normally have to be shoehorned into a class. A number of videos on this subject can be found on in this YouTube stream here.
Time in the classroom is extremely valuable, and even the most experienced teacher can run into problems. However, by thoroughly planning their lessons while keeping an open mind for innovative methods, teachers can save time and their minds in the process.
According to Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) time during classes can be broken up in four different ways:
1. allocated time (i.e., the total number of hours students are required to attend school)
2. instructional time (i.e., time spent in class)
3. engaged time (i.e., the subset of instructional time devoted to actual learning activities)
4. academic learning time (i.e., that precise period when an instructional activity is perfectly aligned with a student's readiness, and learning occurs) (Be Intentional, Item 9, Managing the crucial factor in learning: time, para. 7).
While accounting for this breakdown of time, teachers should aim for bell-to-bell learning, in an effort to minimize the amount of time whey spend managing their classes. However, this can be difficult, especially with large classes. Fortunately there are workarounds. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) suggest that, "teachers may also provide unobtrusive ways for students to turn in assignments, such as having students put their work in a central in-box or hand it in electronically". (Be Intentional, Item 9, Aim for bell-to-bell learning, para. 1). Another way to save time is to have students begin working immediately upon arrival in class. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) note that at North Star Academy, "all class periods begin with a 'do now' activity". (Be Intentional, Item 9, Embed learning into nonistructional time, para. 1)
Minute-by-minute lesson planning is a great way for teachers to visualize the time they have allotted for different activities in class. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) recommend that teachers, "plan lessons and activities in 15-minute increments". (Be Intentional, Item 9, Break learning into discrete chunks of time, para. 1) That way students can be expected to remain on task without losing focus. Another way that teachers can manage learning time is to establish routines. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) note, "at Aspire (Aspire Port City Academy) and other similar schools, teachers and students develop and practice established routines for passing out papers, dividing into groups, entering and exiting the classroom, asking questions, and transitioning between learning activities". (Be Intentional, Item 9, I establish routines and procedures to reduce time lost to nonacademic activities, para. 1). By establishing routines teachers can save time that would otherwise be spent instructing students on where to go and what to do during lessons.
Teachers can also work with their administrators to trim other time-wasting activities like reducing passing time, or creating block schedules (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013) Teachers should also consider conducting time audits of their classes. By auditing their classes, teachers can identify where their lessons gain and lose time. The National Center on Time and Learning provides classroom and school time time analysis tools here and here.
Another innovative method for saving time during classes is to "flip" the classroom. When a teacher flips their classroom, the grunt work that would normally be done during class, like paperwork, is given as homework. This frees up regular class time for discussions and other time-consuming activities that would normally have to be shoehorned into a class. A number of videos on this subject can be found on in this YouTube stream here.
Time in the classroom is extremely valuable, and even the most experienced teacher can run into problems. However, by thoroughly planning their lessons while keeping an open mind for innovative methods, teachers can save time and their minds in the process.
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