The Importance of Time Management Inside the Classrooms - Essay Example

Time-On-Task & Well Managed rooms Time-On-Task & Well Managed rooms Time management inside the rooms is an important aspect of learning. It is impossible for a teacher to straightaway start the topic immediately aft the beginning of the class. It is necessary for the teacher to give a small introduction to motivate the students or to catch the attention of the students towards the topic. Immediately after the introduction, the teacher may develop the topic for some time. After that the teacher needs to review the topic for a while by asking some questions to the students with respect to the topic they learned in that class. Fooled by the review, the teacher concludes the topic and gives some assignments or home works to the students in order to assess the learning of the students. These are the traditional means of conducting class in the stipulated time. But in most of the cases, the teacher may struggle to complete all these steps effectively because of his/her poor time management skills. More emphasize or time given to the introduction or development or any other steps mentioned above may result in less time for other steps. In other words, the teacher needs to operate strictly in accordance with the time schedule given for a class period in order to boost the learning of the students. Well managed classrooms will give more importance to the time and task. This paper briefly analyses the importance of time in managing a class effectively. Importance of time in a classroom It is not necessary that the full class time might be used for academic learning. In fact the allocated time, engaged time and learning time are entirely different as far as a class period is concerned. For example, suppose one hour is allotted for a class period. The teacher may take some time to start the topic as he/she needs some time for introducing the topic. Normally, the introduction could be some kind of stories or relevant incidents which are familiar to the students. This may take five to ten minutes depends on the allotted time for the class and the importance of the topic. In other words, the above five or ten minutes cannot be included in the learning time. Same way while the teacher writes on the board or refers the lesson plan, the students may engage in some other things which cannot be included in the total engaged time in the topic. In short, we can assume that Allocated time < Engaged time < Academic learning time. When we consider the whole academic year, the allocated time refers to the total number of days or hours allocated for that particular academic year. “Allocated time can then be broken into instructional time and non-instructional time” (Aronson et al, 1998, p.1). Instructional time means the total time spent inside the class rooms or the laboratories by the students whereas non-instructional time means the time devoted to lunch brakes, recess, assemblies, brake between periods etc. In other words, the student spends a considerable period of time in a school for non-instructional activities and hence while designing or scheduling of a class for a particular academic year, a proper time schedule or time table should be developed well in advance, The teacher should operate well within this time frame so that the topics intended for a particular time period should be completed within the stipulated time. The concept of "wait-time" as an instructional variable was invented by Mary Budd Rowe (1972). The "wait-time" periods she found--periods of silence that followed teacher questions and students completed responses--rarely lasted more than 1.5 seconds in typical classrooms. She discovered, however, that when these periods of silence lasted at least 3 seconds, many positive things happened to students and teachers behaviors and attitudes (Stahl, 2009, p.1). In many cases, the teacher reviews the topic learned in a particular class period with the help of some review questions. But most of these questions would be testing the knowledge level only and the students will answer these questions easily. On the other hand, if the teacher asks some questions to test the understanding level, the students may take longer time to answer. The time taken for thinking and answering may enhance the learning further. Until the review occurs inside the class, the students were listening and probably they may not think much about the topic taught in the class. But at the time of review, the students forced to think deeply before giving answers and this thinking time is critical in the learning process. “Dewey never said we learn by doing He said we learn by thinking” (Rowe, 1995). Many educationalists misinterpret the opinions of famous educationalist and psychologist, John Dewey. The modern educationalists are arguing that more emphasize should be given to the practical works of the students in order to boost the learning process based on Dewey’s learning by doing theory. In fact Dewey has given more emphasize to thinking process rather than anything else. If the teacher failed to force the students to think, then the entire efforts of the teacher can be considered as a waste of energy. There is no point in giving more topics in a class period if the teacher failed to stimulate the thinking process among the students. On the other hand, even if the contents were less, a class period can be more effective if the teacher succeeded in provoking the thinking process. Most of the modern academic curriculums concentrate more on the content rather than the learning process. Educationalists are keener in updating the syllabus every year in an effort to provide updated education to the students. Instead of giving more literature with less scope for thinking, it is better to give less literature with more scope for thinking. “Through mobility, you are constantly disrupting the students impulse to disrupt”. Mobility of the teacher inside the classroom is an important aspect of an effective class. If the teacher remains static or passive, the students will also in that mood. On the other hand, if the teacher adopts dynamic and active methods of teaching, the students will also be forced to follow the teacher in that way. Conclusions Teaching is a profession which requires skills like time management, class management, communication management etc. The teacher should be able to stimulate thinking in the minds of the students in order to educate them properly. References 1. Aronson J., Zimmerman J. & Carlos L (1998). Improving Student Achievement by Extending School: Is It Just a Matter of Time?. WestEd. April 1998. Retrieved from http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/po-98-02.pdf 2. Jones F. (2003). Effective Room Arrangement. Educational World. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/jones/jones001.shtml 3. Rowe M.B (1995). Payoff from Pausing. Retrieved from http://castle.eiu.edu/~scienced/5660/options/Op-4-R-6.html 4. Stahl R.J. (2009). Using "Think-Time" and "Wait-Time" Skillfully in the Classroom. A to Z Teacher Stuff. Retrieved from http://www.pcboe.net/les/elderweb/READING%20COACH%20FILES/Student%20Engagement/think%20time.pdf Quotes from sources 1. Aronson et al page 1 Allocated time. At the top of the continuum is the most generic type of education time, allocated time, which refers to the total number of days or hours students are required to attend school. Moving down the continuum, allocated time can then be broken into instructional time and noninstructional time. The former is time spent in class, whether for core academic subjects like math, science, and language arts; for non-core subjects like physical education; or for various non-academic electives, such as driver’s education. Non-instructional time, by contrast, is that portion of the day devoted to lunch and recess, to passing between classes, to school assemblies, and to other non-classroom activities. 2. Stahl page1 The concept of "wait-time" as an instructional variable was invented by Mary Budd Rowe (1972). The "wait-time" periods she found--periods of silence that followed teacher questions and students completed responses--rarely lasted more than 1.5 seconds in typical classrooms. She discovered, however, that when these periods of silence lasted at least 3 seconds, many positive things happened to students and teachers behaviors and attitudes. To attain these benefits, teachers were urged to "wait" in silence for 3 or more seconds after their questions, and after students completed their responses (Casteel and Stahl, 1973; Rowe 1972; Stahl 1990; Tobin 1987). 3. Rowe Dewey never said we learn by doing He said we learn by thinking. Some years ago I discovered that teachers often go at such a pace in their questioning that no substantial thinking could take place. After ten years of research the following facts seem to hold true. 4. Johns F When you are working the crowd, two or three steps will switch a student from the green zone to the yellow zone or from the yellow zone to the red zone. Thus, through mobility, you are constantly disrupting the students impulse to disrupt. Read More