Sweet Instructional Strategy #1
Manage by Time, Not Numbers
Manage by Time, Not Number: Here's How You Do It!!!
Teachers often ask students to answer sets of questions as a part of warm ups, cool downs and in-class practice. Because students vary in their knowledge and working speed, they typically finish at different times, which can lead to diminished learning and increased management issues. Students who finish quickly will sometimes become classroom management challenges, and students who are slower often quit as they see others finishing.
Try This Strategy For Time Management....
When managing by time, the teacher determines what questions are important for all students to answer and then adds more questions to the set at gradually increasing levels of depth or breadth. The teacher then monitors the students’ progress, and as soon as the slowest learners complete the last question in the “original” question set, the teacher calls time. There are numerous benefits to this approach which include the following:
the slowest students are not tempted to quit early because others are finished
the faster, more knowledgeable students have challenging and valuable work appropriate for their abilities
the teacher has all students working until it is time for the transition to whatever is next