Tips for Beating the Clock in the Classroom

Amy Truter

ET

Johnson, B. (2013). Tips for beating the clock in the classroom. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/beat-classroom-clock-tips-ben-johnson

This article provides a handful of ideas to help teachers maximize their allotted teaching time. Johnson gives examples of "time wasters" in the classroom and then elaborates on how teachers can overcome those time wasters. He advocates the jigsaw method of learning, as well as using collaborative groups to enable to the students to work together and teach each other. He also suggests using time before the lesson begins to determine where each student is at, knowledge-wise, and build a foundation for the rest of the class through vocabulary and really clear rubrics.

The ideas in this article are rapid fire suggestions for teachers looking to maximize their time. Johnson doesn't really provide any concrete examples of his ideas or explanations for how new teachers might implement the practices suggested, but the comments section has some really wonderful, real life examples of ways to save time in the classroom.