What time is it? TIMER time!
Ready for this? I know you're excited! This technology tip is a throwback, honoring all the glorious teachers from our past.... TIMERS! We all know time is of the essence, and that in education, we never have enough of it. Oh me, oh my, I cannot even explain to you how much timers saved my life in the classroom. Whether it be an old school timer that is set to 5 minutes for students to discuss something in their group, or an alarm set for the last 7 minutes of the class period, timers and alarms are life savers!
I was one of those teachers, the teacher that pushed for learning to occur from before the starting bell rang, and sometimes past when the ending bell rang. However, I also know how easy it is to give students "just two more minutes" and then 30 minutes later class is over. Knowing how important it is to do a closure for lessons, I started using my alarm app to keep me accountable. For each class period, I set an alarm to a different musical ringtone that I downloaded from Zedge (and I often let the kids choose one for their class) then the last 7 minutes of class this alarm would go off. At that time, we had less than a minute to wrap up conversations and writing and to move on to closure.
Read more below!
I was one of those teachers, the teacher that pushed for learning to occur from before the starting bell rang, and sometimes past when the ending bell rang. However, I also know how easy it is to give students "just two more minutes" and then 30 minutes later class is over. Knowing how important it is to do a closure for lessons, I started using my alarm app to keep me accountable. For each class period, I set an alarm to a different musical ringtone that I downloaded from Zedge (and I often let the kids choose one for their class) then the last 7 minutes of class this alarm would go off. At that time, we had less than a minute to wrap up conversations and writing and to move on to closure.
Read more below!
Lesson closure varied from taking (1) cornell notes in order to summarize what we learned, and since it was math, the all important steps that we followed, (2) to student presentations, (3) to a gallery walk of student work or posters, (4) to an exit slip, (5) to a self assessment or fist-to-five check, (6) to a reflection of teamwork, or whatever struck my fancy. So, I challenge YOU to use this "ancient" technology called a timer, or the "modern" technology called an alarm to help get your instruction and closure on point!
40 Lesson Closure Ideas |