Monday, July 16, 2012

Jumping in Feet First

Instead of making my first blog post about me, I decided to make it about something more fun, my new classroom timer.

This is a Time Timer, original name, huh?  I bought mine from our local teacher store, Teacher Heaven. I know its also available through Lakeshore Learning.
 Why do I love this clock? Well, I moved to middle school after 17 years in elementary and taught six sessions of 6th grade math. I had 50 minutes with each class. That time seemed to fly by and pacing was something I really had to practice. It took a long time. I was ALWAYS running out of time. We even started doing daily lesson plans and assigning time to each activity. Eight minutes for their warm up sounded great and doable. I even set my FREE online timer for them. But, inevitably the warm up always took longer.  I will still use this for lots of things, I am sure. But this clock is going to be posted right by my door. The fact that it is red and bold... well, I have high hopes that when I say, "You have 10 minutes to work these problems", it will mean 10 minutes.

All it takes is 1 AA battery, which I plan to keep on hand at all times.

I also envision this being set for shorter time frames as needed. I know my students are going to enjoy this visual, because to them 50 minutes, does not fly by.

It also beeps when time is up. So, I was thinking of setting it for 45 minutes and when it beeps, I know I have 5 minutes to wrap up and clean things up before the bell. For my students, when the bells rings, they are out!

I bought the big one. It is a 12". That was all the store I went to had. Lakeshore has 3 sizes though. I wanted the big one. I need to see it as well as my whole class. It was expensive, $40. I know, I know, that is a lot. Normally, I don't spend money on school stuff, but for me, this is a worthy investment.

I can't wait to use it in my classroom. For now, I may need to use it for blogging. Keep me focused :)
Hope this helps you!

1 comment:

  1. I know this is crazy late but I just found your blog and I am enjoying it so much I decided to just start at the beginning and read every word. I use this timer also and it is a wonderful tool to assist students in making better decisions within the classroom. When I have a non-compliant student I give a direct request and set the timer for 5 min and walk away reminding them to make good choices. The students know they have time to make their own choice and it helps avoid arguments. The class knows the consequences for non-compliance so they usually encourage others with positive peer pressure.

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