Article Review; Effective Strategies for teachers to maximize Student Learning

Time

“A teacher who loses as little as five minutes of instructional minutes per day

due to inefficiencies wastes fifteen hours of opportunity over the course of a 180-

day school year.” (Meador 2018) One of the most precious commodities for a

teacher is instructional time. On average teachers feel like there is not enough

instructional time for students to achieve quality understanding of the content

standards. This article provides tips that will maximize the instruction time that we

as teachers find so valuable. Effective teachers create and administer procedures

and expectations to limit wasted time and maximize engaging learning

opportunities.

Efficient planning and preparation are essential in maximizing instructional

time. It is better to over plan than it is to under plan and waste time. It is also

important to allow students quality time to practice skills using subject content.

Effective classroom procedures allow classrooms to run “like a well oiled machine”

(Meador 2018) Free time does not exist in a well-designed learning environment.

Transitioning from one component of a lesson to another is vital to managing

students learning time. Time can literally be lost in translation. Another crucial

component to effective classroom time management is providing the students with

clear and concise directions. Poorly delivered directions can turn a class into chaos

real quick. When all hell breaks loose good classroom management and a developed

disciplinary plan are applied to regain control of the class.

 “No amount of planning can account for everything that could go wrong in a

lesson”, (Meador 2018) therefore it is critical to have a back up lesson or a plan B

with in the lesson. During instructional time teachers and students are bombarded

with distractions. There is no way teachers can prevent all the distraction in a day

but we can limit them with well-prepared and planned lesson, smooth transition,

established classroom procedures, clear and concise directions, and a well

developed classroom management.

 Resources

Meador, Derrick. Strategies for Teachers to Maximize Student Learning Time.

Thought Co. 2018. https://www.thoughtco.com/strategies-for-teachers-to-
maximize-student-learning-time-4065667