Timers For The Blended Learning Classroom

Episode 02: Classroom management tips for allowing students work at their own pace through a weekly checklist.  Focus topic: Timers 

Student Timers

As the students transition into taking ownership of their learning, the teacher and the students have to be aware of how to manage time.  The last thing that we want to happen in the blended learning classroom is procrastination.  One of the techniques that work well with time management is the deployment of student timers along with the Phase Two checklist.  In today's video and blog post, I am going to share out my favorite timers as well as a few websites that will help with time management.  

Side Note: I have used and demonstrated the following timers in the K-12 classrooms.  Today's classroom video showcases a 1st grade classroom using one of the techniques.  The photos will show sample Middle and High School classrooms using the same tools. 

Kitchen Timers

A few years ago, I was working with a group of teachers that wanted to move toward a checklist but wanted to allow the students to progress at their own pace.  I suggested that they purchase kitchen timers — great idea.  After school, we went to Dollar General and bought 24 kitchen timers. 

The next day, we taught the students how to use kitchen timers.  The students were excited; they could not wait to start tracking time.  Twenty minutes into the selfed paced classroom, the teacher and myself were ready to toss the timers out the window.  That was too much dinning and chirping all class period long.​

Side Note: Kitchen timers are cheap and make good timers.  I would recommend finding some that don't ding so loud.  

SandTimers

After the kitchen timers were a bust, I suggested sand timers to the teachers.  Sand timers don't make noise, and now Amazon sells them in all different time increments. Click on the photo of the sand timers, and it will take you to Amazon.  The students like the sand timers and the teachers love the fact that they don't beep.  

Side Note: The trouble with Sand Timers is the fact the students can quickly flip the sand back and forth.  They can get knocked over.  Most importantly, now that the timers don't make noise the students while reading will not know that their time has expired. ​

Cube Timers

This timer is not for the students but rather for the teachers.  I love it that the teachers when teaching small group instruction (the mini-lesson) they want to keep working with the students to dive deeper as well as to fill in the holes and gaps of their knowledge. 

 However, after a certain amount of time, the students need to keep working through the checklist and the teacher needs to see all of the students throughout the class period.  Therefore, this timer, becomes the signal and cue to the teacher to wrap up the lesson and move to the next group of students.  The Cube timers are easy, quick and provide a sense of time when flipped.  

Side Note: I found two sets of cube timers on Amazon.  The cube timers were meant for circuit workouts but they work just fine in the blended learning mini-lesson. ​

Gym Boss

I have to give a shout out to Jeff Kish for finding this timer.  After deploying Phase 1 workshops all summer long, Jeff started to search for a timer that would allow for one main countdown and then one transition timer and would repeat for four minutes.  He found, the Gym Boss.  

The Gym Boss not only counts down a timer with a transition time allotment but it also vibrates.  The vibration helps to signal that time is up, and it is time to move to the next activity.  
​
Side Note: I highly recommend the Gym Boss for every student, but they are pricey.  Therefore, to start, give the gym boss to those students that have a hard time transitioning.   

Soft Glow Timer

This timer was showcased to me by a team of fourth-grade teachers at Millsap Elementary School.  (Thank you, Ashley, for sharing your timer idea with me).  This timer is rechargeable, glows, and has a lot of different time choices.  That's right, it glows.  If anyone knows me, you know that I love things that light up.  I was instantly drawn to this timer the first time I saw it.  (Love at first sight)   

Side Note: This timer is expensive.  Therefore, I recommend only buying four timers, one at each learning studio. Then over time, pick up a few more so students can have their soft glow timer.  ​

Online timers

Of course there are only timers that you can use to help showcase elapsed time.  My only suggestion is that the eventually, the interactive pannel should be used by the students as part of thier checklist items.  To get started though, it is okay to display the timer.  
Below are a list of my favorite count down timers. 

• Classroom Screen - This is showcased in the daily video
• Classtools.net
• YouTube Timers - this one might cause more distractions but it is fun! 

Join the Conversation: bit.ly/3PBLChat