Teaching Students How to Productively Use Wait Time
Guest User
It’s no secret that wait time is an effective strategy to allow students time to process information and to generate a response. Indeed, intentionally incorporating three, five, or ten seconds of wait time allows for increased quality of student responses.
As a reminder, there are two types of wait time-
Wait Time One: Time provided after asking students the initial question.
Wait Time Two: Additional time directly after a student’s response.
Engage students in the effective use of wait time by teaching expectations related to thinking, responding, and listening. For example, you might use the process below:
Prepare open-ended questions
Use the term think time—which conveys the purpose for pausing
Be explicit about the reason for the two pauses
Expect all students to prepare a response
Use scaffolds, signs, and symbols to support the process
Wait time is a powerful tool for your students! Don’t keep it a secret from them!
Click HERE to learn more about implementing wait time in the article, “A New Rhythm for Responding.”
Reference:
Sattes, B. D., & Walsh, J. A. (2015, September 1). A new rhythm for responding. ASCD. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/a-new-rhythm-for-responding