Example 1
One example of using the strategy of wait time in the content area of a reading lesson could be during a teacher read aloud. As the teacher is reading the book to the whole class, s/he can pause and ask the students comprehension questions such as 'What do you think will happen next in the story using what we've already read?' The teacher can then pause for at least five seconds while the students process the question and think of an answer. With this amount of time, the students answers are likely to be well-thought out. The teacher can then call on a few students to tell their prediction to the whole class.
Example 3
An example of the use of wait time during a mathematics lesson could occur when a teacher is working through a word problem with the students and asks them what kind of operation they would need to use in order to find the answer. If she waited for just a few seconds, the students that typically depend on their peers to answer the question because they struggle with it, would be given time to work on it. They would also be more prone to try to decide which operation to use if the teacher had already set up the idea that s/he will often call on a student who doesn't have his/her hand raised. If the students know that there is that expectation for them to always be ready with an answer when they are given think time, then they will be more likely to attempt each answer and not depend on their peers.
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Example 2
Another example of using wait time could be in the content area of history. If the students are learning about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, the teacher can ask them a few higher order questions for them to analyze and reflect on. An example question could be something like, "Why do you think Abraham Lincoln wanted the United States to remain one country?" The teacher would then provide the students with an adequate amount of time to think about this and depending on their grade level could even have them jot a few of their thoughts down as well. The teacher could then have the students share and compare their answers with a peer.
Example 4
In the area of science, wait time could be used to allow each student to put his prior/acquired knowledge to use during a whole group conducted experiment. The teacher could stop and say that the students now have two minutes to develop a hypothesis for this experiment. This way, every student would have practice developing a hypothesis in a setting where the teacher could provide immediate feedback to them on the quality of their developed hypothesis. The use of this strategy in this setting provides students with additional teacher support without any additional work done by the teacher. All the teacher has to do is ask for a hypothesis created by a student, followed by any other different hypotheses other students developed before reviewing them and discussing their strength and weaknesses.
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This picture is a good reminder for teachers who are struggling to use the wait time strategy. This is because sure, teachers always want their lessons to go well and their students to learn, but they also always have a lot of things they need to teach and waiting for at least five seconds is harder than it sounds. This picture is just a good reminder to stay calm and just wait to see how your students will surprise you.
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This picture would also be a great reminder for teachers to use wait time to improve the learning of their students. It could also be used as a visual reminder for students when printed out, so that they know that they are being given time to actually think about the question instead of rely on the first person to raise their hand. It could also remind them that since you are giving them time to think, you just might call on them even if they don’t raise their hand.
*Both pictures are from Think Time and Wait Time, 2013. |
In this video, the presenter gives a brief overview of the strategy, as well as good reasons for why to use it. He then precedes to discuss the different ways to use it effectively.
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In this video, a few teachers talk about how they use the wait time strategy in the classroom and their reasons for using it. They also discuss the benefits of why they started to use it.
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This video is a good example of the wait time strategy in use. It shows what happens when a teacher provides wait time, and then compares it to the results a teacher often gets when they don’t use wait time.
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