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How Do You Improve Pacing in the Classroom? - Classroom Management Expert
This resource, "How Do You Improve Pacing in the Classroom?" is a blog post from a teaching website, ClassroomManagementExtprt.com. It is a fantastic resource because it is easy-to-understand and full of helpful information about instructional pacing. This resource begins with a simple definition of instructional pacing. It then explains why pacing is important to be aware of in your classroom, and benefits of mastering timing and pacing in lesson plans.
This article states that pacing helps teachers keep their students engaged during class, and also talks about what happens if a teacher’s pacing is off. If a teacher does not know a class’s funds of knowledge and their pre-existing schemas they often misjudge the pacing of instruction and the students learn nothing from the lesson. If a teacher covers a topic too quickly or too slowly the students will tune out because they feel lost or overwhelmed, and improper pacing is usually where disruptive behaviors spring from in the classroom. The article addresses the fact that appropriate instructional pacing is a huge tool in the classroom management toolkit.
Lastly this resource offers a list of ways to practice and improve pacing in your classroom. With many tips on how to practice and improve pacing teachers can reference this resource multiple times after they try out some of the tips. They can return to this article and evaluate how their implementation is going, or if there are other things they can try to further improve their instructional pacing.
Christi Seidman
Foundations of Timing Instruction
Mastering the Art of Pacing by Cristina Compton in The Center for Professional Education of Teachers website not only delegates why pacing is important but also how teachers can incorporate pacing into planning a lesson. Compton started off by comparing waitressing to art that can be improved over time. She goes on to say that pacing is key for both waitressing and teaching. Some of the biggest takeaways from this article are that such considerations for timing & transitioning instruction include: pacing, timing, transitions & closings. Closings help students identify & understand important information. Compton points out that students take the time that is given so more time does not usually equate to a better product and undefined transitions can lead to disruption. Compton goes on to link to a document titled Foundation of Timing Instruction where it goes more in-depth as to topics she covered. Some of what Compton previously stated is restated but things like pacing to plan up until the bell and not a moment sooner. This document also offers plenty of examples that encompass what the main idea is and how to better plan pacing into your lesson. One example provided tasks the teacher with first taking any tests themselves and timing it so they have an idea of how long each section would realistically take. Lastly, the most important aspect of this document would have to be the closing rule of thumb where it’s highly encouraged to keep to the pacing plan and not deviate; assigning time on a later date for unfinished work.
Angie Garcia
Pacing as a Form of Optimal Learning
“Making the Most of a 90-Minute Block” by Jennifer Gonzalez
Evaluates the importance of pacing through different classroom management styles.
Describes different pacing strategies.
Explains the benefits of these strategies.
Gonzalez started this source as a response to an educator who made the comment that block schedules hinder students education and take away from valuable learning time because students become bored and restless with the length of the period. Gonzalez does acknowledge how if the pacing of the classroom is not taken into account, then block, as well as any other types of class schedules, can have a negative impact on the students learning. What is offered in this source is are five beneficial examples of different strategies of pacing a teacher can use to better manage their classes and utlize the time to maximize student learning. One example of pacing that I use in my own block period of 128 minutes, is the Classic block schedule where teachers spend the first half of the class engaging the students with an anticipatory set, then follow that by giving direct instruction, having the students work on an informal or formal assignment that speaks on what they just learned from the instruction, and then assessment of where the students are at through discussion and re-teaching, and finally a reflection of the lesson. Gonzalez notes how classroom management is important to maintain student attention, but overall, it all comes down to the way the teacher paces the class and sets up different, and consistent practices of engagement with the lesson.
Delila Muñoz
Nevertheless, to make effective learning happen, it's best to become flexible so that we may maximize "engaged time" -in which students aren't just attending direct instruction or doing the activities planned, but are substantively engaged as they do so. In his article Pacing Lessons for Optimal Learning written by Craig Simmons, he brings up the importance of establishing balance when it comes to time management of planning a lesson, and overall completing how much has been covered within direct instruction. Interestingly, it is becoming more common to see time stamping reoccurring as teachers "consistently plan the current time of an event that a computer records" (2020). However, the only problematic issue that is sure to arise is how instructional pacing is used towards those with additional learning demands that incorporate:
Function
Vocabulary
Symbols
Discourse
Syntax
In accordance, this is the essential "phase" of instruction in which the teachers (AKA ourselves) have the most opportunity to be intentional in selecting content and pedological practices. Combining this with intellectual and other developmental disabilities, this can also be seen as a phase of instruction in which teachers have the most opportunity to be intentional in selecting content and pedagogical practices. For example, in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) they explain that when a teacher "… is clear on what needs to be done, how, and when … [pacing] will tend to flow more smoothly because all the information has been gathered and the details have been decided upon beforehand. Subsequently, well-planned lessons lead to an increase in instructional time (as well as "engaged time").
Kay Anderson
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