WHAT IT IS
Wait Time is a technique many teachers are aware of but do not properly use. Wait Time is exactly what it says: waiting. Waiting for a few seconds after you have asked a student or the class a question. Lack of an accurate wait time results in answers that are not as well-thought out as they could be. It also prevents students who take a little longer to think out a solution from ever answering if the teacher calls on the first student after the first second of wait time. Using the wait time technique in your classroom will result in increased correctness and volunteers for a question and decreased "I don't know's". A good way to pass the wait time - which can seem like an eternity for some teachers - is to narrate it. For example use phrases like: "I'm waiting for more hands." or "I'm seeing people going back to the chapter to see if they can find the scene. That seems like a great idea." Both of these phrases and others listed in "Teach Like A Champion" are great to use and to encourage students to take risks with their answers, but also go back and look for evidence to include. Below is a list of the other seven phrases that can be used to help narrate wait time:
All of these are great ways to narrate wait time in a classroom while also managing the behavior of students during this wait time. Overall, wait time helps students produce more quality answers, while also teaching them how to remain on task even when the teacher is not saying anything.
Wait Time is a technique many teachers are aware of but do not properly use. Wait Time is exactly what it says: waiting. Waiting for a few seconds after you have asked a student or the class a question. Lack of an accurate wait time results in answers that are not as well-thought out as they could be. It also prevents students who take a little longer to think out a solution from ever answering if the teacher calls on the first student after the first second of wait time. Using the wait time technique in your classroom will result in increased correctness and volunteers for a question and decreased "I don't know's". A good way to pass the wait time - which can seem like an eternity for some teachers - is to narrate it. For example use phrases like: "I'm waiting for more hands." or "I'm seeing people going back to the chapter to see if they can find the scene. That seems like a great idea." Both of these phrases and others listed in "Teach Like A Champion" are great to use and to encourage students to take risks with their answers, but also go back and look for evidence to include. Below is a list of the other seven phrases that can be used to help narrate wait time:
- "I'd like to see at least fifteen hands before we hear an answer."
- "I'm waiting for someone who can connect this scene to another play, ideally Macbeth."
- "I'm going to give everyone lots of time because this question is tricky. Your first answer may not be the best."
- "I'm seeing people thinking deeply and jotting down thoughts. I'll give everyone a few more seconds to do that."
- "I'm looking for someone who's pointing to the place in the passage where you can find the answer."
- "I'll start taking answers in ten seconds."
- "I'm starting to see more hands now. Four, five, seven. Great. People are really starting to get comfortable taking a risk here."
All of these are great ways to narrate wait time in a classroom while also managing the behavior of students during this wait time. Overall, wait time helps students produce more quality answers, while also teaching them how to remain on task even when the teacher is not saying anything.
WHY IT WORKS
Wait time is a great strategy and works well in classrooms, despite it being sometimes awkward. The ways that this strategy is used in the classroom are similar to that of the Stretch It technique. For example, giving a student more time to answer a question helps them to really look into their long-term memory to retrieve an answer. If you don't give students a few extra seconds of wait time, they are only going to get into their working memory - which stores information from the past few seconds. Giving wait time has been proven to help students come up with better answers that are evidence-based and have reasons why. Refer back to the Stretch It tab for more information on long-term and working memory.
Another reason why wait time is a good technique for the classroom is because it helps to shape behavior you wish to see from your students. Shaping is when a student begins to grow closer to the behavior you want. Wait time also works because of classical conditioning and students will be conditioned to know that you are going to wait a few seconds for an answer. Therefore, they should begin to learn to go back and look in the book and they all should become expectant of the teacher calling on them or wanting everyone to work for the answer. Another behavior strategy that this technique can be based from is operant or instrumental conditioning. This was developed by Skinner in 1950 and is different from classical conditioning because it is not involuntary. It is used to bring new behaviors by using positive/negative reinforcement or punishment. By narrating your wait time you are giving students positive reinforcement on what they are expected to do. It can also be inferred that the teacher is using presentation punishment by decreasing the behavior of students who are off task but still giving them guidelines. I think when a teacher first starts using the wait time technique, they should use intermittent reinforcement most. Intermittent reinforcement is giving a reward for a behavior every once in a while and is resistant to extinction (when a learner stops doing behavior).
Wait time is a great strategy and works well in classrooms, despite it being sometimes awkward. The ways that this strategy is used in the classroom are similar to that of the Stretch It technique. For example, giving a student more time to answer a question helps them to really look into their long-term memory to retrieve an answer. If you don't give students a few extra seconds of wait time, they are only going to get into their working memory - which stores information from the past few seconds. Giving wait time has been proven to help students come up with better answers that are evidence-based and have reasons why. Refer back to the Stretch It tab for more information on long-term and working memory.
Another reason why wait time is a good technique for the classroom is because it helps to shape behavior you wish to see from your students. Shaping is when a student begins to grow closer to the behavior you want. Wait time also works because of classical conditioning and students will be conditioned to know that you are going to wait a few seconds for an answer. Therefore, they should begin to learn to go back and look in the book and they all should become expectant of the teacher calling on them or wanting everyone to work for the answer. Another behavior strategy that this technique can be based from is operant or instrumental conditioning. This was developed by Skinner in 1950 and is different from classical conditioning because it is not involuntary. It is used to bring new behaviors by using positive/negative reinforcement or punishment. By narrating your wait time you are giving students positive reinforcement on what they are expected to do. It can also be inferred that the teacher is using presentation punishment by decreasing the behavior of students who are off task but still giving them guidelines. I think when a teacher first starts using the wait time technique, they should use intermittent reinforcement most. Intermittent reinforcement is giving a reward for a behavior every once in a while and is resistant to extinction (when a learner stops doing behavior).
IN THE CLASSROOM
In my classroom, I plan on using wait time mainly because of the personal experience I have had with no wait time in most classes. In elementary school, most of my teachers would call on the first few hands that shot up in the air within the first second after they asked their question. I always liked to think about my answers and liked to be sure of them before I raised my hand and answered in front of the class. Teachers were often disappointed in me not participating, but I definitely would have participated more if I just had a few more seconds of wait time. In my classroom, I will give students wait time when answering questions because I know that helps produce more evidence based answers and more volunteers for the question. I will also narrate my wait time by using the phrases listed above. Wait time will be extremely emphasized and important in my classroom because I want students to feel comfortable with the answers they speak aloud to the class.
In my classroom, I plan on using wait time mainly because of the personal experience I have had with no wait time in most classes. In elementary school, most of my teachers would call on the first few hands that shot up in the air within the first second after they asked their question. I always liked to think about my answers and liked to be sure of them before I raised my hand and answered in front of the class. Teachers were often disappointed in me not participating, but I definitely would have participated more if I just had a few more seconds of wait time. In my classroom, I will give students wait time when answering questions because I know that helps produce more evidence based answers and more volunteers for the question. I will also narrate my wait time by using the phrases listed above. Wait time will be extremely emphasized and important in my classroom because I want students to feel comfortable with the answers they speak aloud to the class.