The document discusses various issues relating to the effective use of time in schools. It addresses the erosion of instructional time due to factors like scheduling and the pace of instruction. It also summarizes a report that recommended rethinking time allocation and use in schools. The document then discusses block scheduling as an alternative scheduling approach and its potential advantages and disadvantages. Finally, it provides tips for teachers to minimize classroom interruptions and make better use of their time.

1. Prepared by:
Younes TAIA

3. THE EROSION OF TIME :
• School calender.
• Instructional time.
• The pace of instruction.
• Teacher time-on-task.
• Student time-on-task.

4. PRISONERS OF TIME :
The National Education Commission reported ,in
April 1994, that schools were very much
controlled by the clock and that true school
reform must re-examine the allocation and use
of time in the schools. The report came up with
eight recommendations as the rudder of a
school reform:

5. Reinvest school around learning, not time.
Fix the design flaw: use time in new and better ways.
Establish an academic day
Keep schools open longer to meet the needs of
children and communities.
Give teachers the time they need.
Invest in technology.
Develop local action plans to transform schools.
Share the responsibility: finger-pointing and evasion
must end.

6. BLOCK SCEDULING:
• What is a Block Schedule?
On a Block Schedule, the length of class periods gets
doubled. For example, students attend four 90-minute
classes each day rather than six 50-minute classes
each day. Because of the increased time in each
course, a student can complete a traditional year's
worth of study in one semester. This allows students
to take more courses throughout a school year and
opens up the possibility to study either a wider range
of elective subjects or more depth in a particular
subject such as science, math or history.

7. Advantages of block scheduling:
 Extra time supports more project-based learning and more learning
activities.
 Teachers see fewer students each day and know them better.
 Time permits more cooperative and hands-on learning.
 Greater depth and breadth of content is possible.
 Less time spent in between class transitions.
 Opportunity for providing more individualized instructions.
 Blocks allow time for more and more one-on-one teaching and
evaluation.
 Teachers ‘planning time is longer and more feasible.
 Students have less homework each weekday.
 Blocks allow more time to integrate technology into instruction.

8. Disadvantages of block scheduling:
 Teachers face the challenges of holding students’ attention.
 Teachers must have a variety of instructional skills.
 Teachers have to spend more time with exasperating classes.
 Students lack daily reinforcement of content.
 Students find it harder to catch up after absences.
 Impact on achievement is still questionable.
 Teachers may end up teaching more courses in a year.
 Student transfers between schools are more difficult to handle.
 Blocks may decrease participation in extra-curricular
activities. (largely due to schedule conflicts with academic
courses).

10. Six tips for minimizing classroom interruptions.
 Carry a stopwatch for a day or a week
 Let the world know that intrusions are not welcome
 Hang out a sign outside the doors, such as Important
Learning in Progress or Please do not disturb : Learning in
Progress
 If doors or windows provide too many visual
distractions, rearrange the furniture to face away from the
distraction
 Let other teachers know that sending students to borrow
supplies during class is not welcome. Be tactful but assertive
 Conduct a well planned, organized lesson, have the necessary
materials ready before class begins.

11. Teacher time robbers:
Teachers usually suffer from the activities that they most
frequently cite as keeping them from doing their job better.
The following are examples of those activities:
 filling out forms, paper work.
 repeating directions.
 dealing with unplanned interruptions.
 doing clerical tasks , photocopying.
 handling classroom behavior.

12. Classroom routines:
Here are some specific routines some teachers
find helpful in running their classrooms daily
activities.
Taking attendance.
Distributing and collecting materials.
Regaining students’ attention.

13. Storage solutions
A place for everything, and
everything in its place

14. The challenge of paperwork
Challenges of producing paperwork are :
• Question of environment .
• Time consuming.

15. Causes of the paper Deluge
What are the causes of having a lot of papers?
 The number of publications has exploded.
 Many people are concerned with
documentation.
 The invention of technology (photocopier and
computer).

16. Some tips for handling paperwork
Never save papers because you might need them
someday.
Set aside one day a year to purge all your files of any
piece of paper you don’t need.
Save only one copy of papers you need in the future.
In your desk or at the front of your file drawer, keep
three folders ; label the first Corespondence, the
second Schedules, and the third Forms.
A computer has the potential to help with all kinds of
paper work chores.

17. Communications
A teacher’s job entails hundreds of communications
each day.
Tips fo effective use of communication channels:
Leave notes for teachers, administrators,or
students_rather than taking time to wait for someone.
Use a Rolodex file to record important phone and fax
numbers and email adresses …etc
Develop your own form of letters.

18. Teacher Time Log
Teacher Time Log is a record that reveals
how class time is really spent.
The Log aims at :
heplping you get a good reflection on where
your time really goes.
Developing new strategies that help you spend
more time on doing higher-priority activites

19. To-Do List
List everything you need or want to get done.
Set your priorities.
A - Must be done
B – Should be completed if at all possible
C – Low priority, completed only after doing A’s
and B’s
Prioritize tasks within each group.
Developing this habit will increase
productivity.

21. Assessing Student Time-On-Task
How ?
Focus on decreasing noninstructional activites.
Increasing student engagement rates.
Using a systematic observation :
how long does it take to get a class started ?
how smooth are the transitions from one task
to the next ?

23. Procrastinations payoffs
Different ‘reason’ for procrastinations.
Procrastinations as a life style.
Some of its ADVANTAGES !!!
Cases in which it occurs.

24. Attacking procrastination
Begin small and progress as you experience
success.
Establish your own deadlines.
Set a definite beginning point.
Set priorities.
Reward yourself.

25. Tips
on
getting
orginized Plan for
Discover you
prime time.
Know what
success
Are you an early
you want!!
bird or a night
owl? When you are
.
most creative.
Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on an uncompleted
task.
--William, Letters of William

26. Keep a personal Calendar.

27. Have a balanced life

28. Been to a good meeting lately?

29. Look for alternatives to a meeting
• E-mail
• Telephone call
• Adapt the ’ Delphi technoque’

30. Have an agenda
Distribute the written agenda a day or
two before the meeting if possible.
Invite advance preparation.
Clear-cut goals for the meeting
Schedule discussion

31. Begin on time
Waiting for all the late comers to arrive
punishes those who are punctual.
Make sure the meeting will begin on time
Suggest to the chairperson that the
meeting begin.
Send out the notice and agenda for the
begining and ending.
Try to begin off-hour times

32. Include only necessary people
Invite only those persons whose presence
is directly related to the meeting goals.
Attend only those meetings at which your
presence is essencial.

33. Select a conductive environment
Seek a location that avoids traffic flow.
Close the door
Be interrupted only for emergencies.
Don’t allow cell phones.
Rerrange the chairs to fit the meeting
purpose.

34. Keep the meeting on task
Every meeting room must have a clock
Summarize segnificant points.
Remain sensitive to participants’s hidden
agendas.

35. Record progress
Keep a written account of the
discussion.
Use PERT to help manage large
projects.
Summarize decisions and include a list
of responsibilities for the follow up
action.
If the group is meeting again,Include
the meeting time and agenda.

36. End on time
Agree on specific ending time at the
begining and use back-to-back technique.
Set the time for your next meeting before
the meeting

37. Student help
Give students a chance to learn new
skills.
Introduce student assistance the first
week of school.
Ask students to complete specific
tasks.

38. Discussion

43. The End