All Things CLASS

I was having a discussion with a classroom teaching team recently around the concept of "wait time." In the Productivity dimension, it is addressed under maximizing learning time. The question posed by the teacher is "how much wait time is OK?" Her argument was that as children get older, It is important to learn patience, to not always be doing something. The group felt that it is important for children to learn to wait their turn, for example. 

I would appreciate hearing thoughts from others on this topic. 

Hello Nancy,
There is an example of low productivity on page 50 in CLASS Manual. For example, the teacher may have students wait without an activity while he/she does attendance paperwork and completes the lunch count This lack of activities also may occur as students finish their work or clean up after an activity. For example during clean up, some students may finish their assigned tasks before others. In a classroom low on the PRODUCTIVITY dimension, these students are not given another activity to work on after they finish cleaning up, (E.G. looking at books, helping in another area) but instead are left to wait as the rest of the class finishes.

The teachers can use another teaching opportunity to teach patience. If they have children waiting, it can affect teacher sensitivity too and behavior management.

Hi! 
I would wonder what the teaching of patience looked like for this teacher in these wait times. If they were actively teaching/explaining about patience or if their thought process of having the children wait develops patience. I think there are many things we think we are teaching children but without actual guidance, children are not always clear on that intention. There are many great activities a teacher can intentionally do to help them learn about patience and taking turns can occur and be encouraged through setting up a timer for a popular toy or listening to their peers when in whole group. But these times do not need to include the child waiting with nothing to do. Just like as an adult, if I have to wait for something, I most often will fill that time with something else to do and not sit doing nothing. Wait times with nothing productive to do can lead to misbehavior and boredom. 

Great Post Amanda!

We were just discussing this yesterday in our VPK classroom. As the children move up to Kindergarten they need to be able to practice patience and wait for a few minutes at a time. Our feeling is if expectations are provided then is should be ok to expect the children in the VPK classroom to wait patiently for a few minutes until everyone is done or it is time to transition or whatever the situation is. Unfortunately so many children (and adults) are so impatient because they are used to immediate gratification or they really don't know how to be "bored" and be ok with it for a few minutes. It's an important life skill.

Hi,
We recently had a Circle Time discussion with our students about patience and waiting and "bored" which was a vocabulary word in a book we were reading. We talked with them about things that they could do when they needed to wait for something and felt bored. It was an eye opener for us as educators in terms of the kinds of activities and materials that they would like to see and have available while they wait. The students came up with great ideas and we responded with preparedness. My advice is "talk to your VPK kids!" We also have a strategy for impatience while waiting to speak, they cross their hands over their shoulders and give themself "a pat for patience"! 

Reply to all,
Thank you everyone for your feedback on the topic of "wait time." I agree with a majority of your comments and was feeling the same way, but also wanted to hear other perspectives. I think this might be a good discussion for an upcoming CLASS training we are doing!