Make the Most of Teaching Time

With time being such a coveted commodity in a classroom, we teachers try to make use of every single minute that can. How many times how you told the class, "I'm going to give you 5 minutes to finish up before moving on to our next task," and then 10 minutes later realize that they are still working? Are you sick and tired of buying those expensive overhead timers whose batteries die before one semester of school is up or your overhead lamp turns the LCD screen dark? I for one, fall into both of those categories.
Well, here's some help for us all. It's a little web site called online-stopwatch.com. Through this website, you are given a flash stopwatch and timer than can be used to keep track of time so that you don't get off track again. And the best part about it, is that it's FREE! And who, as a teacher, doesn't like things that are free?

Online-stopwatch offers a variety of online timers ranging from your basic countdown timer, to an hourglass, and even (the kid's favorite) a bomb that burns a wick until the time expires. Another plus, is that they are all very easy to set. To get the full benefit of the application you could click to make it as a full screen. Depending on what resources you have available to you through your district, this timer can be shown via a projector or (as in my district) over our Safari television system so that the students can monitor their own time as well. If you don't have those resources, perhaps justing setting it to a classroom computer that students can see on "Full Screen" mode would work just as well. You can also download the timers to your computer for uses in other places as well, such as presentations, classes, workshops, etc. Be sure to turn up the volume so you can hear the timer go off - which sounds like a telephone ringing. Be aware however that all the timers have the same "ring" to signify the time being up, much to the dismay of my students who were very much looking forward to a bomb sound when it's timer went off. Another word of warning, upon seeing these timers for the first time (especially the aforementioned bomb), students like counting down to the end. I suggest showing them the timers first, let them get their counting out of the way, and then set your expectations of the use of the timer in your classroom. Eventually students will get used to you using the application.

This website has been very helpful for myself and students in my classroom as it is a good way to manage and make the most out of our time. I don't have to worry about buying new batteries for it and it won't break (unless the site decides to start charging people for the service). It has been very helpful for journaling time, timed math tests, Kagan structures, and any other classroom activity that requires a timer. If you really wanted to find some uses, since it does count off to the nearest thousandth of a second, one could stop the clock periodically and have students name the place value as a quick math review. Several of the teachers in my building have found this to be an invaluable tool for them to use in their classrooms.