The Gift of Time

My eye is 99% better and I am wearing contacts once again! A big thank you to everyone who expressed concern and sent well wishes. Time was the key to allowing my eye to heal properly.

Speaking of time, in our day and culture, have you noticed that time is a valuable commodity that is always in demand? There never seems to be enough of it on any given day for me to accomplish all my goals or to clear my to-do list. Whether I want to admit it or not, my students have extremely busy lives also. After sports practice, dinner and maybe a community event to attend, sometimes my students don’t get home until 8 or 9 o’clock in the evening. They are exhausted, as would be expected. How can I expect my pre-algebra students to spend another hour working on math homework?

I can rant and rave about how our country doesn’t value education, or how other countries are light years ahead of us in the fields of science and math, but it won’t change the reality of American students’ lives. For those students who do arrive home before 5:00 pm, many of them do not have adult supervision. Or worse, they are the adult supervision for their younger siblings.

The best present I can give my students is the gift of time. Time to process math concepts. Time with me during tutorials working together in smaller groups. Time to start assignments in class to help cement new information.

To encourage students to maximum the little precious time given in class, I took Kasey’s advice and removed my classroom clock. Believe me; I was hesitant that this little act would make any noticeable difference. It did! It still does! For the most part, for a majority of the days, students will busily work up to the bell that signals teachers to dismiss class.

The one of many things I appreciate about Carnegie’s curriculum is the lengths of their assignments. Extremely reasonable. The right number of problems for students to practice a new skill and concept. So a family’s evening is not held hostage by their child’s math homework.

OK – I have to confess. I didn’t totally get rid of my clock. I replaced my big, clinical looking black-and- white clock with a smaller, wooden clock and placed it below my window behind my desk area.

I am not a watch wearer and therefore, still needed a way to know the time of day. It was amusing to overhear students tell each other that Mrs. Park did really have a clock. It was hidden! Students acted like they were giving away the secrets of Fort Knox! If my student only that the time they are given is worth so much more than all the gold Fort Knox could ever hold.