Classroom Timers & Executive Functioning

Executive functioning skills are the self-regulating skills that we use to perform the ordinary-  but essential- daily tasks.  We need executive functioning skills to plan, organize, make decisions, control our impulses, prioritize, manage time, and more. As classroom teachers, we know that students who find school challenging often have deficits in their executive functioning skills. Current research indicates just how important these skills are. "Students who have poor executive functioning skills ...are missing out on learning."    How are we helping our students to develop these skills?

If you Google "Executive Functioning Teaching Strategies" you're sure to come across thousands of articles with ideas, approaches, and research. The amount of content can be overwhelming, but one strategy at the top of many of the lists is the use of a timer. Classroom timers can be beneficial to everyone in the classroom, not just those with time management issues.

Benefits of a Visual Timer

Transitions: Time on task is among the most important components of learning. As students transition from one task to the next, a visual timer can minimize transition time from one task to another.

Staying on task and Stamina: Time management can be a challenge for many learners. By using a visual timer in class, students can gain a better understanding of how long tasks take which can, in turn, help students better make decisions about how they use their time.

Establishing Clear Expectations: Timers prevent teachers from becoming the arbitrary enforcer of time. A visual timer provides clarity for students.

Digital Timers to Try 

YouTube: Try searching 5 Minute Timer in YouTube and you'll be shocked at how many there are to choose from. The videos timers have a number of features from background music to countdown frames. Find one that works for you and project on your screen in the classroom.

Tip: You can always embed a timer in a Google Slide Presentation so that it's ready to go. Imagine your students are engaged in a discussion about something they read in class. Put a timer directly in a slide to help keep students focused and on task.

Google Omnibox: In the Chrome search bar, type in "# Minute Timer" and Google creates an instant timer for you. So easy.

Online Stopwatch- This free, easy to use online timer offers a variety of online timers to help kids visualize time. Things like burning candles and sand timers can help young students with the concept of time.

Timerr.Com- This tool offers two visual timers- an egg and egg timer. Both are easy to use and allow for a clear visual for students.

Resources:

“Time-on-Task: A Teaching Strategy That Accelerates Learning.” FEAweb, feaweb.org/time-on-task-a-teaching-strategy-that-accelerates-learning.


“Why Executive Function Is A Vital Stepping-Stone For Kids' Ability to Learn.” KQED, 15 Dec. 2016, www.kqed.org/mindshift/46956.

Mindfulness and Free Awesome Tool

Mindfulness. It's a word that we are hearing more frequently in education circles. It's also a word that might lead us to think of other words-  gimmick, fad, and fluff, for example. It's entirely understandable, especially given the current workload of educators. Afterall, who has time for something as hokey as mindfulness?

What if that this post started with something other than the word mindfulness and instead started with this question: Would you like your students to have the ability to pay attention with purpose, kindness and curiosity?  It makes mindfulness actually sound kind of awesome.

It sets a stage for appreciation, increased reaction time, and better decision-making abilities.  In children, mindfulness has been found to:

• mitigate the effects of bullying (Zhou, Liu, Niu, Sun, & Fan, 2016)
• enhance focus in children with ADHD (Zhang et al., 2016)
• reduce attention problems (Crescentini, Capurso, Furlan, & Fabbro, 2016).
• improving mental health and wellbeing
• improve social skills when well taught and practiced in children and adolescents.

When thinking about how much time educators spend reacting to the issues above, perhaps a more proactive approach is to teach mindfulness to students. If nothing else, it's something to consider.

Start Here: 

If you're curious about bringing mindfulness into your classroom,  there are unlimited resources available online, and it's easy to get overwhelmed. Start with something simple.

FREE for Teachers & Schools: 
The Calm Schools Initiative is offering every teacher in the world free access to  the paid subscription of Calm, a well-known mindfulness app. The goal of the Calm Schools Initiative is to  empower teachers with resources they can use to help kids. Click here to fill out a form to get your subscription.  It will take a few days to get your code. 

Help kids pay attention to their breathing to quiet the mind. In this video, a narrator guides children through a breathing excercise by instructing them to imagine a sail boat that rises and falls as they breathe. 

Another activity  is the  SpiderMan meditation. This activity from Kids Relaxation can help kids hone in on  their “spidey-senses”  in the present moment. 




Teaching kids to pay attention to their body while walking them through a body scan can also help teach mindfulness. Here's a script to read to your class to walk them through the process. (You'll have to change the part that says to "lie down" unless that works for you.) 

Finally, Mindfulness Activities for Children & Teens: 25 Fun Exercises for Kids  provides a  list of easy mindfulness activities for all ages that require almost no preparation. 

Resources: 

Ackerman, Courtney. “Mindfulness Activities for Children And Teens: 25 Fun Exercises For Kids.” Positive Psychology Program, 3 Feb. 2017, positivepsychologyprogram.com/mindfulness-for-children-kids-activities/.

Barseghian, Tina. “Why Teaching Mindfulness Benefits Students Learning.” MindShift, 12 Sept. 2013, ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/09/12/why-teaching-mindfulness-benefits-students-learning/.

Beach, Sarah Rudell.  “10 Ways to Teach Mindfulness to Kids.” Left Brain Buddha, 28 June 2017, leftbrainbuddha.com/10-ways-teach-mindfulness-to-kids/.