Trainer Tip Tuesday # 5 - Keep Track of the Time

“Keep track of the time”

Keeping track of the time helps you maintain your pacing. “Pacing” is the rate and pace in which you deliver your instruction. If you are designing material, it is an expected time-frame of how long your lesson will take to be taught.

Knowing where you are pacing is important to help you stay on track. This can impact your lesson plans, breaks, and lunches… everything! Often we are given much to do in a small amount of time, and it is essential to stay on track to make sure we are getting the most out of our

time. On the opposite side, we may have too much time allocated for a subject, and we need to implement a supplemental activity or move the next activity up.

When instructional designers are designing a course, they budget time for activities, discussion, practice, assessment, etc. (all those kinds of things) with expected pacing. This, in turn, tells you how much time you have as the instructor to deliver that material. Granted, the instructor knows his or her class best, and a seasoned instructor can use Parkinson's Law to make the learning fit any time-frame they have.

However, there are occasions where we can drift off course and have to spend more time on a particular subject. This happens when we are not moderating our in-class discussions, allowing for sidebar conversations, experiencing interruptions, or a myriad of other things. It is okay when this happens, as long as you are prepared.

The best thing we can do to keep track of the time and keep our pacing is a simple one; use a clock and know your lesson plan.

Most modern classrooms and learning spaces have a clock on the wall somewhere that is usually in plain view. Or if they don’t, bring your own small clock. If you have a tablet, you can install a clock app on your tablet and use that instead. Did you know that folks that cannot read an analog clock? This was all that existed when I was in school! Lol.

In my personal use, I wear a watch and use a timer app on my computer, or tablet when in class to keep track of activities. Another practice that I see used, and have used personally, is to assign a time-keeper in the classroom. Someone to keep track of what the time is, and can remind everyone of breaks and lunches.

Needless to say there are lots of ways to keep track of the time and stay on pace, and some methods are more effective than others. But, as the learning professional, you know your classroom best. As long as you are maintaining your pacing, you will hit your goals and objectives on time.

Keep track of the time and #makelearningmatter