As a teacher, you will already be aware of how precious your time is. When planning lessons you may not be able to estimate how much time you will need to spend explaining the task, as some children may need a little more help in understanding what they need to do.  In this situation it is advisable to give all the children a good understanding of what is required of them and then spend a little bit of extra time with a smaller group of children or on a one to one basis with those that need a little extra help rather than making the whole class wait. When setting children a task, tell them how long they have to complete it and give them advanced warning when there is a short amount of time left.

Most teachers usually have a teaching assistant with them during the majority of the day. Make sure that you use your teaching assistant’s time wisely and give them set tasks that you want them to complete or a group of children you would like them to over see. This will free up some of your time to concentrate on other things if needed.