Wait Time

Wait Time

Wait time is a valuable tool that although may appear to be a simple technique, it is little bit more challenging to execute effectively and efficiently.

Prior to reading TLAC, I’ve used the wait time technique – yet it wasn’t as efficient or effective. In reinforcing or previewing concepts for the students, my delays were too long causing us to lose valuable learning time. Other times, be it individually or in co-teaching settings, wait time was usually about one second after asking a question which produce inaccurate, not thoughtful responses. It also increased the “guessing game” - where if an answer is incorrect, some may possibly shout out other answers which turn into a discipline problem.

Yet, delaying a few strategic seconds after you finish asking a question and before you ask a student to begin answering allows opportunities for students to generate richer, more reflective answers. In fact, some research has shown that when students are given just three to five seconds of wait time after a question, several key things are likely to happen:

• The length and correctness of student responses are likely to increase.



• The number of failures to respond (“I don’t know”) is likely to decrease.



• The number of students who volunteer an answer is likely to increase.



• The use of evidence in answers is likely to increase

Upon reading the technique in TLAC and practicing it, I usually count in my head for five seconds prior to asking students for a response. Having this delayed time has given more student voice in the classroom rather than hearing from just the few students who are always eager to respond. More importantly, for some of the students with disabilities whom I work with, wait times allows students with delayed processing and short-term memory challenges to frame their answers resulting in more accurate responses and comfortability to participate in class.

To measure success with this technique, take a small tally of accurate answers when using wait time versus what would happen if I didn’t use wait time effectively. If you notice that even with wait time, students are still not producing the accurate response needed – it may not be just the technique itself. Think, instead, how can I make sure that students receive the necessary amount of time to produce quality responses? An example could be using a sentence starter as a support for students in formulating their responses on a post-it prior to responding. When applying this support and the wait time technique together, I had more students raising their hands as they felt comfortable and confident in their responses.