8 Ways to Maximize Work Periods in Class

Every course, at some point, will have a block of time allocated for working on an assignment or task. Having students working independently or collaboratively for extended periods of time allows us to see what our students are capable of and allows us to intervene if they’re off track. In the flipped classroom model, productive work periods are at the center—where students work on practicing skills and completing labs, tests, and assignments during scheduled class time.

If you’ve moved away from assigning homework and expect everything to be completed for the course during the class period, it’s crucial to ensure a successful work period. Having students complete work in the classroom rather than at home is an important strategy for classroom teachers.

However, in my secondary English classes, particularly since postpandemic online instruction, students weren’t making the most of work periods and expected that they’d do all the work at home. The reasons ranged from “I can’t concentrate in the classroom” to the worrisome “My mom helps me to get school work finished” to “I need my good markers for this, and they’re in my room.”

Having students sitting around during class didn’t sit well with me, so over the last four years, I have implemented the following strategies in my classroom to help students be more engaged, even in a work period. I don’t use every strategy every day. But on days when there will be at least 30 minutes of work time, I’ll pick several or all of these ideas to use.

8 strategies to Try

1. Let students know in advance what they will need. Knowing ahead of time that they will be working on a task during class allows students to know what materials they need to have with them in order to make the time meaningful (laptop, construction paper and scissors, last night’s homework, etc.). I also have paper, pencils, markers, pencil crayons, etc., available in the classroom for student use. 

2. Let students know what is expected for the time. When every class has work time included with the instructional time, it becomes a routine expectation. This work time allows students to practice and get immediate feedback in the process of a task. My students always have a rough idea of the time allocated to the period of in-class work time. It helps them to know what is manageable in a time frame and gives a clear indication of what time wasn’t used productively.

3. Don’t give a whole period for work time. Students in my class will never walk in the door and think that they have an hour or more of uninterrupted time. They always know that there will be multiple items on the agenda for class, even on a work period day. I will regularly have three or four larger blocks of work time in my English classes during a week. Some students complain that they can’t get as much done, but more of them need the redirection and focus by breaking up time into smaller chunks and spreading a task over a week of classes.

4. Begin with a review of the task or assignment. I highlight a recommended process, usually showing a model of the steps that can be taken for completion of the task and goals for where to be in a set time frame. Not every student will approach an assignment the same way, but offering a process gives everyone a starting place and removes some of the initial blocks to starting a larger, ongoing assignment. It also helps when there are shorter blocks of time for students to realize that they’ll accomplish something for the project rather than being off task for 15 minutes.

5. Structure check-ins throughout the work period. I have students give feedback about where they are in the process at set times. These check-ins can be varied; a raising of hands survey, Post-it notes placed on the desk for me to see as I walk about, or an online survey or paper exit pass all will give me information about process and task completion.

6. I never sit down. My experience is that if I’m circulating in the room and having informal check-ins with students, they ask more questions about the process and want feedback on their progress. Doing this gives me information so that I can pause the class and re-explain concepts or expectations. When I sit, students forget that I’m there and often find themselves drifting off task. When I’m present, they see that I value what they’re doing too. Some teachers may not like this strategy—all I know is that it works for me.

7. Harness the power of the collective. There are scheduled conversation points throughout work times. Sometimes it’s pairings, where students check their understanding of the expectations or process and share their progress with an accountability partner. Sometimes it’s small groups where they share an answer or idea and have opportunities for informal feedback.

As an English teacher, I’ll use these stop points to help students refine their working thesis for an essay or test the argument that they’re making in a speech. These opportunities work best when students have been given tools for providing meaningful feedback to one another. For support, I offer ideas for concrete feedback based on the rubric being used for evaluation, sentence starter pages for conversational feedback, and checklists that identify key look-fors and measurements of success.

Sometimes, the conversation stop point in the work period is the whole class sharing their learning through the process as a class discussion. Students can offer each other helpful resources (websites, notes from previous classes, anecdotal information, etc.), and they can list the challenges they’re encountering. This allows for whole class solutions or finding a friend who volunteers to come help when the class is sent back to work.

8. End every work period with a plan. We plan for the next work period and a celebration of today’s successes. Students reflect on what was valuable about the time offered in today’s class, what would be beneficial the next time, and how I can help the group to be successful when in-class time is given for course work. We also cheer students on for the progress they made during work time and remind them of what our goal was for the day. I’ve found that this can lead students to assign themselves homework so that they can keep up and meet the task’s due date.

By making small changes to the blocks of time given to students to complete course work, I’ve been able to challenge their idea that “it’s just a work period.” These changes have increased my students’ accountability and made class time more meaningful by allowing for interventions, increased engagement, and greater success for more of my learners.