Why is the Time Timer an ideal timer for math teachers? We traveled to St. Louis to find out! As the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers battled for World Series glory last week, the Time Timer team celebrated at the St. Louis Americas Center with hundreds of very excited, very loud, very cool math teachers!
We were all in St. Louis for NCTM's (The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) conference. Educators traveled through the Americas Center learning about new math/science curriculua and teaching tools.
Many teachers stopped by the Time Timer booth ~ and offered their tips for using Time Timers in the classroom.
Tips from First-Timers ~
Some of the math teachers we met were trying a Time Timer for time. They envisioned it as a problem-solver and a time-saver:
"I'm a Quiz Bowl Coach. My team could use this to improve their response time."
"My 3rd graders take forever to calm down after recess. We do a five-minute countdown breathing exercise. This Timer would be good for helping them focus."
"A speaker was demonstrating your iPad App in his presentation this morning. Does your App let me time multiple students at once?" Yes, it does!
"I need your software that counts down the seconds. We do one-minute quizzes every day."
"You know who would REALLY use this. My daughter. For practicing the piano."
"I just bought this other timer, but I wish I had seen yours first. Yours is actually using fractions of a pie chart to explain time. That's cool. Do you have any Apps?"
Tips from Life-Timers ~
These math teachers have used Time Timers for years. Here are their insights into this classroom teaching tool:
"My inclusion students loved this Timer so much that the mainstream children started wanting to use it too. We all use it together for Trigonometry drills."
"Set the Timer for the last five minutes of every class period. Help the students pack up their bags, write down their homework, and clean up the classroom. You'll instill good organizational habits, which help their grades just as much as homework and tests do."
"Children with Autism often have gifted abilities in math – but they struggle to interact with the other students. This Timer helps them feel calm, knowing that the class period won't go on forever. They're able to feel more comfortable spending time with the other students."
"My gifted kids need to be challenged – and I need time to work with the ones who are struggling. So I set the Timer and let the accelerated students do timed tests on their own. They love it!"
"My students use this Timer every day. By the end of the school year, they've developed a reliable internal clock. The change in their behavior is AMAZING!"