The First 10 Minutes

This year, I have the wonderful job of working with the Durrington ECTs.  I have spent a lot of these first few weeks watching them teach and seeing them establish themselves with their classes has reminded me of the power of the first 10 minutes.  This first part of each lesson is crucial in setting your expectations, routines, grabbing students’ attention and setting the tone for the rest of the lesson.  It is something that can really transform the rest of our lessons, whether you are an experienced teacher or just starting your teaching journey. 

My routine

In order to fully harness its power, it is important to first think about what routine you wish to establish.  I start practically every one of my lessons in the same way, so that students feel safe in knowing what to expect when they enter my room and so that it becomes habitual. 

I have the ‘do now task’ on the board and their books laid out on the same desk each time.  I position myself in the door so that I can speak to those entering and those already seated.  As the students enter my room I greet them all with a warm smile and a hello.  I use it as an opportunity to settle any overly excited pupils.  I also make sure I remind some students how impressed I was with them the previous lesson.

As they enter the room I am like a parrot repeating to them all to take out their books and start their ‘do now task’ at the back of their books in silence.

Once all are seated I ask for silence and tell them that the next 10 minutes will be in silence whilst they complete the task, I then show them the time on the clock I have in my room and tell them at what time they need to complete it by.  I explain I will take the register, then will be going around the room with my ’magical marking pen’ to check their work.  I stand for a moment using Pastore’s Perch – letting any less focused students see me actively ‘watching them’ to ensure all are on task.  Once I am happy they are all on task I complete the register, then whizz round the room with my said ‘magical marking pen’ checking pupils’ understanding.

My thinking behind my routine

I haven’t outlined my procedure above in the hopes that all teachers will copy everything I do in those first 10 minutes but rather to show how I have carefully thought about and made explicit everything that I want to happen in that time.  My intention for that time is for there to be a calm a purposeful start to the lesson, I want to make sure as little time as possible is wasted in the lesson.  I give the instructions repeatedly as students enter so that all are clear of my expectations.  I personally like to start my lessons in silence as I find they tend to get excited on their walk to the classroom (maybe at the idea of their upcoming science lesson) and getting them silent for 10 minutes means that they calm down and get settled more quickly.  When I write my ‘do now task’ questions I make sure it is something that does not need any explanation and that the majority of students will be able to complete unassisted.  These are retrieval questions on prior learning, not just the last lesson in case students were absent.  I have a clock on the wall and refer to it so that students are mindful of completing enough work in the time they have.  I remind students that I will be whizzing round the room, so that they know I will be checking they are working.

However you wish to start the first 10 minutes of your lesson, here are my top tips:

• Think about the routines and environment you want to establish.
• Plan carefully how you will achieve this, from how students will enter your room, to how you will lay out their books. 
• Make their initial task achievable without teacher explanation
• Do you need to introduce your steps incrementally? For example, 10 minutes silence may seem too much to achieve to begin with.
• Script and practice saying want you want students to do, making your explanations clear and concise.

I hope this helps you harness the power of the first 10 minutes and see the how it impacts positively on the rest of your lesson.

By Jody Chan – Teaching and Learning Lead