Boost student intelligence - Use 'Wait Time'

You ask a question, wait just a second to see if they answer, then answer it yourself and explain it more deeply. Guilty? I know I am. However, this habit you've developed is actually holding your student back from forming deep, rich, idea-driven connections.

Wait Time is how we break the cycle. It allows students to struggle with a question, dig deep, and pull up the information you've been teaching them. It's how we get them to use the facts intelligently and combine them into their own thoughts and ideas.

Here's a little Science and History

In the 1970s, an amazing woman named Mary Budd Rowe, the head of the science education research division at the National Science Foundation, studied the time between a teacher's question and their follow-up response. She listened and plotted hundreds of audio samples from educators. And what do you think she found?

INSERT WAIT TIME HERE

She found that teachers spent less than a second waiting for students to answer. Wow! How many of you respond to people's questions in less than a second? More than that, how many of you respond with an intelligent, well-constructed, academic answer using the information you were just given? Come on, what's your answer?

INSERT WAIT TIME HERE

It's hard work. Especially when you are in an environment or a situation where the stakes are much higher. As a student, there are all kinds of pressures in a classroom or even at home. You know the person educating you has high expectations. You know other students are basing some of their opinions on your ability to sound intelligent. When you weigh the risks, well, it's just easier to stay quiet. If you do that long enough, and no one answers, the teacher will do it for you. Every - Single - Time! Problem solved.

What is Wait Time? (INSERT WAIT TIME HERE) How Do You Use It?

Wait time is, well, waiting. Ask a question and then wait. Look at your students and wait. Resist the urge to ask the question again. Resist the urge to give them hints. Resist the urge to prompt them by giving them part of the answer. Just sit there. Look at them. And wait.

Things might get awkward, but go ahead and push through that. If you need to, tell yourself, "Wait time is good. Just keep waiting. They'll get it." That's what I do.

It helps me stay quiet a lot longer.

When your students do answer you, you're probably going to be pleasantly surprised with their responses. You're going to have a Eurika moment, and they are too! Their answers are going to include proper vocabulary for the topic you're teaching, connections between two different ideas, and longer, well-thought-out ideas.

Mary Budd Rowe asked teachers in her study to add Wait Time into their teaching routine. Almost immediately, they found that the students' responses were 300% to 700% longer. These longer answers were deep, thoughtful, and often contained questions themselves. This led to rich exchanges with the students, real conversations about the subject with the educators, and a a bettrer learning environment.

Teachers who use Wait Time increase the expectations they place on their students. Students know they need to listen. Students know they have to participate. Students know their teacher is actually listening to them when they speak.

Students also learn that what they say is valuable and that adults are really, truly, interested in what they have to say. That's a game-changer.

Some Questions for You

What type of changes have you been wanting to see in your learning environment?

INSERT WAIT TIME HERE

How will Wait Time help you reach those goals?

INSERT WAIT TIME HERE

What kinds of students will benefit the most from using Wait Time?

INSERT WAIT TIME HERE

What is stopping you from trying it next time you teach?

INSERT WAIT TIME HERE

I Use It, and It's Great

I was taught Wait Time many years ago, when I was teaching in public school. It was a game-changer for my students and for me. I used it with my bright students who were far above their grade level. I used it with my average students who were right on target, and I used it with my struggling students who worked extra hard to grasp the concepts I was teaching. I used it with my neurodivergent and special education students. And do you know what?

INSERT WAIT TIME HERE

Yep! They all thrived on it. It made every single one of them feel important, smart, knowledgeable, and part of the learning process and conversation. They learned they could talk with me (not to me) about anything, and I would respect the time it took them to think before answering, and I value their ideas.

What is stopping you from trying it the next time you teach?

INSERT WAIT TIME HERE