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Dear Reader,

In recent news that absolutely nobody asked for: snow season is here!

And here's a new term for you (or maybe you knew it already, so in that case it's new for me): "snow flurry", i.e. a light snowfall that results in little or no snow accumulation. Which is what happened here, so probably nothing to write home about, but hey - try and stop me.

This week has been very hectic: the Ministry saw it fit to finally publish the PNRR2 quiz questions just this week¹, so I worked incessantly to integrate them in my new revision course for the written exam. Hopefully I did them justice!

The course started yesterday, but you can find the recording of yesterday's lesson in the course, with the slides, a worksheet and some downloadable concept maps. If you're revising for the written exam for PNRR3 and need a hand, you're still in time to join live next week and watch the recordings ✨

This week, I also did a really cool thing: I visited a primary school. Let me ask: can one be left absolutely enchanted by such a thing as a primary school?

Whatever the case, I've been fangirling over it far too much, but I think it's with good reason. Here are 5 of the top reasons for my enchantment:

1. The worry boxes: there were multiple little boxes scattered around the school where any student could drop a little letter talking about their worry, and then they could talk about it all with a counsellor. Socio-emotional education for the win.
2. The buddy benches: in the school garden, there were two painted benches where children who might feel lonely or have no-one to play with can sit, and other children will go and invite them to play.
3. The school council: the school had a council of children, with leaders among the older children (i.e. Years 5 and 6). The council is involved in loads of activities, including - get this - sitting in on job interviews with potential new teachers!
4. The homework displays: around the school, there were various displays of noteworthy homework done by students. But it wasn't just the traditionally impressive pieces of work: there were also the "best effort", "best idea that required development", "best progress", etc. A really nice way to shift to adaptive attributions in learning.
5. The thinking time: I sat in on various lessons and although many things caught my eye, the one I was most impressed with was the thinking time that kids had. This seemed to make them reflect harder and feel more at ease (not to mention, enthusiastic) when they gave an answer.

Does your school employ any of these? How do they work out? I'd love to hear.

And, if you'll pardon my unintentional wordplay, point 5 really made me think: are we giving students and ourselves enough time to think?

Thinking time is a part of how we build our relationships with students, so this is serendipitously very much in line with this month's theme. Today, I will tell you about:

• how much time teachers give on average (and how much time it would be better to give)
• the benefits of giving thinking time
• 8 situations in which thinking time might be granted
• 3 practical tips to give thinking time

So, if you think you're ready: let's get started 🧠

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How much thinking time do we give... and should we give?

In an oft-cited study from 1974, Mary Budd Rowe investigated how long primary school teachers waited after asking a question.

Care to venture a guess?

So apparently, teachers waited on average one second after asking students a question. They also followed a student's response with a comment within a second². Thinking about it, this hardly seems like enough: imagine being given one second to think about your answer at a job interview?³

When this thinking time was expanded to 3 to 5 seconds, amazing results ensued: the length of responses increased, there were more speculative responses and more questions from the students themselves.

Now, I always think you need to take these data with a pinch of salt: I will never tire of repeating that teaching is a human activity, and with humans come so many variables that one-size-fits-all solutions will hardly ever work.

In this particular domain, when it comes to deciding just how long to givein terms of thinking time, you need to consider - among other things - the complexity of your question, the students' pre-existing knowledge, their individual differences and the cognitive load involved. A question asking students to explain an advanced grammar rule they've never seen before might require more time than "what lesson do you have next?"

But I do agree that the general principle stands: by extending thinking time, we afford our students a bit more space to express themselves fully, in a more complex way. By giving them more time, they will also be tempted to guess less.

One additional benefit is that you can (maybe you already do?) implement the strategy of cold calling: you ask a question to the whole class, you wait a few seconds so that everybody thinks about the answer, then you call on someone specific to give you the answer. This way, everybody engages with the question to some extent, not the usual few who volunteer their answers. For more on cold calling, see this article.

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8 situations where thinking time might be granted

Another commonly cited paper from 1994, aptly named "Using ‘Think-time’ and ‘Wait-time’ Skilfully in the Classroom", lists 8 categories of periods of silence:

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1. Post-Teacher Question Wait-Time

The time right after you've asked a question. To be most effective, this period of silence should follow a clear, well-structured question with the cues students need to construct adequate answers. Conversely, extended periods of silence following imprecise questions tend to increase the confusion, heighten the frustration, and lead to no response at all.

2. Within-Student's Response Pause-Time

When a student hesitates while giving an answer, resist the urge to interrupt them or finish their thought - and stop classmates from doing so.

3. Post-Student's Response Wait-Time

After a student has apparently finished talking, give them a few extra second so that they can expand on their answer if they want to - or perhaps their classmates can expand on it?

4. Student Pause-Time

When a student self-initiates a question or comment and then has to pause, create a culture where they are allowed to do so without pressure.

5. Teacher Pause-Time

Thinking time is not just for students! Teacher pause time is defined as a "3 or more second period of uninterrupted silence that teachers deliberately take to consider what just took place, what the present situation is, and what their next statements or behaviours could and should be". One example of when the 3 seconds or longer of reflective thought would be beneficial for the teacher - and eventually students - is after a student has asked a question that requires more than an immediate, short recall answer. Other examples are when students have asked for further clarifications, clearer explanations, or better examples than those already provided.

6. Within teacher presentation pause time

While you're explaining something, remember to pause sometimes to let the information sink in (raise your hand if you, like me, have to remind yourself to do this because otherwise you'll forget?)

7. Student task completion wait time

One of the great paradoxes of teaching for me is forgetting to do things you would have greatly enjoyed as a student. Individual work time is one of these. I would have found this blissful and very badly needed as a child and teen, yet I too often forget to grant this silent time to students!

8. Impact pause time

Use a little silent pause to create suspense, excitement or anticipation for what's coming next. You can't go wrong with a bit of drama plus a bit of silence.

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How to give thinking time: 3 practical tips

"Teachers like the sound of their own voice": have truer words ever be spoken?

If you, like me, have to bite your lip to stop yourself from speaking after you've asked a question⁴, you might like to:

• deliberately take a few breaths
• count to 3, 4 or 5 before jumping in
• explaing your reasoning explicitly. Students don't always understand the rationale behind our choices⁵, so openly discussing why you're deciding to wait in silence a little longer can go a long way to getting those responses

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And with that, my dear teacher, I bid you adieu for today! Do you give thinking time? Do you wish people would give you more thinking time? Did you ever visit a school and start fangirling over it so hard that your significant other started rolling their eyes as soon as they heard the school's name? I eagerly await your stories.

Wishing you a cosy Sunday with your loved ones - and if you're starting the concorso next week, do break a leg!

Take care, dear teacher ✨

¹ Just in case you wanted to view them: here are the quizzes for infanzia e primaria, and here are the ones for scuola secondaria. I only found out because I monitored the webpage fairly obsessively for almost a year - I hope they help!

² The original study says nine tenths of a second. I thought I could round it up for the sake of, ironically, brevity.

³ Even with the privilege of thinking time, when I was asked that infamous "where do you see yourself in 5 years?" question, I once stated I wanted to be a "manager". Manager of what, god knows, and thankfully they didn't follow up on this because I don't have a managerial bone in my body.

⁴ Bonus point if you teach/have taught large-ish classes online: you ask a question to a sea of avatars, and have no indication whatsoever if any life form is still there with you. Not for the faint of heart.

⁵ In fact, my own research in Italian schools showed that students often assign rationales to teachers' decisions that are very much fabrications and not at all in line with the teachers' own intentions.

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P.S.: My weekly suggestion for things to listen to/watch/read to improve your English while relaxing: A new American comedian I've been enjoying lately: Julia DiCesare. Here's a sketch about meeting someone from high school... honestly! A bit too relatable.

✨Cool things I heard this week

I've done so many courses with you and I wish we could do them in real life in school too!

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