Thursday, March 1, 2012

What's Up Next? NextUp Keeps Your Classroom Running on Time

If you're like me, you often plan lessons down to the minute only to run out of time in the end because you let something run on longer than it should have. Of course, monitoring and adjusting is part of the job, and often we should allow more time for a discussion or activity than we originally planned. Nonetheless, I can think of several times when I wanted students to do something (for instance, share with a partner) for a specific length of time and not a second longer. Then I wanted them to move on to the next time-specific activity. In many of these cases I just simply lost track of time because I was called over to help or got distracted in some other way. Now there's a solution: NextUp. This site allows you to create agenda items with specific time allotments for each item. This is done on the fly--there's no account sign up and it's very easy and intuitive to use.

First, go to the site and start adding your agenda items/topics with the amount of time you want to allot for each activity.

Once you've added all your items/topic, select "Create Agenda." That will take you to a new screen that will allow you to "Start the Meeting." 
And you're done . . . the clock will wind down and you and students can monitor how much time is left by watching the seconds tick away if you project the site for all to see: 

That's it--it really is that simple. Drawbacks? There's no restarting the clock or pausing, so this wouldn't be appropriate for activities that truly depend on you being flexible about time. However, in certain circumstances, I think this tool would have really kept me and my students on track, in particular when students were working in groups and needed to monitor their time. I hate to think about how much time was wasted sometimes because I failed to keep us on track.

What do you think? What is a series of activities (aka "Topics")  in your class that you could use this for? Take it for a spin and tell us how it goes.

Comments (9)

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Rhonda Ham CH's avatar

Rhonda Ham CH · 682 weeks ago

This would have been a great tool for me to use when I had writing conferences in my classroom. I called my conferences 2 minute conferences but they could easily turn into 15 minute conferences if I didn't keep my eye on the clock. This would have helped me and my students stay very focused during the conference because we would know how much time we had together. It would be great if there was a way to pause it but would help activities not get to drawn out.
Jennifer Dunham CH's avatar

Jennifer Dunham CH · 682 weeks ago

One of the biggest places I can see this working for me is on my warm-ups. I always have a set amount of time planned for it, but usually go over it. I am usually getting caught up helping a student or 2 with problems and then the time is gone. It would also be nice to encourage the students to get going on it and not waste time. I do wish that I could pause it so that I can adjust as it necessary. The rest of my class is usually not time specific though so it might be something that I would only need for the warmups.
Hilary Ledford's avatar

Hilary Ledford · 682 weeks ago

I used this in my first year French class when I had them go over their study guide questions with a partner- I put each section in a set time period and let the clock begin- it helped keep them on track and many pairs that finished early noticed they did so and went back and added details. I could use this for warm-ups as well, or when they need to move between partners (they have only three minutes per partner, for example). I agree that the drawback is not being able to pause. If we're doing something where I want a countdown for ONE thing and want to be able to pause, I use this online stopwatch and project it: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/full-screen-stopw...
1 reply · active 682 weeks ago
Hilary Ledford (CH)'s avatar

Hilary Ledford (CH) · 682 weeks ago

I forgot to put the CH after my name, Kimberly! Can you note that?!
Scott Hagensen CH's avatar

Scott Hagensen CH · 682 weeks ago

I think this is a good idea and something that I would be interested in. I like how it all flows together. I think it could make a class flow great. However, being a first year teacher this would be very hard to use. I am not sure how long most activities take. It is trial and error for me. Next year I think this would be a great tool to have and sue. I like how it times for you and how it can keep you on pace. I would want to be able to stop it. Something things come out of the blue and you do not expect them. I would have to add time in for that, since we can't stop it.
1 reply · active 682 weeks ago
Good point, Scott--figuring out the timing of things takes a while! Even after several years in the classroom, I still often had difficulty predicting how much time things would take.�
I can see this working for me is with my math warm-ups. I usually have a set amount of time I want it to last but usually go over it as I normally get stuck helping a student wiht certain problems. It would be nice for me just to keep me on track as i lose track of time very easily and it would also help the kids know exactly what time they needed to be done.
Marie A. Page (CH)'s avatar

Marie A. Page (CH) · 672 weeks ago

I remember doing this site, but must not have written a post. Anyway - I could use this for my FFA meetings, to keep my officers on track. I would also use this for class presentations to keep students on track and within their time range.

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