The Three-Second Pause In the Classroom

What’s the big hurry, everyone?

So often, we’re in such a rush, when we’re in conversation, we don’t give others time to formulate a response. And when they do, we jump right on it with our response. Feeling the pressure to get through lessons, teachers often fall prey to this habit as well. Research shows, though, that allowing wait time increases student responses, raises student’s confidence, and improves achievement. Adding a little mindfulness to this proven educational technique is a great way to help consciously create pauses during classroom discussion. This practice can be used in other environments, such as meetings, with similar positive results.

When you use this practice in the classroom, for the first few times let children know you’ll be waiting three seconds before calling on someone—giving them time to consider their answer—and that you’ll be waiting a little before you respond. Time will not, in fact, be wasted, since the quality of discussion usually improves when the environment is more spacious. Surprisingly, these “steps” can all occur in a very short period of time.

Ask your question. Now, since students know what to expect, they’ll allow you to take a pause.