One of the biggest time wasters in the school happens at the end of the day. You know the one…that five- or 10-minute period when students have finished their last client or assignment and have cleaned up and are just sitting around, waiting for the clock to reach 5 p.m. so they can get every minute possible.
The challenge with this time period is that there isn’t a lot of time available to do much of an activity.
My suggestion is that you take these few minutes and simply talk with the students. You can find out a lot about students and how their education is going by sitting and visiting with them for a few minutes.
At the end of the day, gather the students together and ask them questions.
Here are five questions to ask your students at the end of the day that will help you find out how they are really doing in your program.
- What was the best thing you did today?
- What was the most challenging technical skill you tried today?
- Tell me something you know today that you didn’t know yesterday.
- If you could change one thing about today, what would it be?
- What did you do to make someone’s day today?
You don’t have to ask every student every question every day. Simply go around the room and ask a different question to each student. Change it up each day so they don’t get the same question each time.
By communicating with students like this for even a few minutes each day, you will help the students get clear on what great things they are doing, and if they are struggling with any areas, they can identify what those areas are. This way, we are celebrating their wins, and when they are challenged with something, you can help them form an action plan to improve those areas.
Basically, it helps you stay connected to your students.
Let me leave you with this question: What is the best thing that has happened to you this week?