Independent Work Time, a time when students are working on their own while the teacher works with small groups. It’s an official part of our reading curriculum but should really be a part of every teacher’s day in some form or other since it is one of the few times you can differentiate your teaching. It also pays off in dividends if you’re able to teach your students to work independently.
I’ve answered some questions about Independent Work Time before:
Here’s a new question about debriefing, those few minutes of wrapping up loose ends at the end of IWT:
Hi Mathew!
I am a 2nd grade teacher in AZ and I purchased your CD and have followed it for 3 weeks now. So far, it is working wonderfully for me. However, I haven’t been very faithful about the debriefing time after IWT is over mainly because when our IWT is done then it’s time to go out for recess and the kids (and myself) are in a hurry usually. Should I continue to do the debriefing all year? If you consider it important, I will try to do it more consistently. I guess I need to allow a 5-10 min. time before recess to debrief the kids. Also, we are mandated to have literacy centers that cover the “big 4”: Comprehension, Phonics, Fluency, and Vocabulary. How would I work that in with the Must Dos and May Dos? Thanks in advance.
I do feel that debriefing is important and should ideally be done every day. However, if behavior is not a problem, it would be less important and in the real world there will be days you don’t get to it.
Invariably there will be small problems that come up and get bigger over time and if you don’t debrief, it’s difficult to address them. Also, debriefing is the time when you can talk about the work itself and hold students accountable to having finished it. For example, asking “Who found out something new in their research today?” “Who revised their writing and how did you make it better?” If you never debrief then students might get the message that there aren’t specific skills they’re working on.
In terms of your mandated centers, they can be either must dos or may dos. Certainly there are more engaging ways and boring ways to address the same skills. Your creativity will go a long way in planning those centers. Good luck. -Mathew
How about you, how is debriefing working in your classroom?