4-Day Time Management Lesson Plan

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Standards Addressed

• Self-Awareness - Students will reflect on their time management skills and how they can improve them.
• Relationship Skills - Students will collaborate with peers during guided practice to enhance their understanding of time management techniques.

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Objective

• Students will develop a strategy to effectively manage their time by trying different time management strategies and reflecting on which one worked best for them.

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Assessment

Students can be assessed in the following areas:

• Completion of daily tasks
• Completion of the daily reflection sheet detailing how they broke down the task, their time management strategy, and what they learned about their own time management skills.

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Materials

• Four different 30-minute tasks
• Timers (physical or digital)
• Reflection Sheet (you can use a sheet of paper or online document)

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Activating Prior Knowledge

Begin with a class discussion on the importance of time management in school and life. Ask students:

• Why do you think managing your time is important when completing tasks?
• Share a short personal story or example of a time when effective time management helped you achieve a goal.

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Vocabulary

• Chunking: Breaking tasks into smaller parts to make it less overwhelming
• Task Assessment: Estimating how much time it will take to do each part of a task and ordering how you will complete the task
• Monitoring Progress: Checking task completion (percentage of completion) to stay on track and adjust as necessary
• Time Management Techniques: Different strategies to track time effectively
• Reflection: Assessing what worked, what didn’t, and how to improve

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Lesson Steps

Introduce the lesson by explaining to the students that they will complete four 30-minute tasks over four days, each using a different time management strategy. For each strategy, students should schedule a 1-minute break at the 15-minute mark. Set behavior expectations for students to work quietly and collaboratively to complete the tasks. Encourage them to ask questions if they are unsure about how to use the time management system.

DAY 1: CHUNKING

Define the Chunking technique and discuss why it’s effective for managing tasks. Provide an example task and guide them in breaking it down into three chunks of 10 minutes each.

Use scaffolded questioning as needed with students:

• What is the first step you will take? (easy)
• How much time do you think you need for this chunk? (medium)
• What will you do if you finish early? (hard)

Students can set their own timers for each chunk. Monitor student performance by circulating the room and providing feedback and support as needed. At the end of the 30 minutes, ask students to complete their reflection sheet by answering the following questions:

• Did you finish Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3 of the task?
• Did you complete the entire task on time?
• What do you like or not like about using the chunking technique for time management?
• Would you use the chunking technique again? Why or why not?

DAY 2: TASK ASSESSMENT

‍Define the Task Assessment technique. Students will assess the necessary parts of the task and assign a time estimate to each part. Then they will prioritize the order to complete the parts, starting with the part that will take the longest. Provide an example and use scaffolded questioning as needed with students:

• Which part of this task will take the most time? (easy)
• How will you order the easier parts of this task? (medium)
• What will you do if you finish early? (hard)

Students can set their own timers for each part. Monitor student performance by circulating the room and providing feedback and support as needed. At the end of the 30 minutes, ask students to complete their reflection sheet by answering the following questions:

• Were your estimates correct for the amount of time needed for each part?
• Did you complete the entire task on time?
• What do you like or not like about using the Task Assessment technique for time management?
• Would you use the Task Assessment technique again? Why or why not?

DAY 3: MONITORING PROGRESS

Define the Monitoring Progress technique. For a 30-minute project, they can set the first timer for 15 minutes and check in to see if 50% of the project is completed. They can then set another timer for 25 minutes to give themselves a 5-minute warning to check in to see if they are on track to complete on time. Then students can set a 1 or 2-minute warning. Provide an example task and guide them in estimating what 50% completion of the task would be.

Use scaffolded questioning as needed with students:

• What should my task look like at 50% completion? (easy)
• What should my task look like at 25 minutes? (medium)
• What will you do if you finish early? (hard)

Students can set their own timers for 15 minutes, 25 minutes, and then at the 28 or 29 minutes.

Monitor student performance by circulating the room and providing feedback and support as needed.

At the end of the 30 minutes, ask students to complete their reflection sheet by answering the following questions:

• Were you on time at the halfway mark?
• Did you complete the entire task on time?
• What do you like or not like about using the Monitoring Progress technique for time management?
• Would you use the Monitoring Progress technique again? Why or why not?

DAY 4: CHOOSING THE BEST TECHNIQUE

‍Allow students to choose their preferred technique or combine methods to complete the Day 4 task. Make sure that they include the 1-minute break halfway through the task. Have them complete reflection questions that apply to the technique they used.

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Reflection

Discuss what strategies worked or didn’t work. Encourage students to commit to using one time management technique for future tasks.

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Here is the printable version of the 4-Day Time Management Lesson Plan.

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