Wait Time uses Multiple Intelligence Learning Styles

Wait time is a teaching strategy that helps encourage those who don’t raise their hand often to start participating in class. The teacher asks a question and then waits 10 seconds to call on someone. It allows students to have enough time to process the question and come up with an answer. If the teacher waits before calling on a student, more students raise their hands and more students use their critical thinking skills. If students are depending on themselves more to come up with an answer to the question, their intrapersonal multiple intelligence learning stylewill be used and possibly even be strengthened. They can learn to trust themselves.

Some might wonder why this is a needed teaching strategy. Many times teachers ask a question and the student that raises their hand first is the one that is called on. So that means that the students that take longer to process the question and come up with the answer never get to go through the critical thinking process or exercise their logical multiple intelligence learning style. Those who need to work up the confidence to participate are also silenced. Some students, knowing that they won’t be called on, will just tune out and be lost.

I learned this teaching strategy in a professional development course called Effective Teaching. Wait time uses the intrapersonal multiple intelligence learning style as well as the logical multiple intelligence learning style. Depending on the question, other multiple intelligence learning styles might be used also. This teaching strategy is great to use during mini-lessons and checking for understanding of the content.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico has over 50 multiple intelligence learning style activity templates with rubrics. Check it out!

Written by,

Kasha Mastrodomenico

http://www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

kasha@socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico