On page 243, under The Problem of Time section, it discusses how teachers should make sure they have enough resources and planned activities to take up the entire class period. Right away, I am going to go ahead and say that I agree with this, mostly.
I believe that if the students are in the classroom, they should be learning. That is why they go to school, and we don't want to deprive them of that, whether they care about it or not. This is one benefit of planning out your lessons and units because it allows for a better understanding of what activities will be doing for the daily lesson. Also, when you have the activities planned out, you can then look at what resources you need to make sure it will run efficiently. This is a big portion of the planning is gathering and allocating the resources.
As a future teacher, I believe that this concept should be held true; however, I also believe that there are moments when the students just need a break from what is going on. Now, of course this would be a rare occurrence, but I see it to be necessary. Another part of learning is for students to just socialize. A lot of people forget to emphasize the importance of this in education. Having excellent social skills will take someone a long way in the professional world. So, when I say free time, or a break from something, I will still have some sort of activity going on, but I will try to focus it on just free socialization.
I completely agree with you about timing! I think students should always be engaged in one way or another, especially that it pertains to what they are learning. A random assignment that has nothing to do with what the topic is will not help the student learn to apply. I am a huge believer in cooperative learning and having students work and socialize with each other. It is not only beneficial for the group as a whole, but also, some students work better when they can talk through things with others. Thanks! :)
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