Lesson Transitions

One of the greatest haemorrhages of time-on-task in any classroom is the lesson transition. A lesson transition usually takes about five minutes. During those lesson transitions, students move in a most unhurried fashion as they hand in papers, sharpen pencils, get drinks, move furniture into or out of groups, and get out materials. There is utterly no sense of urgency. Obviously, students like nice big, unhurried breaks with brief lessons sandwiched in between. They know that, as soon as the transition is over, it will be time to get back to work.
Your average lesson transition can easily be accomplished in half-a-minute, if the students choose to hustle. But, why would the students hustle if hustling only puts them back to work sooner? To see how a lesson transition can be accomplished in half-a-minute, let's walk through a transition that contains a Hurry-up Bonus.

"Class, before you get out of your seats, let me tell you what I want you to do during this lesson transition. First, hand in your papers by putting them on the corner of my desk. Then, if you need to sharpen your pencils, this is the time to do it. If you need a drink of water, this is the time to get it. I want my clean-up committee to erase my boards and straighten up the books on the shelf. I want everybody to pick up any paper you see lying around the room and get your desks back on their marks. I will give you two minutes to get this done. But you know from past experience that you can get it done in half-a-minute or less. So, let's see hustle and how much time you can save. All of the time you save will be added to your class free time. Let's check the clock. (Pause until the second hand passes the six or twelve.) Okay, let's begin."