Despite all of your overplanning and use of reviews, you will sometimes be faced with an extra five to ten minutes. What do you do with this time? Some teachers allow students to simply work on their homework or even chat with their friends. However, with the belief that time is precious, you might want to consider creating some mini-lessons to fill up this time.

Short lessons do not necessarily have to relate to the topic you are currently teaching. You might have a newspaper with you each day in case downtime arises, and you can discuss topics in the news. There are articles in the newspaper that any teacher could use in class. Math teachers can discuss the use and abuse of statistics, science teachers can look at the technology section of newspapers to get great topics of discussion, and English teachers can have students analyze grammar. In fact, one of the best places for students to look for the use of an extensive vocabulary is on the sports page. And the list goes on.

Another idea is to invest in some educational puzzle books. It is fun to pull out “lateral-thinking puzzles” and have students work together to come up with the answer. Similarly, you might pull out trivia questions and have students quickly compete in teams. You could keep a running tab over time of which team is in the lead throughout the year.

The leftover minutes in a period are a great time to get students to really think. They can also build interest in your class. Students are allowed to have a little more fun than usual. Think before you allow these moments to be wasted by letting students talk among themselves or allowing them to fall asleep.