Every once in a while, I plan a lesson that I am sure will take the entire class, then I look at the clock and somehow there are still 15 minutes left. It's not really enough time to start something new, but it's definitely enough time for a room full of middle schoolers to find their own entertainment.
When I was a newer teacher, this used to stress me out. I felt like I needed to have every minute of every class planned, and if we finished early, I had somehow planned the lesson badly. I would scramble to come up with something else for students to do, or I'd stretch out the lesson I had planned just to fill the time.
After 16 years of teaching, I've accepted that sometimes lessons just don't take as long as you think they will. Sometimes students understand something much faster than I expected. Sometimes an activity that took another class 25 minutes takes this class 15. Sometimes I planned for a great discussion and my students have absolutely nothing to say. Sometimes I have greatly overestimated how long it takes to cut out 20 little pieces of paper.
It happens.
I've also learned that I don't need to turn a 35-minute lesson into a 50-minute lesson just because there are 50 minutes available. If students understand what I wanted them to learn, making them do another 15 minutes of the same thing doesn't necessarily make the lesson better. What I do need is a plan for those extra 15 minutes.
Keep a Few Activities in Your Back Pocket
I like to have a few activities that don't require much preparation and can be pulled out whenever I unexpectedly have some time to fill. They aren't really part of the lesson, and I don't necessarily need everyone to finish them. They're just useful activities that can expand or shrink to fit the time I have available.
What I use depends a lot on the subject.
In math, we might do a number talk, play a quick math game, practice basic facts, work on a puzzle, or review something we've learned recently. Sometimes I'll put a question on the board and have students solve it in as many different ways as they can. We also might try a Which One Doesn't Belong or Estimation 180 puzzle.
In French, quick games are perfect for this. We can play a vocabulary game, practice with mini whiteboards, do a quick partner activity, or review vocabulary from an earlier unit. Five minutes is enough for a couple of rounds, but most of these activities can also keep going if I suddenly have 15 or 20 minutes available.
If I'm teaching English or Social Studies, silent reading is always an option. We can also do a quick-write, journal response, vocabulary activity, would you rather question, rebus puzzles, or discussion question.
None of these need to be elaborate. In fact, the whole point is that they aren't.
Do Something Fun Together
Sometimes, if we have an unexpected 10 or 15 minutes, I don't try to squeeze in more academic work at all. We'll play a game together. I keep a few online games bookmarked that are easy to pull up on the projector. We might play FoodGuessr, Travle, Wordle, Connections, or something similar. The whole class can work together, throw out ideas and try to solve the puzzle.
I really like these moments. There isn't always a lot of time during the school day when we're doing something simply as a class rather than working on an assignment or trying to get through the curriculum. A quick game gives everyone a chance to relax a little, laugh together and contribute without anything being graded.
Use the Time for Things We Never Seem to Have Time For
Extra time can also be useful for all of those little things that seem to get pushed aside during a regular lesson. Students can organize their binders. They can clean out the collection of crumpled papers that has somehow accumulated in the bottom of their backpack. They can check whether they're missing any assignments. They can sharpen pencils, refill supplies or put things where they belong.
Sometimes I'll give students a few minutes to look back at their work and figure out whether there is anything they need help with. This is especially useful in math. My students check their own practice work using the answer keys I provide, so unexpected extra time is a great opportunity for them to look at the questions they got wrong and ask for help if they can't figure out what happened.
It isn't flashy, but it's useful.
Revisit Something Instead of Starting Something New
I've also become much more comfortable going backwards. If we have ten minutes left, I don't necessarily need to introduce the next concept just because we technically have time. Sometimes it's better to revisit something we learned yesterday, last week or even last month. This can be as simple as putting three review questions on the board.
It also gives me a chance to see what students actually remember once we've moved on. Something they could do easily when we were practicing it every day might suddenly be a little less secure two weeks later.
Let Students Have a Little Choice
Sometimes I'll give students a few productive options instead.
They might be able to read, finish something from another class, organize their binder, practice something they need to work on or work ahead. This works better with some classes than others. "You have 15 minutes; use it wisely" can go very differently depending on which group of middle schoolers is sitting in front of you!
I usually give specific choices rather than declaring it free time. My go to is usually "Read, Write, Draw, or Quiet Game." The goal isn't to reward students because we finished early. It's just to use the time we have in a way that makes sense.
Don't Fill Time Just for the Sake of Filling Time
This is probably the biggest thing I've changed. I used to think that every minute needed to be filled with whatever lesson I had planned. If an activity was supposed to take 20 minutes and students finished it in ten, I felt like I needed to add more questions or stretch the discussion.
Now, I'm much more willing to call something finished when it's finished.
There's no prize for making a lesson take exactly 50 minutes. If students have learned what I wanted them to learn, I'd rather spend the remaining time reviewing something useful, letting them get organized, playing a quick game or giving them some independent work time than add busywork simply because my lesson ended earlier than expected.
Having a few reliable activities ready means I don't have to panic when I glance at the clock and discover that my perfectly planned lesson has somehow ended at 10:35.
Because 15 unplanned minutes with 30 middle schoolers can feel much longer than 15 minutes.
How do you deal with extra time at the end of a lesson? Let me know in the comments below.
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