Every teacher has had this happen about 1,000 times˳ You send the children to complete a task and 10 seconds later someone is “done”˳ I have a few ideas on curbing the “I’m done” that I’d like to share with you˳
During Writer’s Workshop, I set a timer to let the children know when they can be “done”˳ We discuss what you can do on a story that is “done” and what other details could be added˳ I also talk about sharing their story with a friend to see if they have ideas on what they could add˳ At the beginning of the year, they are writing for short periods of time, maybe 5 minutes˳ By the end of the year I set the timer for up to 30 minutes depending on the skills that we are working on˳ I also let the children know that they are not “done” until the bell rings˳
At Centers I prevent the “I’m done” by placing a book basket in most of the centers, so when they are “done” with the assigned activity they can read books˳ This has helped me a lot this year – I can keep my guided reading groups longer because the other students are working longer independently˳
Throughout the day I do not typically do worksheets, but on the occasion that I do and someone is “done”, I have them go to the reading center and read independently to our reading buddies until the other children are finished˳
Another strategy I use is “Choice Time”˳ When children are “done” they can choose an activity off of the “Choice Time” list˳ Activities I have used in the past were: story writing, reading books, puzzles, computers, and listening center˳ That way the children have an activity to do once they are “done”˳
The key to curbing the “I’m done” is to hold your children to high expectations and make it clear as to what they do when they are finished˳ I have seen in many classrooms that the teachers are upset when a child is “done”˳ This is because they do not have a plan or procedure in place before hand˳ Come up with what you are comfortable with, model and implement it and then the “Teacher, I’m done” will seem more like “Teacher, I’m ready for a new challenge!”
Source by https://ezinearticles˳com/?Teacher–Im-Done&id=477939
