Have you ever felt like time is speeding up? The hours, days, months & years are going by faster and faster? Back when you were a kid summer vacation was long and glorious but now it’s over in a flash? Or a class stretched on and on but now it’s finished before you know it and quickly forgotten? If you have, don’t worry! This perception is common for everyone and understanding it gives us some useful insights into our impatient preschool and primary school EFL students. They really do perceive time more slowly than we do and we can help them stay engaged with a few key teaching habits.
A Theory for Why Time Seems to Speed Up
New vs. Routine Life Experiences
This theory is based in brain science. Simply put, our brains are constantly encoding experiences along neural connections and pathways. New experiences create new neural connections, including memories, while familiar ones reinforce and refine existing ones (synaptic plasticity). Our sense of time is based on how many new experiences are encoded over a certain period. The more we make, the slower time seems to be. Therefore, the younger we are the more new experiences we have and the slower we perceive time.
In addition, our brains pare off pathways that aren’t reinforced over time. This is because there’s only so much data that can be usefully retained and the brain is focused on preserving the information that will help with survival.
Once an experience or information becomes more familiar and routine it’s too reinforced to get easily pared off. The information even travels along the pathway more readily. It’s hardwired in so the brain can focus on other tasks. This is why when you try out a new skill for the first time (like riding a bike) it takes all your concentration and a short ride is an epic journey. When you’re more capable you can confidently ride, process other information as you do it (like talking to friends as you ride), and time flies by.
Infants: Learning the Absolute Basics
For example, early on, infants focus on understanding their family members. They take in sights (lips, facial expressions, objects), sounds (phonemes, words, sentences, noises, etc.), and other sensory information and wire the data into their brains. The sights and sounds that seem to be connected and carry important information get reinforced and refined over thousands of hours and experiences. Their brains wire themselves to be extremely sensitive to those sounds and tiny differences among them. Eventually this leads to understanding and the ability to use their mother tongue.
On the other hand, any noises that pop up but don’t seem to carry useful information are experienced but then the memory is pared away because it isn’t needed.
This same process works for learning basics like how to move, how the world works, and with life memories. A great example is learning about gravity. As adults we take it for granted, but infants have to figure it out on their own that everything falls down when dropped (except balloons!?).
Preschoolers
Preschool students also frequently experience new things and make many new connections as they learn. Their brains are even still learning the basics for things like how to use their bodies & form relationships. They’ve still got tons to learn about their first language, their surroundings, and basic mathematical concepts.
Preschoolers can fill even a single day with profound realizations that are hard to appreciate as adults. They’re still forming basic knowledge that we often take for granted; such as how water taps, paint brushes, and different containers filled with water all work.
Primary Schoolers
The early weeks and years in primary school, like Grades 1 and 2 are also full of new experiences. There are new environments, classmates, rules, routines, and whole new subjects to study. There’s a lot to take in and encode in the brain. This is why first weeks and early grades seem to stretch on in experiences and our memories.
Adults
Time can seem to slow down even for adults, too. For example, I still clearly remember many parts of my CELTA course from 10 years ago. I was living in a new country and taking in a lot of important new information then. That month seemed like one of the longest of my life.
I also remember many of my first lessons with new classes well, too. On the other hand, unless something unique happened in my later classes they are usually a foggy blur – if they’re remembered at all. Those experiences became routine and my brain didn’t bother to retain much information about them after a couple days.
Finally, even as I was teaching them, time seemed to fly by faster. Early on, two-hour classes were marathons. After a while they seemed like just a quick walk in the park.
What’s the Effect on Your Lessons?
With this knowledge in mind, we can see a couple ways that teaching preschool & primary students is different from teaching adults or even teens.
First Lessons are a Lot!
This first effect happens when everything is new. There are new people, new spaces, new activities, and even an entirely new language! No wonder first lessons can be overwhelming and exhausting for new students. There’s a lot to take in!
In a Classroom a Long Time Ago…What Happened??
The next effect depends on how frequently your students experience being in your class.
If you see your students every weekend, or two to three times a week, then in your mind as a teacher you are seeing them often.
To your young students, though, there is a long gap between lessons. They’ve experienced a lot of time and had many new adventures between lessons. There’s a good chance they’ve started forgetting a lot that you covered in previous lessons.
This is Taking FOREVER!!
Another effect is on how your students experience time in your class compared to you.
Time flies by in class when you’re even a slightly experienced teacher. You’re busy managing multiple things at all the same time throughout your lessons. You might have already done them dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of times before. For example, how many times have you assigned groups or run your favorite activities?
On the other side of the room, your EFL students get impatient as they experience a completely different speed. Their brains are taking in all sorts of information – and not always just your lesson content. A lot of it is hopefully new and useful so its demanding more brain resources and attention.
This means that time spent on learning new lesson content or in a new game feels longer. It also can mean any time spent waiting for their turn can seem like forever for them and be especially frustrating.
To you, five minutes of class time might be nothing. To them, it can feel much, much longer.
What You Can Do
There’s a lot you can do for your students with this knowledge, and in general it reinforces a lot of good habits you should be doing.
Routines, Routines, Routines!
There is so much that is unfamiliar in class. There’s a lot for kids to encode & remember. You can quickly help reduce the burden with lesson routines. These are things that you do the same way in every lesson. Over time, using them will really help limit excess information, let students focus on the core message, and make class time feel faster.
So, start your lessons the same way every day. Use familiar activities and in predictable patterns. Develop a standard lesson structure that students can anticipate. Use routine signals to direct your students and get their attention. All of these will reduce the new information your students are taking in to a manageable amount while reinforcing useful brain pathways. Your EFL students should be less impatient to leave at the end when they’re supported with familiar routines.
Related Post: ESL Classroom Management is a Holistic Effort
Recycle Old Content
Your students might have mastered fruit vocabulary in that last lesson, but chances are good that they’ve forgotten their apples and bananas over the last few days. Their brains have had to deal with a lot of new information since your last lesson. Anything that doesn’t get reinforced will get pared off quickly.
You need to make time for recycling old lesson content not just as review in the next lesson, but also over weeks and months. The more you can combine it with other topics and in meaningful, novel ways the better.
Always Active
Your EFL students get impatient when they’re not busy. Keep in mind that it really feels like forever when they have to wait their turn. To avoid this, organize at least some activities that involve everyone at the same time. Time goes by faster when you’re having fun.
In addition, don’t kick students out of activities or have them sit out of a lesson for long. A couple busy minutes go by quickly for you, but they can feel unbearable for a young student.
Related Post: Slap the Board Needs an Upgrade
Use Sticky Songs
Finally, here’s another reason why songs are so great for preschool and primary school students. Music is naturally “sticky” for kids; it’s more memorable for them and a great way for locking in language by making it routine.
Familiar songs are a great way for passing time productively in class when kids get restless because time literally speeds up for them.
Just make sure to repeat the songs a lot so students can master them. You can even try to encourage parents to play class songs at home. This is encouraging for them and will help keep memories fresh for your next lesson.
Related Post: Six Reasons Kindergarten EFL Songs Rock
Young EFL Students Get Impatient in Class Because They Perceive Time More Slowly
Your students, especially the youngest ones, are learning more than just the content of your lessons. Their brains are trying to figure out and learn a ton. Keep this in mind the next time they get restless and impatient – it could be the reason. While a moment might seem like nothing to you, it could be forever for them.
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