Daily Pacing

Its time I face it, we live in an increasingly fast-paced world.  As a student, a teacher, a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, and a friend, time just seems to slip through my fingers like sand as I struggle to catch a few grains.  I'd be willing to bet that most of my colleagues feel the same.  We are currently all students, learning how to become great teachers.  It's no small task.

Being a student ourselves, we often have opportunities to truly empathize with our students. I recently had an experience in class that made me acutely aware of how our K-8 students must feel.  It was something as simple as my professor moving on before I fully understood what we were supposed to be learning.  I usually have no difficulties with transitions, but in this particular day with this particular lesson it was hard for me to move on.  I was so frustrated I barely paid attention for the rest of the class.  I couldn't help thinking, isn't it more important to help students understand than it is to fit in all of the day's activities regardless of understanding?  Especially when the students are eager to understand? 

I thought about my students and how fast their school days go.  "I know some of you are still working on your math problems but its time for social studies now, so put your notebooks away...This is a great discussion we are having, but lets pause it so we can move on to science...I'm sorry, we don't have time to finish our experiment today because now we must do reading."  I hear phrases such as these almost every day in all of the classrooms that I have observed. 

I understand that scheduling can't always be flexible, especially in middle school and high school.  But my question is--why is it so important to fit in all of the school subjects into one day?  Wouldn't students be best served by working at their own pace?  And why move on to a new subject when the students are clearly engaged and benefitting from their current activity?  We are constantly told to do what is best for the students.  This time, I think that pacing classtime to give students adequate opportunities to understand might just be what is best.