Blog — education

The new Time Timer ®  20 MIN has generated a lot of buzz since its release—it even won a Mom’s Choice Award ®! Parents, teachers, and business professionals are loving this easy-to-read visual timer that keeps everyone on track and on time. Here are 20 ways to use your Time Timer 20 MIN:

All it takes is a quick twist to set the new Time Timer TWIST ®!  Portable, magnetic and sporting a digital display, this new update on the classic Time Timer is great for kids and adults. Just turn the outer ring to set your desired time, and then push the play button—it’s that simple. The easy-to-read digital display shows at a glance how much time remains, as the digital tick marks disappear.

The 90-minute duration is perfect for school, home, or office, and the magnetic back makes the Time Timer TWIST easy to display—it sticks on everything from refrigerators to file cabinets to white boards. Like all Time Timer devices, it’s silent and unobtrusive, with an alert sound when time is up. And at just over 3 inches in diameter, it’s extremely portable and easy to take anywhere you go!

Use it in the classroom to time tests, group activities, and turn-taking exercises, or help keep students with special needs on task. Use it in the office to keep track of presentations and team-building exercises. At home, keep morning and bedtime routines on track, or time homework and instrument practice. The Time Timer TWIST even makes a great kitchen timer!

You’ve trusted the original Time Timer to help keep you on track and on time. Now the Time Timer TWIST provides a new way to enjoy the same reliable visual time management resource. And the low price means you can keep more than one on hand, for any time you need to make everyday tasks easier and more productive.

Seven Tips for Test Taking

Spring has sprung here in the U.S., which means more daylight, trees in bloom, soccer games...and testing are just around the corner! We’ve got tips and tricks to help you prepare.

We recently returned from MOMCON in Milwaukee, where we shared the Time Timer ® with moms from the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International.

Jan Rogers struggled to help her daughter, Loran, keep track of time. She wasn’t old enough to read clocks and often missed the bus. So, mom Jan invented Time Timer, which features a patented red disk that shows elapsed time.

It's that time of year – the Internet is ablaze with back-to-school tips!  Here's a set for Time Timer fans.

5 time-related questions to ask your child's teacher:

1. How much time should my child spend doing homework at night? On the weekends?

2. Does my child respond well to time limits, or is that a stressor?

3. Does my child handle time well academically? Is she rushed during tests? Does he complete tasks on time?

4. Does my child handle time well socially? Does he share? Does she struggle with transitions?

5. What can we be doing at home to help our child manage time?

Bonus Question: What is the classroom bullying policy? If my child is targeted or sees another child being bullied, what should we do?

More excellent questions to ask your child's teacher >>

Does your child's teacher have a Time Timer? Email him or her the Time Timer animated video. Teachers can buy in bulk at the Time Timer Store.

A Time Timer Classroom is an amazingly productive place.

It's a classroom where students can visualize time, understand it as a concept, and learn to manage it effectively. If you've taken advantage of Time Timer's Back-to-School Special, then you've heard how thousands of teachers worldwide prefer this visual approach to time. 

• Young children can watch the Timer and anticipate when class will switch from math to recess to silent reading and test time, reducing behavior problems. 
• College, high school and junior high students can complete standardized tests, group projects and creative assignments with more independence. 
• Students with special needs can engage with a quiet visual timer – no noisy ticking or distracting numerical countdown.

So how can schools really maximize their Time Timers? What does a true Time Timer Classroom look like?

Why is the Time Timer an ideal timer for math teachers? We traveled to St. Louis to find out! As the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers battled for World Series glory last week, the Time Timer team celebrated at the St. Louis Americas Center with hundreds of very excited, very loud, very cool math teachers!

We were all in St. Louis for NCTM's (The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) conference. Educators traveled through the Americas Center learning about new math/science curriculua and teaching tools.

Many teachers stopped by the Time Timer booth ~ and offered their tips for using Time Timers in the classroom. 

Tips from First-Timers ~

Some of the math teachers we met were trying a Time Timer for time. They envisioned it as a problem-solver and a time-saver: 

"I'm a Quiz Bowl Coach. My team could use this to improve their response time." 

"My 3rd graders take forever to calm down after recess. We do a five-minute countdown breathing exercise. This Timer would be good for helping them focus."

"A speaker was demonstrating your iPad App in his presentation this morning. Does your App let me time multiple students at once?" Yes, it does!

"I need your software that counts down the seconds. We do one-minute quizzes every day."

"You know who would REALLY use this. My daughter. For practicing the piano."  

"I just bought this other timer, but I wish I had seen yours first. Yours is actually using fractions of a pie chart to explain time. That's cool. Do you have any Apps?"

Tips from Life-Timers ~

These math teachers have used Time Timers for years. Here are their insights into this classroom teaching tool: 

"My inclusion students loved this Timer so much that the mainstream children started wanting to use it too. We all use it together for Trigonometry drills." 

"Set the Timer for the last five minutes of every class period. Help the students pack up their bags, write down their homework, and clean up the classroom. You'll instill good organizational habits, which help their grades just as much as homework and tests do."

"Children with Autism often have gifted abilities in math – but they struggle to interact with the other students. This Timer helps them feel calm, knowing that the class period won't go on forever. They're able to feel more comfortable spending time with the other students."

"My gifted kids need to be challenged – and I need time to work with the ones who are struggling. So I set the Timer and let the accelerated students do timed tests on their own. They love it!"

"My students use this Timer every day. By the end of the school year, they've developed a reliable internal clock. The change in their behavior is AMAZING!"

As the end of the school year approaches, many schools have end-of-the-year testing and standardized exams. The Time Timer is a GREAT resource for learning time management skills in a testing situation. 

If you just bought a Time Timer for your classroom: 

+ Start by using the Time Timer for non-stressful activities, like games, hands-on work and positive reinforcement.

+ Next, introduce the Time Timer during practice tests. Try to use the same age-appropriate amount of time for each practice so that your students build their internal clock. Then, when you say, “You have 30 minutes left,” they’ll have a strong intuitive idea of what that means.

+ On test day, use the Time Timer for 5 - 10 minutes of quiet time before the test starts to help prepare for the exam. 

+ Because all Time Timer operate nearly silently, you can have one running during the exam without creating a distracting or stressful ticking sound. Students will be able to quickly glance up and see how much time they have left. No matter how young they are, you'll be surprised at how quickly they get good at this!