## Key Ideas > [!abstract] Core Concepts > > - **Two critical pauses**: Wait Time 1 (after question) and Wait Time 2 (after student response) both improve discourse quality > - **Learning improvements**: Giving students adequate thinking time increases participation and better responses from all students > - **Simple but effective**: One of the easiest classroom changes with strong research support for better outcomes ## Definition **Wait Time**: The deliberate pause after asking a question (Wait Time 1) and after a student responds (Wait Time 2) to allow for deeper thinking and more thoughtful participation. ## Connected To [[Cold-Call]] | [[Call and Response]] | [[Turn and Talk]] | [[Participation]] | [[Culture of Error]] | [[Mini-Whiteboards]] | [[Check For Understanding]] --- ## Two types of wait time Mary Budd Rowe (1972, 1986) identified two critical pause points in classroom questioning. Wait Time 1 occurs after asking a question but before calling on a student, allowing 3-5 seconds minimum for all students to think (Rowe, 1986). Wait Time 2 occurs after a student responds, with 2-3 seconds before the teacher's next action, allowing students to process the response and encouraging elaboration (Rowe, 1986). Research evidence supports wait time as an effective classroom technique (Rowe, 1972, 1986; Tobin, 1986, 1987). Giving students adequate time to think improves the quality of classroom discourse, with responses becoming more sophisticated and complete (Rowe, 1986; Stahl, 1994). Participation increases from students who typically do not volunteer, not just confident speakers (Ingram & Elliott, 2014; Rowe, 1986). Learning outcomes improve when thinking precedes speaking (Tobin, 1987). Teachers report reduced anxiety, as slowing down creates less stressful classrooms (Rowe, 1986). Despite requiring no resources or training, wait time remains under-utilised, typically because teachers feel uncomfortable with silence (Rowe, 1986; Stahl, 1994). ## Implementation challenges When students continue calling out despite wait time, teachers can re-teach expectations explicitly, use accountability measures, make wait time more visible by counting on fingers, or practise with non-academic questions. If students appear disengaged, the question may not be appropriately challenging, the wait time may not match the complexity, or students may benefit from writing during thinking time to make the purpose more explicit. In fast-paced lessons, maintaining wait time can feel counterintuitive, but thinking time often saves time by producing quality responses that reduce the need for re-teaching. Teachers can use strategic wait time for key questions only and build efficiency in other lesson components. Teacher discomfort with silence is common. Starting with shorter pauses and building up helps, as does practising outside of lessons. The research on improved learning outcomes supports persisting through initial discomfort. Once the rhythm of question, pause, response, pause, next move becomes internalised, it becomes natural classroom practice (Rowe, 1986). ## Links to other strategies Wait time integrates with [[Cold-Call]] through Wait Time 1 and 2 during questioning sequences. In [[Call and Response]], silent countdown precedes mass response. [[Turn and Talk]] provides individual thinking time before discussion. [[Mini-Whiteboards]] use writing to support thinking time. For [[Check For Understanding]], wait time produces better quality responses for assessment. ## References Ingram, J., & Elliott, V. (2014). Turn taking and 'wait time' in classroom interactions. *Journal of Pragmatics*, 62, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2013.12.002 Rowe, M. B. (1972). Wait-time and rewards as instructional variables, their influence on language, logic, and fate control. Paper presented at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Chicago, IL. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED061103) Rowe, M. B. (1986). Wait time: Slowing down may be a way of speeding up! *Journal of Teacher Education*, 37(1), 43-50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002248718603700110 Stahl, R. J. (1994). Using "think-time" and "wait-time" skillfully in the classroom. ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED370885) Tobin, K. (1986). Effects of teacher wait time on discourse characteristics in mathematics and language arts classes. *American Educational Research Journal*, 23(2), 191-200. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312023002191 Tobin, K. (1987). The role of wait time in higher cognitive level learning. *Review of Educational Research*, 57(1), 69-95. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543057001069