Stop your full stops crying - writing lesson observation

My AT observed me for this writing lesson - I took a small writing group (including the four students for my inquiry group) while the rest of the class worked on their narrative writing.  I noticed that many students were talking and not getting much writing done so I projected a 15 minute countdown timer on the whiteboard to give them a sense of urgency.  As noted in my AT's observation here and my reflection, the timer did help to get the children focused, however they got a bit silly at the end, counting down as it reached zero. Overall however I think using the countdown timer was an effective strategy, in conjunction with marking the starting point of 15 minutes in the students' books.  It was helpful for enabling me to see their progress and to get a greater volume of writing done.