Current Issue

Experiencing Time Inside and Outside the Language Classroom

November 2026

Time flies when you’re learning or teaching (or both)! Time is intertwined in so many facets of the classroom, from the timing of activities to the perception of time passing during lessons and beyond. This month, let’s devote some of that precious time to better understanding time itself. 

“Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately, it kills all its pupils.” — Hector Berlioz

APA Reference for this issue

(author). (2026). (article title, sentence case). MindBrainEd Think Tanks: Experiencing Time Inside and Outside the Language Classroom, 12(11), (pages).

 

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Watch before you read...

This month we’re exploring the topic of time. In our Main video, Hinze Hogendoorn explains how the brain constructs time. Our More video looks at how our bodies tell time. Then, Stephen M. Ryan introduces the issue.

In the Think Tank, Anda Aziri reflects on our perception of time and offers practical teaching tips. Next, Julia Daley reviews the research on time blindness and shares easy-to-implement classroom ideas. Then, Syndhya J describes classroom activities centered on time-related issues people often have, while Jamie Emerson looks at how verb tenses are generally taught in English and outlines a different approach.

In our Plus, Skye Playsted compares how children and adults learn languages. Finally, Klaus P. Michelsen shares the first part of a story about a teacher dealing with burnout.

Our Thoughts on Time

A photo of a student wearing an open book on her head, like a tent.

Time to Learn Stephen M. Ryan

To every brain (turn, turn, turn)

There is a season (turn, turn, turn)

And a time to every purpose, in the lesson

A time to start, a time to end

A time to learn new things, a time for practice

A time to study, a time to rest

A time to laugh, a time to weep (and other emotions)

To every brain (turn, turn, turn)

There is a season (turn, turn, turn)

And a time to every purpose, in the lesson

A time to build up (understanding), a time to break down (analysis)

A time to dance and move around

A time to work on your own, a time to gather together

To every brain (turn, turn, turn)

There is a season (turn, turn, turn)

And a time to every purpose, in the classroom

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Think Tank Articles

Does Time Really Pass Differently? Anda Aziri

Time. It is a word we hear and use every single day, often without even thinking about it.

As a friend, I hear myself saying, “I don’t know if I have time to hang out today.” As a student, I remember saying, “I don’t have enough time to finish this assignment.” And as a teacher, I often find myself thinking, “I don’t know if I have enough time to complete this activity before the lesson ends.”

Time seems to follow us everywhere. Sometimes we wish we had more of it, and sometimes we wish it would slow down.

But have you ever noticed that time does not always feel the same?

Read More
An illustration of an iceberg floating in the ocean.

Telling Time with ADHD: Now and Not Now Julia Daley

…Whether due to forgetfulness, or perhaps their poor executive functioning, ADHDers can be inconsistent with anything involving deadlines—being somewhere at a certain time, or doing something by a certain time. Many ADHDers describe their difficulties with timing as “time blindness” and consider it the symptom that most impacts their day-to-day lives. It’s almost as if time, as neurotypical people understand it, doesn’t exist in the same way in ADHD brains. They feel the passing of time differently, if they feel it at all. For example, while in hyperfocus, ADHD people often don’t notice that hours have passed them by. It’s hard to make plans when your understanding of time is fundamentally different from everyone else…

Read More
An example of some Time Thieves wanted posters.

Wanted: Time Thieves Syndhya J

“I just don’t have enough time.”

We have all said it. But time is rarely stolen from us. We hand it over a few minutes at a time, often without noticing.

In a soft skills session on time management that I taught, I asked my students to help me find the culprits. What began as a simple discussion became a “wanted poster” campaign, a set of comic skits, and a surprisingly honest conversation about attention. It also turned out to be a useful model for language classrooms, where focus is the raw material of learning.

Read More
Two sample moving images.

Past, Present, and Perspective: Teaching Time with the Mind in Mind Jamie Emerson

I recently started teaching again after three years away from the classroom. I now volunteer for a wonderful charity in the UK and teach two B2 level students English for Work. Lately, a lesson contrasted the use of the present perfect with the past simple. I realised that I hadn’t worked on this with students for years. Between 2016 and 2022 my focus was on English for Academic Purposes. Verb tenses were, generally, behind me as we focussed on a mix of academic skills and genre conventions with the occasional analysis of a long noun phrase.

Read More

Think Tank Plus

An illustration of an adult and child learner.

Why Teaching Adults Is Different to Teaching Children Skye Playsted

…Adult learning, as educational theorist Jack Mezirow found, is transformative. Like author Jackie French or young mother Tegan, adults returning to formal education later in life have often faced barriers to learning as children. Such barriers early in life make it difficult to believe we have what it takes to achieve success as adult learners. Adults who return to learning later in life experience renewed self-confidence and transformation at a social and emotional level…

Read More
An illustration of a bike.

For High School Teachers Only, a Story (Side A) Klaus P. Michelsen

No more putting students’ mental health and well-being first at the expense of mine. 

 

For the first time in my two-decade teaching career, I plucked up the courage to call in sick. No part of my teacher training had ever taught me that it was me, not the dysfunctional school system quietly walking all over me, who had to set the boundaries. Non-negotiable boundaries. After calling in sick, I rode my second-hand black bike to the nearest GP practice. It was just around the corner from the small apartment that Jacqueline and I rented in Findorff, a family-friendly district in Bremen, Germany. I booked an appointment to see my family doctor later the same day. She immediately granted me two weeks of paid sick leave.

Read More

Call for Contributions: Ideas and Articles Think Tank Staff

Become a Think Tank star! Here are some of the future issue topics we are thinking about. Would you, or anyone you know, like to write about any of these? Or is there another topic you’d like to recommend? Do you have any suggestions for lead-in, or just plain interesting, videos? How about writing a book review? Or sending us a story about your experiences? Contact us.

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Going Deeper

The Art of Classroom Timing: 10 Ways to Fit It All In

In this Cult of Pedagogy podcast episode, Jennifer Gonzalez gives teachers excellent advice on how to time classroom activities. Her tips are helpful for both new teachers and experienced ones.

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

Oliver Burkeman’s book gives readers a lot of food for thought about time management. If you’d like to learn more about the book before reading, check out this interview with the author: link.

Why Are We Changing the Way We Keep Time?

If you are curious about how scientists have been keeping time and what change they’re making in their timekeeping practices, listen to this Science Friday podcast episode: link.

The MindBrained Think Tanks+

is produced by the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) Mind, Brain, and Education Special Interest Group (BRAIN SIG). Kyoto, Japan. (ISSN 2434-1002)

Editorial Staff

      Stephen M. Ryan               Curtis H. Kelly              Julia Daley     

 Afon (Mohammad) Khari     Heather Kretschmer     Nicky De Proost

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