Teaching · For Tutors · Study Skills

Watch the time
get smaller.

A blue disk that shrinks as the minutes pass, with the task now and the one after it. Plan a tutoring session or a homework hour as steps, split long work into chunks with breaks, and run it full screen.

Open the timerWhat you get

The timer

The homework example is loaded. Press Start or the space bar; Load into the timer applies any change you make to the steps.

Loading the timer. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Teaching · For TutorsAlso for Academics · Study SkillsFree

What you finish with
A running visual timer for a sequence of tasks: the disk for the current step, first and then, a step strip, and a printable schedule. Save sequences, split work into chunks, and download a one-file copy that runs with no internet connection.
Who it is for
Tutors and teachers running sessions, and students in grades 3 to 12 (with a parent or on their own) who work better when they can see time passing. Useful for students with ADHD or executive function needs, without being only for them.
Format
Browser tool for a phone, tablet, laptop or a classroom screen. Full-screen and high-contrast modes, keyboard shortcuts, optional sound. Print the schedule; save an offline .html copy.
Access
Free. No account and no sign-in. Sequences stay in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat. Once loaded the timer needs no connection, and the offline copy needs none at all.
Where it lives
The For Tutors space in Caveat Teaching; also listed for Study Skills (students working on their own).
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Pick an example on Saved (homework, a 45-minute tutoring session, a study block) or write your own steps on Sequence.
  2. For a long task, use Chunk it: total minutes, chunk length and break length.
  3. Press Start or the space bar. The disk shrinks; First and Then show the task now and the next one. Add a minute with +1 when someone needs it.
  4. Turn on full screen, high contrast or sound as the room needs. Save the offline copy for a device that is not always online.

Open the timer

How the timer works

What the disk shows, how it keeps time, and why the supports are there.

Keeping time

  • The disk shows the time left in the current step as a share of the step (or, if you choose, of a 60-minute face, like a wall timer). Breaks are drawn in a lighter blue.
  • The timer counts from a fixed end time, not by adding up ticks, so it stays right when a tab is in the background or a phone screen sleeps. If the page is reloaded, a running timer picks up where it should be.
  • Sound is off until you turn it on. Then three short tones mark the end of each step, and one soft tone gives a one-minute warning on steps of three minutes or more.
  • The offline copy is a single .html file with the timer and your sequence inside it. It makes no network requests and runs in any modern browser.

Why it helps

Visual supports, including visual timers and first-then boards, are among the practices with research support for autistic learners in the National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice review, and visual schedules and timers are a common accommodation for students with attention and executive function difficulties. Seeing time pass makes an abstract quantity concrete; seeing what comes next makes a transition predictable.

Short work intervals with planned breaks, popularized as the Pomodoro Technique (25 minutes of work, then 5 of rest), are a practical way to start a task that feels too big. The chunker lets you choose lengths that suit the student; younger students often start with 10 to 15 minutes.

A timer is a support, not a treatment. Pair it with teaching: agree on the steps with the student, practice transitions when stakes are low, and fade support when it is no longer needed.

Sources

  1. Steinbrenner, J. R., Hume, K., Odom, S. L., Morin, K. L., Nowell, S. W., Tomaszewski, B., Szendrey, S., McIntyre, N. S., Yücesoy-Özkan, S., and Savage, M. N. (2020). Evidence-Based Practices for Children, Youth, and Young Adults with Autism. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice Review Team. Visual supports as an evidence-based practice.
  2. Cirillo, F. (2018). The Pomodoro Technique. Currency. Timed work intervals separated by short breaks.
  3. U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (2016). Students with ADHD and Section 504: A Resource Guide. Examples of supports and accommodations, in general terms; schools decide accommodations individually.

A timer and planning aid, not a treatment for attention or executive function difficulties. The example sequences are illustrations; adjust times to the student. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.