I'm doing AoR with some kids at the school I work at, and we're doing a 2 hour session each week.

But I'm used to running all-nighters or at least 6 hour sessions and I find that the 2 hour sessions are just too short.

Anyone have any tips on running the sessions?

(other than the obvious ones of "be prepared" and the likes)

If I were in your shoes I would:

Don't let them shop at the table, ever.

Offer plans and make suggestions more frequently (less time planning, more time gaming).

Start each session in media res.

Use one check combat resolution (p 323 EotE, if a fight is won but the enemies are finished, let each PC roll 1 more check and describe how they help finish the fight. PCs spend good results as normal, but bad results should inflict wounds, strain, and crits).

Ofc, I have no idea how kids would react to any of these, but they can save some table time.

As Hinklemar suggested above, start your sessions in media res.

Take inspiration from Star Wars The Clone Wars series; give them a "fast forwarded" crawl text, skip the plot hook phase and throw them right into the action. Try to make your plot revolve around 2-3 two-hour "episodes" at the table.

Re-skin a beginner game.

The time crunch is always a tough adjustment. We went from being a group that ran 8-10 hours games to a 4-6 hour group as we got older and aquired more responsiblities. I have found that it requires keeping my group more on task. With 8 hours to spare if we goofed off and talked for 15 min here and there it wasn't a big issue with 4 hours you can blow 1/4 of your game time with talk of the latest movie. The other thing I have tried to do is get a feel of how much I can expect to get done in that time and break modules or adventures into segments of about that length so that we don't end in the middle of combat or an important meeting with an NPC. This takes a little getting used to but after a couple of sessions you should be able to pinpoint when something is going to push you into 2 1/2 or 3 hours and may need to be skipped, reworked or held till the next session.

The important thing is you have an experiance everyone at the table can enjoy weather that is 2 hours or 12 hours. Prep is obviously important but time management will be the key you will find the moments when you have to push the group forward. Letting them spend credits/experiance out of game is a good idea and maybe even an e-mail/google/facebook/whatever group where you can post the set up to a new adventure before playtime so people know what is going on and you don't have to spend 10-15 min setting a scene and explaining the framework of the mission.

I have run 2-hour sessions for almost 2 years now, and here's how I do it:

1. Always start with an intro crawl with music - clear "the game has started" messages work well.

2. Always end with a cliffhanger, so you're en media res when the next session starts.

3. Don't spend session time on cruft like shopping or rules arguments, with the caveat that if this is what you all find fun, do it! If not, make a ruling and look it up later.

4. Be cognizant of pacing - running for such a short period allows a GM to keep energy high but makes pacing tricky.

5. Try to keep the group on task - should be a lot easier with kids than it is with imbibing adults.

I wouldn't cut down on the dice rolling, I think that's instrumental to the game and the enjoyment, particularly for kids.

It goes without saying that the onus of prep for this sort of session is a hefty burden, but worthwhile. I know my rules and my setting really well, I've made quick access to set pieces and generic NPCs I can reskin on the fly, and I almost always let the players lead the story.

Yeah, my sessions for the past nearly two years of GMing this system has been almost exclusively in 2 hour sessions. I have run three groups at the same time, a 4 hour group on Sundays, and two 2 hour groups on Mondays and Tuesdays.

It is a struggle, I just don't concern myself with time and just roll with it, trying to keep the action moving quickly while allowing the players to do as they will.

I'm going to increase the sessions to 2 sessions each week next year.

It'll still be 2 hour sessions, but at least it will be more often.

There's problems in general with anything non-action related, since some of the kids have an AD/HD type diagnosis.
This is also a problem when it comes to things like giving them the plotline via e-mails or anything like that.
They're just not going to read them.
(hell, just yesterday, two of the kids forgot that it was star wars night and had to go home early, despite this being their most favourite thing in the world... so, that's what I'm dealing with here. Don't get me wrong, I love the kids and GM'ing for them, it's just that there's alot of trouble with running it for them)

Next year, I'll be changing things up. Right now we're doing the beginner games' follow-up adventure, and that involves alot of talking and non-action stuff.
That's not working in general, so after that mission is done, I'm no longer going to rely on the purchased adventures and material unless they're very heavily action oriented, and instead focus on making my own stuff and doing alot of improvising.
And it's mostly going to be action stuff.
Taking over bases, defending bases, attacking supply depots, intercepting shipments and all that stuff.

It's not what I'm used to (my players usually prefer a bit of the gray matter stuff), but it'll be a nice change to do just action roleplaying. It's what I used to do as a kid, after all, so I should manage to do it as an adult as well

Don't get me wrong, I love the kids and GM'ing for them, it's just that there's alot of trouble with running it for them

I'm wondering if an episodic approach would work well in this instance given what you've described. It might be a little trite for adults but it sounds like a great fit for your kids, and it gives you the ability to be flexible when key characters don't end up showing up. I haven't attempted this myself and it sounds pretty challenging to do in your time slot, but I think it can be done. However, I envision having to streamline some of the mechanics so you don't have an entire session of one combat encounter, for example - Hinkelmar suggested this too. However, learning the dice mechanic and overall "dice determine outcomes in RPGs" are critical skills for these young gamers to develop, so I'm torn.