Hi Berry,
A good plan that I use is being able to revert to the basics, useing my forty yrs. exp. in the field along with the lesson plan I have for a class I'am teaching.
Thanks
Hank
Hi Earnest:
Back up plans are those activities, actions, and plans that are put into place when what the regular lesson plan gets interrupted for wahtever reason. It avoids wasting the students time, uses your time productively, and makes the most out of a particularly undesirable situation.
Regards, Barry
Before power point we wrote all the notes on the board. I drew pictures on the white board to explain the lesson plan as a visual expierence, it worked great then and I still use it today 15 years later. I use power point and the white board very effectively, the white board and my strong voice is my backup plan.
One might suggest a backup plan is a method.
Hi Joseph:
You've presented some interesting situations that really call for the teacher to come up with real world back up plans. Others will appreciate you creative ways.
Regards, Barry
This can be a challenge to culinary students, does provide some "real world" applications, such as power failures, water being temporarily shut off for plumbing issues, snow storms which severley limit class size. All these are real life tests as to what do they do in restaurants when these things happen. We then plan accordingly, asking the students to come up plan "B" courses of action telling them what their options are in such cases. It makes for an interesting day in the kitchens.
Hi Robert:
Good planning. Many back-up plans are really just variations of regular lesson plans that have been replaced, updated, or never enough time to use all the time. What you're doing seems very workablable.
Regards, Barry
There are times I have switched to a back up plan. I am not really switching to a back up plan, but just adapting and modifying the way the class will be conducted. To accommodate the various learning styles and countless other that factors the comprise a training session, as an instructor I have to be prepared to vary the delivery of the material.
Hi Kerry:
Good. Labs can put idle hands to work when the regular lesson plan has fallen apart for whatever reason.
Regards, Barry
I always make sure I am flexable and ready to shift my lession to a hands on lab demo for those who aren't getting it
Hi Kerry:
GE students will give that story a lot. I use an example of learning to drive a car. Do we not need maps? How about reading road or directional signs? Do the car's guages mean anything?
So, if learning to drive a car is the "vocational" part, then there are expanded, related, or useful things we can learn about that don't directly have to do with the vocation (maps, signs, guages). But those topics certainly positively contribute to the basic vocation, don't they? They help us be better drivers.
I'm sure you use similar examples to get them to see the importance of a seemingly unrelated topic.
Regards, Barry
Online is such a different animal!
My only real backup planning is to constantly encourage students to contact me whenever they have questions.
When they do, I trouble shoot/change my explanations based on their background/experience/interest in the content.
I primarily teach General Ed classes, and many times students don't understand the rational for such courses in the career college arena.
David:
I've even found that some of the things I've thought of as back up turned out to be quite useful and became useful in my regular lesson plan!
Regards, Barry
You are correct sir. When I have those days where nothing seems to work in the classroom, I find that if I go to an unscheduled lab task, take the room outside for some state changes,take 15 minutes to tell funny stories or something completely off topic. Yeah...you always need some sort of back-up!
Hi David:
Sound like you've got a good handle on ways to connect with your students. Still, there's bound to be some day that just nothing is working or going as planned. Thats when a good reliable back-up plan will really come in handy.
Regards, Barry
I make sure there are plenty of options and ways of presenting the material.Using drawings, slides, real life stories facilitate the learning process. Since we have many different learning styles, we must develop our skills to reach all learners. After 1 or 2 days with the same students, I am able to see what styles work and which don't and then I adjust my delivery and teaching methods accordingly.
Hi Micahel:
Breaking up the sometimes routine lesson can make for an interesting and more enjoyable learning experience. It sounds like you're able to demonstrate needed course objectives in a somewhat no traditional manner. Great!
Regards, Barry
At our school we have the ability to take the students out to the lab area to provide state changes. This allows students to get a change of pace and learn in a different manner.
Hi Terry:
Getting lot's of hands on instruction, or even demonstrations - goes a long ways to keeping students interested and motivated. I think it ties the school part of their education to the working part of their profession or vocation.
Regards, Barry
I work in the Ford department where they have a pretty structured lesson plan. There is more lab work than lecture so the students don't have to sit for long periods of time. A back up plan is rarely needed, but when I do see that they are not getting it or getting bored I will take them to lab and show the different systems that we were talking about.
