I agree with having a backup plan, but I do think sometimes you need to push through the eye-rolling. Some of my best classes - both on a learning level and a fun level - have followed an eye-rolling reaction from my students. They have to act cool, but if it's a good exercise and you persevere, they'll get it.
Erica,
These sound like great strategies, and appear to reinforce the main themes while having to work with unplanned or modified daily game plans for the lesson.
Barry Westling
Some of the strategies I use include partner activities. They can partner off to answer questions. This is usually very succesful because the students have someone to bounce ideas off of. I get students involved more by having them come up and teach or explain a concept. And i also incorporate games every so often.
Aldorey,
Great! Students are adapable to this mode of learning and often find it really enhances their overall learning experience.
Barry Westling
Because I'm teaching sciences classes for college students and our classes are intensive I use online intructional back up plans. This has the lecture topic with animations, videos, scenarios,etext and a lot more. The topic has a pretest and postest. I seldom use games because of the class needs. I like doing jeopardy in class sometimes.
I try to make my office hour known to students. These hours could be utilized for tutoring.I do have some of the course materials put in the form of jeopardy and millionaire games to make it fun for students.
Alan,
Games can have an instructional benefit if they are planned and organized well. I like them because the students like them and they tend to be fully participative. Also, students don't usually think of these as "back-up", even though that's what we do them for.
Barry Westling
I often use various TV games they are familiar with as a backup plan. Not only are most knowledgeable about the show content but often eager to engage in "battle" to prove their "superiority". I also make sure the rewards are adequate, and also make all students have adequate chances to "win".
ANTOINETTE,
I like workbook assignments too. They can help make productive use of extra time and also help reinforce key concepts.
Barry Westling
I bring along additional workbook exercises that can be done either individually or as a group.
Dawn,
The main thing is to be prepared when whatever happens that interferes with your regularly planned activity or lesson, or if time is left at the end of class.
Barry Westling
I think this is a great idea!!!! It is something I will definitely use in the future. However, in the past, I have had Jeopardy PowerPoint games on stand-by. I have also had small group white board exercises in place.
Marco,
I think a good back up plan is little different from the regular plan. When designed this way, as time allows or circumstances dictate, we can insert the alternate plan into the lesson, usually without the students even having a clue as to our change to the regular schedule of activities.
Barry Westling
I use a lot of group work and also games. I find that that when students move around, time flys for them and for me. When a student says "Man, it's already time to leave?", you know you have done your part as an instructor.
Daniel,
This sounds great. These activities are sometime refrered to as "chunking", as in providing small digestible chunks of information in a short period. Soliciting resources from others is terrific too.
Barry Westling
I havea variety of backup plans, and I gather them from a variety of sources. I maintain extra group assignments as backup plans, and I also have a bunch of smaller, tid-bit lessons that I can use as ten to 20 minute fillers. In order to find backup plans that really work for my students, I have looked in books, on the Internet, and spoken with instructor friends of mine.
Kyle,
I think good back up plans could be easily substituted for the regularly planned activity and the students would not even know the difference. If this were the case, it would create a seamless transition when the instructor sensed students are starting to become disinterested, bored, or distracted.
Barry Westling
This is huge. I think many of our instructors just have their linear teaching style are rarely deviate from that. This is especially true in our lecture style science classes. I think we need to look at developing faculty to plan better and have several ways of delivering their course content. This will allow them to be a little more flexible when the eye rolls and glazed looks start to happen. I do think this may be a problem as far as faculty personality/comfortableness however. It's going to require some practice!
Willis,
Cute example. But the point is made, and whatever we use, to have an activity or plan that's effective, topical, easy to implemment on short notice, low tech, and interesting makes for effective use of the students time.
Barry Westling
Richard,
This is a great idea. I think reviewing past material is a great way to use time productively when it's available. I don't think we can ever provide too much review.
Barry Westling
