Becky,
I like the idea of students working individually on an activity, prior to joining a group. Collaborative activities are highly effective, however their is usually a group consensus, when it comes to providing an opinion on a case study. Working individually, allows the student to form their own opinion and bring it to the group, in order to provide an opportunity for comparing and contrasting their thoughts.
Tremayne Simpson
alyson,
All instructors have had this issue with their students. Since we are preparing the students for the career world, it is important that we provide them with opportunities to "curb" or limit their habits of procrastination. Unfortunately, the opportunities that instructors provide to their students have to come in the form of "tough love", in that receiving poor grades and suffering consequences will hopefully, force them to change the behavior. The key is for instructors to stick to their course policies/standards and provide periodic reminders to their students.
Tremayne Simpson
I try to have a variety of activities along with lecture. The activities can be things like case studies with attached questions. If I have a lot of time to fill, I have the students answer them independently, then get into groups to discuss. If I am running short on time, I will have students answer them independently and then discuss as a whole class. Not only does this allow for flexibility in time managment, but it also allows me to incorporate different teaching strategies for different types of learners.
I use lecture notes that I have created with timelines to keep in pace
While I have been a clinical instructor in a hospital for many years, time use is dictated there by hospital routines. My time is structured accordingly and one of my primary focuses is teaching students to get their work done in an timely manner. Very soon I will be teaching in a classroom and am taking this course specifically to help me sort out the "how to" of teaching theory. Even this early into the course, I am finding it very useful. One of my concerns revolves around being done too early or not having enough time for the day's material. The strategies here are useful.
Hi Tremayne,
Unfortunately, I think that my students need alot of improvement on their time management skills.
Often times, they are given an assignment at the beginning of the term and wait until 2 weeks before it's due to start it.
And, in turn, the grades are poor.
I have tutored some of my students in time management but most do not come to me for help.
Not sure what the solution is here?
Thank you,
Alyson
Dorothy,
The "tomorrow" lesson plan, is a subtle yet important method for ensuring that the students are engaged and excited about the next class session. I have used this method with my classes and I always find a way to provide a provocative "teaser" at the end, that encourages them to arrive to class early for the next session.
Tremayne Simpson
i usually have a problem with running behind. In my classes it is very easy for a group discussion to wonder off and next thing you know 20 min have gone by. I keep a clock on the front and back of the room so as i am walking aroun i can always see how llong we have been on a topic with out letting the students know i am watching the clock. this way i can wind down that particular topic and get us moved on quickly if needed.
My most reliable method of time management is to write the Daily Lesson Plan on the white board in my kitchen. It's actually a tool to help my students follow along with the demo, and to see how the demo corresponds with lessons from the previous day and the following day (I use the "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" format). But I use the Daily Lesson Plan to make sure I'm staying on track and covering all of the information they need for the day. In addition, if we have some free time at the end of the lesson, I can use the upcoming lesson plan under the "Tomorrow" section to segue into a discussion of what will be coming up the following day, or even several days down the road.
I like to be sure to cover expectations and then students know that they will have a lecture through out class time, they will have some in class work to do and then homework as well. They are going to need to keep pace and also let me know if they are having any problems following material.
I actually go over my LPs prior to class to see if there are any potential spots that may need specific amounts of time and I also have q&a time allocated so I can assess as I go.
Katie,
In addition, the course syllabus should be added to the student portal in an electronic format. This is also a practice that can be used to save paper, by printing out copies for the entire class.
Tremayne Simpson
I also believe in getting to know your students and their knowledge in the up and coming term. I have used pretests and brief questionaires on related subject matter to gain insight on students knowledge. During the term I may have to adjust the information flow to ensure students are grasping the concepts Im trying to teach.
I schedule "hands on" exercises which serve a two-fold purpose. First and foremost, this allows me the opportunity to assess the students to see if they have grasped the information presented. It also gives the students hands on experience of the material so they can process the information tactilely
I used to teach 3.5 hour anatomy and Physiology lectures and often experienced what you described. The same lecture delivered to one class was a strggle to complete on time while with another class I would her crickets for the last 30 minutes. I learned to never announce to the class that we had finished "early" as it made it very difficult to get students to particpate in anything else. I also learned to always have additional activities that reinforced course content if I ran short. To avoid running long I would train myself to distill all critical content to its simplest form so that I could dleivery clearly to students without making them feel rushed.
I always type my lesson plans and provide students with a class outline on the board. Also, our syllabus has a pacing guide that needs to be followed.
I always have extra materials on hand if my classes finish projects early. I often use group projects.
I prepare my material to cover a planned segment of time. This never goes according to plan so I slow down or speed up as necessary. Stopping at a certain point and asking the students for their "take" on the material (for assessment purposes) is a valid method for filling in time gaps.
At the beginning of every "new" class, I type up and print out a daily/weekly lesson plan. Actually, it's broken down to the hour. I instruct five hours per day with students who are learning at two different levels. This allows me to stay on track time wise as to what is being taught to the students. I also provide on the whiteboard the class outline, per hour, so they know what to expect and what is expected of them on any given day. I'm always sure to have additional material to use in my instruction should I ever need it, and if I run short on time and haven't covered everything I had planned, I'll hold it over to the next day. Every once in awhile we can have a crazy moment but, all in all, it runs pretty smooth.
In the case of production day class, I always have a plan for exercises, videos, extra activities to make sure that the students benefits the maximum of the class hours, in case we finish earlier the production class.
