So much
There is never enough time to prepare
Barbara,
One of the great rewards of teaching is we get to visit and revisit our field content so it remains fresh and exciting to us just as it did when we were first entering our profession.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Thank you for the encouragement. I have been specialized in my field for so long that the first course I taught took many hours of prep but the reward was that I LEARNED (or re-learned) with the students and loved it.
Randy,
After the mini-lecture you can have a Q&A session, do role playing, small group activities or case studies. Then you can pull them together again for another lecture session. The key is to reinforce the material that has just been covered with some type of activity that helps the students to apply the content. By doing so you are helping them to get the content transferred to their memory banks and this greatly increases their retention of the material.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I am going to try the 15 minute mini-lectures, followed by an activity. Since I'm so new, I don't have that many tricks up my sleeve. When I run out of material to lecture, I could use some ideas on how to plan the rest of the time constructively, and not just appear to be filling time.
I have to agree with Jennifer, pairing up with someone who taught the class can be a big help.
Dear Tammy,
Have you talked to the program director where you work? Sometimes they can pair you up with someone who has previosuly taught the class you are preparing for and help you out with already prepared lesson plans, assignments, etc....
Good luck,
Jennifer
Melanie,
I think your last sentence is the key. It really does focus on practice. The more you deliver the content the more familiar you become with delivery, pacing, activities and student interaction. This way the next time you teach the course you know how the course is going to unfold for your students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Thanks. I really like the idea of the 15 minute break downs.
I have gotten feedback that I spend too much time preparing for lectures, but no specifics as to how exactly to improve that. It has gotten a bit easier but I find it easy to get caught up in the details and at times difficult to step back and make sure I'm looking at the big picture and spending less time on the details. Perhaps the key is just practice.
Michael,
Good advice to share with beginning instructors. Yes, it does get easier and the enjoy of teaching increases because once you have a plan for instructional delivery and the content selected you can then focus more on the human interaction that goes with being a learning leader.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
When I first started teaching,I had many years of experience working "out in the field". It took many long nights trying to relearn what I knew so that I can present the information in a logical,understandable manner to meet the class goals. Fortunately, teaching becomes much easier and better every time as you build on previous class experiences. Hang in there!
Initially it can be very overwhelming and I also struggle with it. I try to be extremely organized in specifically what I will be presenting that day, the materials and also try to anticipate questions.
Melanie,
Three great questions but somewhat hard to answer because the answers depend so much on what the content is and if skill development is associated with the content. When preparing for the lecture you might want to look at mini-lectures of 15-20 minutes and then an activity. This way the students can stay on task for the lecture and then make application of the just delivered content via role playing, case studies, group work, etc.. Then back to the mini-lecture to repeat the cycle. This way you are not talking nor delivering content for the entire class session.
Yes, it does get easier the more times you teach the course since you will be getting more familiar with the content and how your students are going to react to it. Then your prep time can focus on instructional improvement or new activities to introduce. There is no set rule on prep time as so much of it depends on the individual instructor and how he or she decides to deliver the content. The personal rule I use is to spend the time I need to get comfortable with the content and confident I can share it in an engaging and focused way. That is when I feel I am ready.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
The amount of preparation time I have to do outside the classroom on my own time I find incredibly challenging. What is the solution? How much better does it get?
How many hours of prep time is average for each hour of lecture?
Tammy,
This seems to be the case for many instructors. What do you do to overcome this time crunch?
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I feel that way as well, Tammy. Our program recently went from teaching courses in a 12 week term, to a 6 week mod structure. It was a challenge before, now I sometimes feel I am flying by the seat of my pants. There is much expectation on my part as well as my students. Every now and then a class will just have an off day. This pace certainly does not allow for that.
