If you have 3 and 4 and 5-hour long classes to teach
Somebody on here complained that he has to teach very long blocks of time, so I wanted to give a suggestion about this. I created a form on Microsoft Word in which I break my class down into 15-minute increments, and plan what I'm going to do quarter-hour by quarter-hour. The keys are ACTIVITIES, not lecture, VARIETY, going from loud to quiet, group to single, paper-and-pencil to digital, etc. And LOTS OF BREAKS. They need those to regroup, get coffee, smoke, make friends, take care of personal business, and check their phones.
Then I put the schedule for the day (or evening) up on the board, with times. And then I stick to it (for the most part). The students love to be able to see what we'll be doing in this class, and how long it will take, and how many different bases we're going to touch, and when the breaks will be, and they love to see HOW ORGANIZED I AM. I highly recommend this practice. It makes my job, and theirs, so much easier. I have a complete road map of the 5 hours, and then all I have to do is go in there and do it. Time passes fairly quickly in this way, for them and for me.
Steven,
yes, allowing them to experience the aha moments & then using those as teaching opps for the rest of the class.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I like this. I often feel that I have more "learning opportunities" that can be shared with the rest of the class when I let the students delve into the material and I coach them through it.
Great idea to use youtube--exactly what GenY loves!
I agree, I like to give my students JUST what they need to know for now, then let them ask me question
I was teaching week end class 12 to 13 hour with a break of 2 hour for lunch. The first time i try to keep all the lecture pp presentation at the end (big Mistake) half of my class was sleeping. The next week end I did all the lecture in the morning and lab in the afternoon. I got better result
George,
yes the lectures can definitely be used in moderation, it's just a matter of how much we use & how we can mix it up.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
This is a great strategy! I teach in 3 hour blocks and have learned through trial and error that the students are most engaged when they enter the classroom to see there are several separate things planned for the day. 15 minute increments is consistent with everything I have read about attention and learning theory - I will try that time frame in my next planned lesson and see how it goes.
I regularly teach 4 hour courses. This is not really a challenge for me. However to be successful mixing it up is required. Four hours of lecture would be hard to endure as a student. Frequent breaks and use of multiple pedagogical and andragogical tools are mandated. I agree, activities, not lecture; although I will lecture for about 1/5 of the course.
Douglas,
this is a great idea as it even helps them at times to "make it through" the lecture as they know the lab is coming.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I break the class in half and teach interactively for two hours and then spend two hours in a lab setting doing hands on work. This is how I keep them engaged for a four-hour class.
Great idea! I am going to try to do this with my class and see how it works. Thanks
Monica,
videos are a great way to liven the class up & keep the students engaged.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I use youtube, and interactive websites in between lectures to keep the students awake and interested on the class
I teach mostly at night and my classes are 4 hour blocks. So I do something similar to what you do. I have a mixture of generations in my class, so I give them an overview with the syllabus; on our portal I also put what we will be doing in class; in class I put on the board what we are going to cover. This seems to please each group differently. This is definitely a great idea.
Charles,
I really do think you'll find this method to be helpful & the students to be more engaged.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
This is a great idea. I teach 4 hour classes and I tend to use lectures a lot because that is the way I was taught – interestingly, not the best way I learn. I typically discuss a topic for 50 minutes then take a break – not good. I going to definitely start teach in 15 minute blocks and use a lot of groups/teams in the classroom.
Bob,
this is very true; the smaller chunks of information are very helpful to our students.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
As most students don't have a long atention span breaking up the subject matter will keep them engaged as well as retaining the iformation better
Loren,
this is a good idea as it can also give the students something to anticipate & look forward to & mixes it up when they may be getting bored.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
