Preparing yourself to a classroom
In order to be prepared to a class room is , as an instructor ( me ) I start preparing what is going to be taught then have hands on work and go over the work then if they dont understand I will answer every question they have.
Sonya,
Great! Getting prepared is not an brief task, and I think better instructors spoend a great amount of time fine tuning and getting the course ready for student use. Each time the course is taught, we may find questions that were not anticipated. Your process of follow through is one way to ensure that material gets added to the material for the next go around.
Barry Westling
I usually prepare the entire course and place the material in a binder. Usually I will have more than enough material to cover the class. I then arrange that material in order of what must be done and then what I would like to do. I will complete the assignments and if I use a test bank I will locate the answers in the book just to make sure the key is correct. I believe it is important to have an understanding of the work and the assignment because usually when I question an assignment student usually have the same questions or similar questions and I find myself feeling more prepared when I can answer those questions before hand. Sometimes student come up with questions that maybe I had not even thought of so I will get back to the student so that I can fully prepare for the answer. Or even sometimes I will have the student to research it too. This is a way to keep the course fresh each time you teach it.
Patricia,
I think of it in this order: Curriculum (texbooks, lecture notes) Handouts (copies and worksheets); Resources (equipment, PPT presentations); Technology (computer, LCD projector); Physical (white board, markers, eraser, flip chart, seating). Most of the time much of this remains available day-to-day, but it's still good to be organized, never assume, and make the time beforehand to just make sure, just in case. It's awful thinking all is well, then arriving to find something is missing.
Barry Westling
