Having worked in an industry where change is constant, it is extremely important to evaluate your original plan and make the necessary adjustments as you go along. I also will try different styles to keep it fresh and to see which style works best in that situation.
Hi Donald:
Good ideas. Students (and people) always like to hear stories. When it's related to their vocation they're likely to remember the point or the message.
Most people's attebntion span is about 12-15 minutes. So even if it's just something simple breaking up the lesson (as you seem to be doing) is helpful.
Regards, Barry
I try to keep my students interest by relating an experience that I may share with them relating to the subject at hand. This puts them at ease and usually starts a dialog. I will change pace from lecture to PowerPoint or the use of the white board depending on what I need to cover. It really gets through to them when I am doing my demonstration and relating to what was previous covered. Most of the students will then participate in a question and answer dialog while the demo is going on. I will at times ask for a voluntrer to assist in the demonstration and reproduce what I have just shown them.
Depending on how long I am lecturing what I see with the students attention span, I will give them a 10 min. break to refresh them and then recap and start again.
Hi Bennett:
Excellent! Sometimes I think we need a plan B, plan C and even plan D. Sounds like you've go it covered.
Regards, Barry
I have a stock selection of DVD movies that pertain to the material. A variety of "case studies" that can be handed out. I like the no bulb day, several times I stand and read aloud as in the "Dead Poets." I'm considering rod puppets to present the back up presentation...
Hi Thomas:
Very creative use of an instructional tool thats fun and still effective. Very cool!
Regards, Barry
Hi Lois:
You've idenfied a couple of commom problems many instructors face. When you receive new students from another teacher who has a completely different approach than your own, that can pose an adjustment problem for the students. Your combination lecture/discussion solution seems to be an ideal method to help with adjusting the students to your manner and expectations. Also. I wopuld guess it helps "open up" the shy ones, as you've indicated.
Good post.
Regards, Barry
By getting feedback from students we will have clear understandingof what the difficulties we have, than make the adjustment accordingly6.
This is a tough question and one I fight with. I normally expect discussion during my class. Often times, before they've had me as an instructor, they haven't had much experience with actually having to answer questions so getting them out of their "shy" mode is often difficult. It may take a few class sessions to get comfortable with it. I view that as an important part of their learning...to be able to vocally communicate what they learn. When I encounter a "shy" class, coming up with an alternative is often not easy.
I am finding, the one thing I have started to do was to create my outline of things to cover but put key questions to get the discussion going in my outline. That way I can do the lecture or I can ask the leading questions that get my students to respond. Its like making two lesson plans at once and doesn't really take much more time to do.
I sometimes use the Baseball game to change things up a bit-- I simply ask the students to write down one thing that is/was giving them a prob and could not figure out or find the info for the ansewr. I then collect and look at them(for a common theme) and crumple them all up into paper balls-- That usually gets a pretty good reaction right off the bat( crumpling up the problems)I put them in a box that I keep close by,They pick teams --sometimes I'll make up the teams according to their styles and let them decide on a "Picher". They decide who is the Captian of their team also.The Picher takes a paper ball and gets ready to throw it towards the other team - the person at 'Bat" can answer the question If answered correctly the team gets 3 points if he cannot answer it, the Captian gets to take a "swing" at it for one(1) point--if still no correct answer it is an "Out" 3 outs and the other team is up to bat and so on.First Team to 5 or 10-Depends on time /subject.etc. This usually takes around 15-30 mins for the whole game and all have a good time and still learn the material but just in a fun different way.
I try on a daily basis to switch up my teaching style. One day i will use the white board, one day the projector, or even a round table discussion works well. On occasion, i like to take the whole class outside. The first few moments tend to be distracting, but the students are so enviggorated by the change of pace, they are able to focus easier.
students learn in differant ways so having differant delivery or back ups with reach students in a way they can understand
Hi Michael:
So called show and tell are a great way to use to supplement your back-up plans. And double good if you can have aides that are directly related to the general topic area you're teaching.
Regards, Barry
I always try to keep enough trainig aids in the room to be able to have a show and tell type of presentation.This way i can use the actual parts to teach with , and have the students get comfortable with.
Hi Barry,
In response, I am discussing a project change within a given course without changing expectations, learning outcomes or a master course outline. These 'reactive' changes are discussed with those in charge such as a program chair and or fellow faculty before implementation. In such instances students' personalities and level of abilities and skill sets require project changes to address these dynamics to ensure even more consistent outcomes at a given level. Again,it responds to the enrolled students' needs of that course during that quarter or semester.
The beauty of it is evaluation at large for as you say feedback discussions and post-course analysis if in fact these student dynamics tend to appear over and over again with a particular institution of higher education. And it does require all individuals in communication with one another to evaluate over all curriculum changes.
The best.
Marta
Hi Marta:
You’re right; most of the commentary does address the inevitable problem of some unplanned event disrupting the daily lesson. You'd have to admit having the power go out, not having a computer/LCD projector for a PPT, overhead projector bulb burring out, and hundreds of similar kinds of situations fit into the category of having a backup plan. I once had a 4X8 dry erase board fall off the wall at one end. For about two hours, I just used the board in its lopsided position until a portable board could be located. I feel I saved two hours rather than taking time away due to the unusual distraction.
You’ve stated a very meaningful point which addresses the larger challenge of developing curriculum that is dynamic and fluid allowing for an on-course change in plans that is reactive to a set of circumstances and still meets the student learning outcomes. This approach takes a lot of time, preferably by multiple decision makers, and feedback discussions and post-course analysis to determine effectiveness.
Unfortunately, not all institutions allow the latitude of their instructors to be involved in curriculum design to the degree I’ve described. Nevertheless, the benefit to the students is immeasurable when progressive plans such as describe are conceived and implemented.
Regards, Barry
The replies to this question on back-up plans seem to address emergency issues within a single class time. This learning module focuses on reorganizing content based upon students enrolled in a course requiring changes to entire content as the course unfolds etc. I have experienced this a great deal. The mixture of levels, personalities of perhaps even one student shifts the classroom dynamic either toward quicker learning and engagement or toward disruptive overall behavior. I find no matter how many projects, lesson plans, and learning styles I build into a course there are always new issues to address. Sometimes the group of students enrolled in all courses at that time create a 'climate' with needs requiring intervention by faculty at large directed by a program chair.
Hi Mohammed:
Very clever! I think what you did was actually a variation on "memory techniques". In this method, one associates something they already know(i.e., color) with something they want to remember (i.e., hormones and glands). It's especially beneficial when there is a lot of details to remember. Thanks for sharing!
Regards, Barry
I was recently teaching Endocrine system to a class after 3days of lecture on the glands and hormones they produce, I started to ask questions I was surprised to learn that less than half the class was barely able to answer 2 to 3 questions. They seemed frustrated and complained that the there were too many words to remember and it was too dry and boring. I was complled to ask them about alternate mathods but said I need to make it more intresting. I promised them to do so and after lot of thinking I came up with a idea. I made flash cards. One color for Glands and one color for Hormones. Then I let them practice with them for one day. Then I announced a quiz on it, saying they need to match the glands and hormones using the flash cards. Its worked so well that except for 2 students everyone got a perfect score. Then I made a set of cards for functions of the hormones made them practice and this too worked well. Every one was happy and I had done my job to convey the message. Now I have realised that there has to be a back-up plan and alternate method of teaching for every class differs.
Hi Bindu:
Back up plans can be very useful for when what you have planned goes awry. It's bound to happen to even the best prepared teachers somewhere along the line.
The key to devloping good backup plans is to assess what resources you can always count on even in the worst of situations, such as the computer lab is down, copier broken, textbook resources absent, etc. Even running out of dry erase markers can be "bad-day" enforcer unless we plan for the worst.
Hope your need for back up plans are few and far between.
Regards, Barry
