Preparation for Lesson Planning
I always prepare for my class because of the unknown questions that always seem to arise. The educational and real life experience of the class is very demanding and teaching effectively to each student is in fact a daily challenge. I also use outside sources to keep the students attention and for additional information not explained in detail in the text.
I completely agree, it is important to prepare for classes because each student is different and always some student interest in a particular topic and if you're not prepared you can find in an embarrassing situation, it is important also to exhaust other sources to elaborate more on topic and be more current.
Kym,
There are several activities that can be used to enhance student engagement, when you are teaching a course for the first time (this is what I am assuming based on your post). Most textbooks have great instructor resources (website or cd-rom) with course suggestions, activities and additional subject-related facts. Reviewing those materials (if available), may provide you with some ideas for making the information interesting.
Tremayne Simpson
What do you suggest when you are given a class and a textbook and need to find a way to make the information interesting? I hope this course will help me with that.
Faith ,
This is a great point. Most online classes are accelerated, which limits the amount of available time to present course content. Do you have the authority to alter the lesson plans, so that you can reduce the amount of statistical information that is presented?
Tremayne Simpson
I am taking an online class - the first lesson had live statistics regarding information about the students. It seemed to go on and on, is there a way to improve getting to know online students other than seemingly wasting a lot of time finding out who we are?
Ranee,
Great point. Instructor preparation is a commonly underrated task, however it is very important. If students detect that an instructor is not prepared, it can have a negative affect on their perception of the course.
Tremayne Simpson
I also like to prepare for my classes making sure that I take every step posible to ensure that the information that I am delivering to my students is accurate.
Don ,
Whenever possible, it is important to encourage your students to cite their sources. This will get them into the habit of questioning their resources, building stronger arguments and practicing effective critical thinking methods at all times.
Tremayne Simpson
I do the same with my students, often times taking it to the point of having each student cite their work. This allows for factual representation of the topics vs. at times opinions.
Harry,
I use a similar approach to ensure that the students are receiving an authentic learning experience. In addition to providing additional outside sources, I also encourage my students to present findings to their classmates as well. I generally keep an ongoing discussion thread (within the student portal), in that students can us to post course-related resources or articles, to share with the class.
Tremayne Simpson
