New instructor
I am a new instructor at a small, private school of which I am also very recent student. In addition to this being my first class/course and having no prior teaching experience, there is a constant rotation of new students coming into the class. Half of the students are on different chapters of the textbook than the other half of the class. Any suggestions on how to instruct a class of students that are at different areas of the course?
Charles,
What other strategies do you use in preparing for class? Thanks for your input on this.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
also i have learned to read the whole chapter before the class
Dorothy- I know this can be difficult. At first, I struggled with giving too much information to the students. I found my powerpoints were too long, and I was overwhelming them. I think you have to take the lecture time as a general review of the chapters. I always tell my students that I will cover the main topics, but that they need to be reading the chapters to really absorb all of the information from the text. I find that students that just rely on the powerpoints don't succeed. Don't worry about presenting every piece of information during your lecture. Make sure you cover the main areas, and expand on what time will allow. Leave some responsibility on the students to read the text as well.
Dorothy,
One of the challenges of being an instructor is determining what is critical information. Even though it is all important there are certain concepts that have to be covered. Try to identify those based upon how those concepts will be used in the field of study the students are preparing to enter. This will help you to start getting a handle on what to present. In addition you can use guided notes where you present the key concepts and provide space under each which the students then can put supporting information. This strategy will help to move the class forward while exposing the students to the essential knowledge required.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
As a new instructor I find myself overwhelmed in learning chapter content. Then I am overwhelmed in presenting pertinent material. Can you give me advise in how to read material and lecture to the importance of the material because some chapters I feel everything is important for a student to know.
Thank you for your suggestion, Gary! It is very helpful and I will use this strategy in my class.
Rosemarie,
When I teach is such situations I use the one room school model. I offer instruction to all the students at the beginning of class and then put them into learning groups based upon their location in the course. Then I give one group instruction based upon the chapters in their text or where we are in the course. I then have them work on case studies, problems, or homework and move to the next group where I do the same thing. This way I keep the entire class moving forward even when they are not at the same place in the course. Hope this strategy will be of help to you. If you have any further questions let me know.
Gary
