Planning the class takes longer than teaching!
This is my first time teaching, and although I know the material, I have found it takes countless hours, far more than what it takes to actually teach the material! I know when I teach the class again it will be a breeze, but man is it draining on the mind.
I think you are right. To me it is better to over prepare -- sometimes i have to laugh at myself because i dont use all the material that i have prepared. But the confidence thing is critical. I also think it helps to keep the students confident and comfortable that they are getting value.
Hi Matthew,
You are right about preparation taking time, but your statement about confidence makes it all worth while. Approaching a class knowing you have the material and instructional delivery methods that will engage the learners is a powerful way to start a class. It really gives you a leg up as you get the students settled in and ready to learn.
Gary
I find that preparation does take longer than teaching...even after i have been teaching the same class for a while. In particular I try to update my course material and my approach each term to take into account the feedback of my students as well as making sure that the course material is up to date and current. In my field, business, things seem to change fairly rapidly so maintaining currency is very important. I also find that if I can tie the course material to current events it keeps the students engaged and excited about the relevancy of what they are studying. i also tend to over prepare in order to feel confident about teaching...portraying confidence goes a long way to being successful.
Hi Annie,
It really does not get any easier to plan for a class, especially if you have more than one prep. The course I teach has its own assignment instructions and course materials (with input from faculty); however, there's still the actual teaching prep. Thus, for live sessions (I teach online), so I created presentational materials (PowerPoints, Flash documents) to teach the units. Having these materials already created saves lots of planning time (they also serve as students' lecture notes and guides to writing assignments). I am now beginning to create short instructional videos to help struggling students. The course may be well-planned, but change is inevitable. Cynthia
Hi Aileen,
Thank your for sharing your personal experience with course preparation. You are right about the need to "revisit" your preparation each time you teach a course. There are so many variables that influence the selection of content and delivery each time.
Gary
I agree... Even my most repeated class has never been taught exactly the same. I add new things based on the previous term's feedback. Sometimes, it's the same topic but a different delivery; different spin. Then of course, the students play a large part. Some groups may "breeze" through topics while others may struggle.
I was giddy my 2nd term of teaching thinking I could just reprint all that I had prepared during my first term... Now, 6 years later, I have not completely "recycled" a class.
In my experience, I must teach the same course at least 3 times before I notice a slight decrease in the time required for preparation. It is at that point that I typically begin revising the material and how it is presented. The reward is that students will notice and respond to the organization, knowledge and planning produced by your time investment in course preparation.
Hi James,
The key is to be flexible in your instructional delivery. You are doing that based on the comments you made in your forum response. It is not unusual as you say to have to take the course a different direction based on student dynamics and needs. Good planning.
Gary
What I have found is that no matter how many time I have taught the course and how much I prepare so that I think I have it tweaked to the best of my ability. I usually find that I will change my direction of teaching based on how the students learn. So sometime all the prep work goes is in vane,
It does take a lot of time for the first go, but in some ways it can be an invigorating time as well! Going through the material so thoroughly and painstakingly can be a journey of discovery -- and then finishing it and viewing the final product has a curiously strong sense of accomplishment attached to it, perhaps because you know you'll be actually using the material in just a short while (and thus testing it even further ...).
Hi Stephen,
I like your Mother's quote. It says it all. Mothers have such wisdom. That quote when followed will help to improve our instructional delivery and reduce our stress levels.
Gary
Unfortunately you have stumbled on to a universal truth that far too many people wish to avoid! In reality, planning SHOULD take longer than the actual act. As a matter of fact, the more time you spend planning, the less time it will take you to perform any action. I stress the importance of planning to my students all the time, especially in programming classes. However any task can benefit from good planning!!
A saying my Mother taught me when I was younger is something I always call upon for my students. It goes like this...
"Proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance!"
You are right! There is a lot of planning that has to take place for a course and it often feels that the students have no idea how much work the instructor puts in.
However, the best compliment is that students really don't notice, as with my eperience, the students will really only notice when the course preperation wasn't done well and the course is disorganized.
Good preperation can save a lot of headaches at the end of a quarter when grades come up. If you have a document that outlined all of the expectations, if a student protests a grade, you have a document that you can fall back on for support.
Annie, teaching is exhausting because you have the passion to do it "right". Good for you! Keep surrounded by supportive teachers, who actually share their energy and "teaching tricks" and you will find the next class to be easier to deal with, even if it is a new class.
one of the things that it makes better for the firs day of class is to be patient and have an open mind as well be prepare for any contingency that shows up
I totally agree with you, Annie! Even after teaching the same course a second time, I find it still takes a lot of prep work. I find that I cut out some stuff that didn't work, add things that I thought of, and look to other resources to update my information. Unfortunately and also very frustrating, is that prep work is done mostly on my own time.
Hi Christopher,
You described both the challenges and opportunities of teaching. To improve each time we teach a class we need to work through all of the instructional components. It is work but also enjoyable because you will see improvement each time you teach the course. Also, it helps you to be creative since you are trying something new each time you teach.
Keep up the good effort.
Gary
You aren't kidding! Even after three semesters of teaching the same course, I am still making changes. It sort of falls under the idea of "I understand it, now how do I translate it so they understand it?" I have spent countless hours reworking presentations, lectures, and assignments in order to make every thing better.
Hi Jonathan,
Right you are about still investing a lot of time in course prep. We need to strive to improve each time we teach the course and by doing this we also keep our creative juices flowing and the course interesting to us.
Gary
