Insecurity
I seem to be very particular about being prepared for class. I spend, I've been told, too much time preparing for lectures. I want to do a good job and sometimes I don't trust the knowledge that I have. Aside from the fact that my students like to go to the Ed Director. I am experiencing two different types of insecurity here. Any comments?
Michael, This is a great balanced approach. On one hand, you want to invest the time you need to be as confident as you can in your position. At the same time, you want to be reasonable with yourself and others as to how much you can know and do.
Dr. Melissa Read
The answer is adequate preparation. As mentioned, we can never anticipate all the questions and have to be comfortable with not having an answer. I acknowledge the legitimacy of the question, can give general information, but assign the full answer to my self and the rest of the class to learn how to find answers when on own. I find many instructors need to manage time better and let other items out of our control to go. The same thing we should tell and model for our students. Prep time is needed, but realize all we want to do cannot be done, or is it realistic. Other items need to be accomplished as well. I think of this as balance.
Aaron, This is true for most of us. Preparation can give us a sense of control over our situation and help us roll with the punches.
Dr. Melissa Read
the more prepared you are, the less insecure you will feel
I tend to spend a lot of time the first time I teach a class and any time the book is updated. It gets easier after that.
I do think it's possible to be over-prepared. You want to have some give and take in your lesson plan so that it doesn't sound like "just push play" when you're in front of the class.
You can never be 100% prepared for everything - life is a learning curve. If we knew everything all the time, how boring life would be. I do think, though, that there are reasonable expectations as to what it means to be prepared for a class. For me, at minimum, it means that I've read the chapter, reviewed the chapter, created/revised/reviewed the lesson plan, and looked for an outside activity to incorporate.
