How to maintain energy in a 4 hour class
We have recently switched to a four hour block for classes. This creates a real challenge for the instructor to maintain classroom energy from 5:30 to 9:30. Students often come to class after a long work day. Activities and energetic music only goes so far. Teach two of these in a day plus office hours and tutoring, and teacher fatigue become a real issue as well. Is the four hour block the best scenario for teachers and students.
I like 3-4hr classes when I have a larger class or a lab class. When there is lecture or testing I feel I am sometimes loosing them. My college instructors used to call it "Information overload" The brain turns off. Maybe having some guest lecturers or other mobile activities. I always add humor or real life situations and that usually gets them interested in more participation. But truthfully when it is a small class it is hard to keep them going.
the course was very helpful and educational, thank you much
Having been a student in a four hour class prior to teaching I found the following helped:
a. breaks 5-10 minutes every hour or 1.5 hours
b. various teaching methods: lecture, group activities, hands on, review questions and discussion, etc. I agree guest lecturers are great.
The classes can be tough especially in the evening after a full day of work for students and instructors - some days will be better than others - try your best!
I have to agree with Miriam, the breaks are necessary. When teaching very technical subjects I will even have more frequent breaks where we just talk about the topic in more of an overview. We may even go off topic for a moment. It allows the new material to sink in.
I teach a 3 hour lecture on pathophysiolgy... this can be a real sleeper topic! I try to break it up every 20 minutes with pair and share, group brain dump at the white board, poll anywhere questions, etc. It can be a real challenge not to read the powerpoints because of the amount of information the students need to know. Any creative ideas for communcating such a huge amount of information would be appreciated
I have no problem wih the 4 hour classes (other than they are harder to teach because I need to overprepare each class in case we finish us a segment earlier than anticipated which will happen), but I have a 5 hour class that is really energy zapping! If the students fail to bring water or snacks for break, physiologically I lose them.....and I feel it is not in the best interest of anyone. I won't say YES to a 5 hour class again....too stressful on me, as well as the students (in my oppinion).
Added breaks in between. or walk around outside is really needed. Sometimes, just to break up the lecture---let students just "talk" to relax.
We have several days on the week where the students have to endure two 3.5 hour lecture classes, needles to say, their energy level gets pretty low around the 3rd hour. Physlical endurance, balance and energy flow area all important aspects of being a Massage Therapist. I often practice Tai' Chi or Qi Gong for 20-30 with my students on a long lecture day, it get their Chi moving and their minds focused for last half of the day.
I also teach a 4 hour class. I have found that spreading out a 4 hour lecture into 2 day blocks helps the student absorb the information much better. In addition, we do activities and question and answer sessions throughout the session to keep the students motivated. This also insures the student understand the topic before moving on to the next part of the lecture. As we all know it does take a lot of energy doing long lectures, it is also very taxing on students to sit still that long. Especially when my class starts at 7:00 am and most of my students just woke up.
I usually have 10 or less students per class and sometimes find that teaching for a full 4 hour block is like Deborah said "information overload". I teach in the mornings like some others and I am loaded with energy but not all of my students are so I break the information up so that I lecture for a while then we play some sort of game to try to retain some of the information we just learned or we do some hands on activity to reinforce what was just talked about. This seems to be working quite well.
Having a variety of different activities, and letting students select the order of accomplishment is critical.
When teaching math in 3 to 4 hour blocks you can break up into groups after a lesson and practice some of the problems. I try to treat a 3 hour class as 3 one hour class with 3 group work sessions.
I agree 3-4 hour classes are rigorous for the student and the teacher. I am in a situation where I have 4 hours of teaching in my 1 hour break we have a staff meeting and then have 4 more hours of teaching. This happen 3 days a week. The 4th day I only have 4 hours of class and then finally I have 4 hours of catch up time. What happens is that I come in at least 90 minutes early just to be prepared. I am exausted. Can't wait for this semester to be over.
I teach a four hour block classroom and enjoy the set up. First off I need to be well rested and nourished. If I'm hungry I get cranky. The students are at many energy and preparation levels so a variety of tasks should be available for students to participate. A main lecture is first given. Then a variety of tasks vocabulary words, games videos and quizlets. If all the assignments are completed the students can study in the library this allows extra time for students that need it. Try using podcasts so the students can learn at their own pace giving them a deadline. It is empowering for students.
Our school's policy is that sudents get a 10 minute break for every hour of "education". That being said, in a 4 hour class, an instructor must be part chameleon! Incorporate a wide variety of teaching styles ( lecture, discussion, case study, return demo, etc) I try to relate what I am teaching to things they experience in the outside world as well. Like when teaching breast cancer, utilize Angeina Jolie's recent public disclosure about BRCA mutation. Leaning can't be something vague, far away and unreachable.. learning has to be something that the students can wrap their heads around. An internal locus always results in an energized classroom.
Our classes our 6 hours , from 5:30PM TO 11:30PM. I see them dropping out about 10 PM. Some have been up since 6AM, worked then commuted to school. I try to give more then our standard breaks when I see them tiring out. Keeping them involved and active helps to keep them going.
