Get Your Students Hired
This too has worked remarkably well for me in gauging how well the students are grasping the concept of what I am teaching and gives the slower student time to catch up. By periodically asking a few questions the student may gain a better understanding of what I am saying by one of his peers explaining it in a way that is more along the line of their generational understanding. Depending on the time remaining I can elaborate, simplify or even leave out all together these questions without deleting or postponing any of the course content.
I determine what topics i'll be teaching that day and then break the class into different time blocks. During each time block i'll be addressing a different topic or activity, breaks, tests. I usually check it as i teach to make sure I am staying within that time, it helps me to know whether i need to slow down or if i am going to run out of time.
I have noticed that collaborative tasks are good for the majority of the students- however I regularly see one or two students, no matter which group or what task they are in or on, refuse to take part in a productive manner. Almost like they expect to absorb the hands on material- from observation alone. Unfortunately these students are usually close to the failure line before any type of evaluation or testing occurs. Unfortunately "enabled" is not the same as required or mandated.
I have found that being organized before class helps tremendously with managing time during class. If everything is set before class then things tend to go very smooth during class even if there are a few speed bumps caused by students.
Being in a technical trade school that has several classes per day, We have to make sure that our vehicles are reassembled before the next claSS comes in. Watching students closely and making sure they don't start tasks that they wont have time to finish is crucial.
The key is pre-planning (knowing where the†hot topics†are to avoid discussions from going astray) as well as preparing ample activities and materials (the bag of tricks rule); this allows for lesson momentum.
The course syllabus I am using right now already includes additional exercises, group discussions, and power point presentations that may be used in the event of the compression factor. I also give each individual student more recitation time if I feel that more time becomes available.
I like the idea, as a new instructor, of preparing a few "canned" segments to have on hand. Great Info!!
I have found case studies very useful in class too. Teaching Esthetics, it is easy to pull out a client history form info and have them work through what would work for this client and what would be a contraindication.
My classes are 4 hours long so I during my class I must prepare enough small sections to allow for breaks in order to keep the students attentive. In addition I plan for several in class exercises that can be added into the lecture or removed depending on how the class has progressed.
I always try to have a back up plan. If the lesson goes smoothly and I have extra time, I'll show a training video or show the students some specialized tools or equipment, possible even giving a demonstration with them. If things go slowly (which isn't always a bad thing - some students are more interested and ask a lot of questions), I will restructure my lesson for the following day to compensate for the extra time and the more inquisitive students.
Bridgette,
I agree. Collaborative activities can work well, provided that there is a system in place that enables all students to contribute to the group.
Tremayne Simpson
A carefully practiced and timed study to make sure all of the material is presented to the learner
I agree breaking the class off in groups work very well. they get assigned a specific skill and as one group completes that skill they rotate to the next , everyone gets a chance at each skill and they accomplish it in a timely manner .
James,
This is a highly detailed lesson plan. Do you have opportunities to make revisions within the lesson plan, whenever an activity or discussion takes longer than expected?
Tremayne Simpson
I have an hourly lesson plan so that I know at each brake period where I should be in my presentation so that I can adjust the class if needed by speeding up or slowing down.
My classes are FIVE (5!) hour blocks at a technical college, broken into 50 min. presentation + 10 min. breaks. I have created a physical time tracker spreadsheet page that I used to mark time objectives in a lesson plan, along with a series of 'buzzer' timers on my smart phone to give a "2 minute warning" before each break. (In fact, it's one of the primary reasons I bought a smart phone.)
So for each block of material, I might have an annotated Lesson Plan that runs as follows:
(0) Announcements / Introduction (0:10 min.)
(1) Overview of the material (0:05)
(2) Presentation of theory/equations/ (0:10 min)
----- HALF MARK -----
(3) Examples / Worked Problems (0:10)
(4) Numerical calculations (0:10)
(5) Summary/Recap (0:50) FIVE MINUTE WARNING
(6) BREAK.
It requires LESS effort to do the up-front planning work to stay on track than to "wing it", and by breaking each 50 minutes block into sections -- transparently to the students -- their attention spans are also much higher. Five hours has potential to be a 'grind', even with breaks, but by slicing the material into 10-15 minute chunks with distinct boundaries, it tends to move very quickly.
Case scenario is great I use that along with having my students write out a few quiz questions per group on what we discussed. I use these on the next day to see if they have retained the information and it is also a good tool to use as a review. The students love this as it lets them be interactive in their learning style.
After reading through some answers, I have found that case studies would be a great tool to have in my back pocket for those classes that run short. Students are intrigued and excited by them and they help clarify subjects that may be difficult.